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A75936 A free gift, freely given of God to Henry Abbut and by him freely given to the reader, without money or price. Abbut, Henry. 1684 (1684) Wing A70BB; ESTC R229461 180,833 200

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the garden that is as man in his own apprehensions looked upon God to be like himself that is as he had changed himself in his obedience to God so man in that false sight that he then had of God looked upon God that he had changed his love to him and so man beheld himself as sent or drove from the presence of God and turned out of the garden out of Gods love and delight that he had in man And the reason why man so looked upon God to have no love nor delight in him in his fallen state was because man in his disobedience he found no love nor delight that he had in himself towards God and so he judged God to be changed towards him as he had changed himself towards God when in truth the change was onely in man And so man may be said to send drive or turn himself out of the Garden where man in the fallen state is and so do continue out of the Garden until there is a change wrought in the heart of man by being brought to a knowledge of God's unchangeableness that although man by his disobedience turned enemy to God yet love continued in God towards man God so loved the world God's love was so great to man too great for the tongue of man to express or the heart of man to conceive of that he gave his onely begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3. 16. And God commended his love towards us that while we were sinners Christ died for us When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son Rom. 5. 8. 10. These Scriptures shew the unchangeableness of God's love to man which until man comes in some measure or degree to be made sensible of the unchangeableness of God's love the fear of God's justice for sin continues in the heart of man and man continues out of the Garden and a true love to God is wanting in the heart of man But when that Change is wrought in the heart that we love God because he first loved us then man cometh again into the Garden and man obeys God because God hath made known his love to him and therefore he loves God again and then the heart or inward part in man is pleasing and delightful to God man's delight is to obey God 1 John 4. 18 19. There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love We love him because he first loved us Here is the true state of man in the Fall and of his being restored again When man by his transgression had lost his love to God then the fear of God entered into his heart and that caused or brought forth torment and as long as fear continued in mans heart mans love is not made perfect to God and mans love is made perfect to God by our loving of him because he first loved us and then mans heart or the inward part in man cometh again to be as a pleasant and delightful Garden The Tree of knowledge of good and evil as in the mystery God made man and as a gift God gave to man the knowledge of himself that he was his God And God also gave to man the knowledge of his revealed will that what God had commanded man to do was God's will that he should do and what God had made known of himself in man and what was God's revealed will in man that he should do in obedience to him was good and so God gave to man the knowledge of what was good And God gave also to man the knowledge of his revealed will of what God had commanded him not to do and what was Gods revealed will in man that God had commanded man not to do that was evil and so God gave to man the knowledge of what was evil And this was in mans heart or the inward part of man which in the mystery was God's Garden And this knowledge of good and evil in the mystery is a Tree remaining in the Garden in the heart or inward part of man and in this knowledge of what was good and what was evil man for a time stood in his obedience to God obeying God in the doing all that he had commanded him to do and obeying God in the leaving undone all that he had forbidden him to do And while man in this his knowledge stood thus in obedience to God in doing all that God had commanded him to do and in leaving undone all that God had commanded him not to do man knew no will in him of his own but mans will was wholly resigned up into Gods will man willed nothing but what God willed in him and what God willed in man that man willed in God and man knew no other will but the will of God and so God was all and in all man And man was the Paradise the delight of God and God was the Paradise the delight of man And out of the ground that the Lord God had made man of the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil Gen. 2. 7. 9. The Tree of Life is Jesus the Light of God in man and this Tree was also in the midst of the garden the garden is the heart or inward part of man which the Lord God planted Eastward which is the place of the rising of the Sun which is as much as to say God so placed the heart or inward part in man his garden that it should be in the place wherein the rising of his Son Jesus the true Light in man did rise and as a Tree there to grow and be in the midst of his garden and the Tree of knowledge of good and evil I pray observe the words of the Scripture The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil See how near the Tree of knowledge of good and evil is placed to the Tree of life there is but and between them and that and makes them two Trees and so indeed they are The Tree of Life is one which is Jesus the true Light of God in man and the Tree of knowledge of good and evil is another and they are so near joyned together that there is but an and that parts them Jesus the Word of God the true Light in man gave man the knowledge of what was Gods will that he should do and that was good man was to do good and the same Jesus the Word of God in man gave man the knowledge of what he should not do and that was evil man was not to do evil And these two Trees were very nearly joyned together in Gods garden in the heart of man and so a measure of
them do continue so nearly joyned together at this day that would man be true to himself and the Light of God in him he might see them to be both in him and how nearly they are joyned together in him While man was thus in Gods garden and these two Trees in him and he kept by Jesus the Light of God in him in obeying of God according to that knowledge that God had given him of his revealed will in doing what God had commanded him to do and in leaving undone what God had forbidden him to do In his thus obeying God man eat of the Tree of life and lived he lived in God in obedience to God knowing nothing but the will of God and doing nothing but the will of God Mans knowledge of evil as it became a sin in man was man 's not continuing in obeying God in doing the things that he knew God had commanded him to do This was the actual knowing of evil the knowing of evil by the doing of evil and that was sin The Tree was knowledge and while obedience was joyned to knowledge it was a good Tree as God had placed it in the heart or inward part of man but when disobedience was joyned to knowledge then it became an evil Tree then man eat of the Tree whereof God had commanded him that he should not eat of And mans disobedience came from self-ends a will and desire that was in them to be wiser than God had made them and to have another likeness of God than that Image that God had created them in their desire was not to be in Gods Image as he had made them but to be as Gods in knowledge The Serpent in the mystery is mans self or mans will as separated from God and this is that which was more subtile than any Beast of the Field that God had made God made all the Beasts of the Field and they were good From whence then came this more subtile Beast it may bare the name of Beast that mans will as it is revealed from Gods will because of the foul unclean and evil beastly nature that was in it it was not of Gods creating because it was not good if it had been good it could not have tempted to the knowledge of evil in the doing of evil that is it could not have tempted man to disobey God self in man or a mans own will separated from God is more subtile to tempt man than all the Beasts of the Field that God hath made that is self in man or a mans own will is more subtile to prevail with man to disobey God than all without him can prevail with him to disobey God James 1. 13 14 15. 13 verse Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man that is God tempts no man to evil and as God is good so are all the Creatures that he hath made and as they are good and the creation of God so the Creatures they cannot tempt man to evil 14 verse But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Mark that which tempts man to sin and entice him to sin it is something of his own the Apostle calls it lust that is the height of desire in Genesis it is called desire a Tree to be desired to make wise And does not lust the height of desire to be made wise in what God hath forbidden come from self in man 15 verse Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished it bringeth forth death The comparison is taken from natural conceptions and bringings forth That which conceives is of its own it is something within that conceives it is an inward act and not an act without them and conception is before bringing forth and what is brought forth is of the same kind with that which conceived what then can be more plainer than that that the Serpent that tempts to sin is self or a mans own will in separation from God or something of mans self that draweth him forth into disobedience to what he knew to be the mind and will of God for him to do and the gain that he expects by his disobedience is to be wise to please himself There is nothing Gods opposite or enemy but what God hath forbidden all that God created he made very good Gen. 1. 31. God did not make the Devil a Devil if the Devil be a fallen Angel as many believe him to be and so before he fell he was an Angel as other Angels are ministring Spirits so was mans will and all that was in man in the creation was an Angel a ministring Spirit and ministred that is waited or attended upon Gods will as the Angels do but when the temptation entred into man and then when man by the temptation was overcome and desired to be as Gods Then the ministration of the will of man fell from the ministration that it had before in the creation to wait or attend upon the will of God and so the will of man it became a fallen Angel a fallen Ministration a fallen Spirit The Angels they are ministring Spirits attending upon the will of God so was the will of man and all that was in man in his creation was a ministring Spirit attending upon the will of God But when that which was more subtile than any Beast of the Field that God had made entred into Gods garden that is into mans heart or the inward part of man and man yielding to the temptation desiring to be as Gods that is to do his own will and not to do Gods will then entred into mans heart the Devil See the truth of it John 8. 44. Ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him When he speaketh a lye he speaketh of his own for he is a lyar and the father of it Christ here tells the Jews they were of their Father the Devil and the lust of your Father ye will do lust is the great desire of the heart after the forbidden Fruit which is of the Devil he is the Father of it he is the begetter of it the Devil called the Serpent was the Father that begot the desire after the forbidden Fruit. And Christ also told the Jews that he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth If the Devil were not once in the truth then how can it be said he did not abide in it Mans self or will all that was in man was once in the truth as God is the truth in God in Gods will as God created man and made him good but mans will it abode not in the truth that is in God for God is the truth it abode not in the doing Gods will
question or doubt wholly of the truth of the Command of God yet there is a yielding so far to the temptation as to question whether or no that God is so strict or severe in his Command as the Light of God at first makes known in man that he is And then there is a belief got up in man that he shall not surely die that is as God was not so strict or severe in his Commands so God will not be so strict or severe in his punishments And thus the Tempter perswades man out of his obedience that he had to God which was in the believing the truth of what God had said into disobedience to God in the believing the lye the Tempter said And when the Tempter had prevailed thus far with man as to question the truth of what God had said and brought man to believe that God had not said true in saying they should surely die but perswaded man that Ye shall not surely die Then he proceeds further in his temptation and perswades man to a belief that 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 The Tempter perswades man not onely to believe that God had said a lye when he said in the day he eat thereof he should surely die to die is to cease to be as man is said to die when he ceaseth to be alive but the temptation perswades man to believe that God knew that he lied when he said man shall surely die in the day he eat of the forbidden Tree And this the Tempter did in perswading man to believe that God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods that is as much as to say that God did know that man should be so far from dying that is from ceasing to be that he should have a more higher or greater Being than the Being he had before the Tempter entered into him for the Being man had before the temptation entered into him was but the Being of a Creature but by yielding to the temptation the Tempter perswades him to believe that he should have a Being as God ye shall be as Gods and so he perswades man to a belief that God did not onely lye when he spake the truth in saying man shall surely die in the day he eat of the forbidden Tree but that God did know he lyed when indeed the truth of it was that all that God spake was that which was surely true as God is the truth But the Tempter by his lying perswades man to believe that God was such a one as the Tempter was that he was a lyar and knew himself to be a lyar when God had said nothing but the truth and the Tempter had said nothing that was true and that it was all lyes that he had said that is that in and by his deceit he intended to deceive man in all that he said to man John 8. 44. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him When he speaketh a lye he speaketh of his own for he is a lyar and the father of it The Devil the Tempter is the Father the begetter of lyes and is he that abode not in the truth where once he was And when the Tempter had prevailed thus far with man to cause him to believe that God had not spoken true and that God knew that he had not spoken true then he perswades man into a belief of the great profit gain and benefit that man should have in the believing the Tempter the Serpent in his lyes and in yielding to his temptation in his eating of the forbidden Tree in his disobedience to God and that God did know that in the day ye eat thereof he perswaded man that God knew that all was to be as the Tempter the Serpent said to man it should be that their eyes should be opened that the understanding and knowing part in man should see and know that they should be as Gods knowing good and evil How did God know good and evil that man should be as Gods knowing good and evil and that he should be so by eating of the Tree God had forbidden to be eaten of by doing that which God had forbidden man to do Doth any one believe or think that God knew evil in doing contrary to his own declared will If they do so believe or think I believe they will not so speak but be like the fool that says in his heart there is no God in his heart he speaks it and in his heart he believes that God is not in his heart But God did know good and evil God did know his declared will to man to be good and God willed this declared will of himself and of himself he willed this declared will of his to be done there was no mover no stirer no drawer to move stir or draw God to his will or to the knowledge of his will to be good nor to will his will to be done there was no mover no stirer no drawer to move stir or draw God to do his declared will in man and so to bring up mans will into his will and to cause mans will to be resigned up into the doing of Gods will And in all this God knew good and in Gods knowing of good he was absolute in himself there was nothing that could help him or move stir or draw him thereunto and thus God was in knowing of good God knew what was evil God knew that the doing of what he had forbidden to be done was evil God new that it was evil because he had forbidden it and thus God knew evil as it was evil but God did not know evil in the action in the doing of what he had forbidden to be done The Serpent by his temptation perswaded man to believe that he should be as God to know good and evil as God knew good and evil so man should know good and evil God knew his declared will to man to be good of himself God had none to give him the knowledge thereof And so the Tempter perswaded man that he should know the will of God as God knew it as God of himself and not as a Creature to have his knowledge thereof from another And God willed his declared will of himself and so the Tempter perswaded man that he should be as God to will Gods declared will of himself and not as a Creature to have his will brought to will Gods will by the motion stirring drawings or the work of another in him And God of himself he willed his declared will of his to be done and so the Tempter he perswaded man that he should be as God and not as a Creature and that of himself he should will Gods declared will to be done God had none that moved stirred and drew
in God to his will or to the knowledge of his will to be good or to will his will to be done and so the Tempter perswaded man that he should be as God and not as a Creature to have none to move stir or draw in him to the will of God or the knowledge of Gods will to be good or to will Gods will to be done God moved and stirred up himself to strive move or draw man to do his declared will and to bring mans will into his will and to cause mans will to be resigned up into Gods will and so the Tempter perswaded man that he should be as God and not as a Creature but of himself as a God to stir move and draw his will to do Gods declared will and to bring his will into Gods will and to cause it to be resigned up into Gods will And thus man was by the perswadings of the Tempter drawn into a belief to know good absolute in himself as God knew good in himself And man by the temptation was perswaded that he should know evil as God knew evil God knew that the doing of what he had forbidden was evil and so man knew evil God had made it known to man to be evil the doing of what he had forbidden him to do but in mans doing of what God had forbidden man to do man came to a greater measure of this knowledge for he came to know evil in the act in the not doing Gods will but in doing of his own will And so the Tempter perswaded man he should be as God and not as a creature to do the will of another but as God to do his own will as God did his will And God knew that it was evil because he had forbidden it and so man knew it to be evil God had made known to man that what he had forbidden him to do was an evil and the evil was in that it was forbidden of God And God had that knowledge of himself that what he had forbidden was evil and that which made it evil was because God had forbidden it And so the Tempter perswaded man that he should have that knowledge of himself as God had of himself to know that what God had forbidden was evil and the evil was because God had forbidden it And if man could be true to himself and to the Light of God in him he might by experience see the Tempter now to be in man in the fallen state acting all this in him and thereby he might come to see how the Tempter acted it in man to draw him at first into the fallen state where all men now in that fallen state are in some measure degree or other so tempted God had none to make known his declared will to him but he knew it of himself How does the Tempter now tempt man in that understanding and knowledge that he hath of God to have such high thoughts of himself that he need not depend upon another to be taught to know what is Gods will but he hath so much knowledge of himself as that he may know that of himself And as God willed his will of himself so the Tempter now perswades man that he may will Gods will of himself And as God of himself willed his will to be done so the Tempter now perswades man that he may of himself will Gods will to be done And as God had none but himself that moved him to his will or to the knowledge of his will to be good or to have his will done so the Tempter now perswades man that he need none but himself to move him to do Gods will and that of himself he can resigne up his will into Gods will And so as to the knowledge of evil which God by his Light in man makes known to him to be his doing of what God hath forbidden him to do and the evil is because God hath forbidden it to be done and the Tempter now perswades man that he may have this knowledge of himself that of himself he may know the evil that God hath forbidden to be done and that of himself he knows it to be evil because God hath forbidden it How is the truth of this manifested that many by the subtilty of the temptations of the Serpent have such high thoughts that of himself in that understanding and knowledge that he hath of God he knows Gods will and can will as God will and can do Gods will And this appeareth by the outward actions of many that take no notice of it how it is acted within them How do many when they have been a drinking until they are near drunk or a swearing and cursing very highly or in a great passion of anger threatning revenge upon those they are offended with or in deceiving wronging of their Neighbours or in uncleanness or in the doing of some other sins whatsoever and yet-presently laying by or leaving off but the outward action of sin and that while the delight and love to the sin is in their hearts and minds and they acting of the sin within them and yet in this condition they step out of the outward acting of sin and while it is still in the action within them and they go presently into what they call their Prayers to God and their Worship and Service of God I pray consider and see what it is that strive move or draw them thus to their Prayers Worship and Service of God as they call it is it not the subtile Serpent tempting in them and perswading them that the eyes of their understanding and knowledge being opened they are as Gods to themselves in the knowing good and evil Evil they know they know the sins they commit to be evil and that they are evil because God hath forbidden the doing of them And good they know they know that there is a God and that this God is good and that this God is to be prayed unto and to be worshipped and served and to pray to this God to worship and serve God they know to be good And their wills in this knowledge that sets them upon what they call Prayers Worship and Service to God And how do they pray They do not pray as the Apostle said of himself and the Saints We know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Rom. 8. 26. And Jesus said God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth John 4. 24. But they do not wait in the silence of all the earthy part in them to find in them the strivings movings or drawings of the Spirit of God in them to lead them forth to Prayer to the Worship and Service of God No they do not wait for Gods Spirit to stir move or draw in them to pray to God or to worship and serve God in spirit and in truth But they
he now tempts in man and therefore they cannot believe how the Tempter first tempted in man and cause him to fall it is as hard for such to believe it as it is for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle They are of the number of those rich men that have not sold all that hath not parted with all and are become so poor as to have nothing to be nothing to will nothing that so they may enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but they are of the number that do still see themselves to be as Gods that is to have of their own to be of their own to do of their own to will of their own and are not yet come into that state of being become new Creatures they are not come into that state that God at first made all things of nothing nothing was before the Creation and nothing man must be of himself before God doth his great work of creating man his new Creature And when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat I pray observe the words of the Scripture And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food at that very instant of time that she saw the Tree was good for food at that very instant of time it was pleasant to the eye and at that very time it was a tree to be desired to make one wise at that very instant of time she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat Here was not a seeing of the Tree to be good for food at one time and then at a time after that it was pleasant to the eye and then at a time after that it was a Tree to be desired to make one wise and then at a time after that she took of the Fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her Husband with her and he did eat No the Scripture doth not speak after that manner but the Scripture saith And when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise All these are joyned and linked together as to the matter of time to be at once in the woman when was the one then was the other of them they are not separated and as they are not separated the one from the other as to the matter of time wherein they were done but all joyned and linked together so is not her taking of the Fruit thereof and eating of it and giving of it to her Husband with her and he did eat These are all joyned and linked together as to the matter of time wherein they were done when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make one wise at the very same instant of time she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat The time when joyns them altogether to be done when the one was done then at that instant of time the other was done so joyned and linked together as to the matter of time when they were done as not separated the one from the other When the woman in the understanding and knowledge that she had saw a good in the Tree and such a good as that it was good for food for to that the Serpent in his temptation in time had brought her unto whereas in the beginning of the temptation in the understanding and knowledge that she had she saw the Tree not to be good for food nor yet the Fruit of it to be eaten but instead of being good for food she saw the eating of the Fruit thereof if I may so call it of a poysonous nature bringing death because God had said that in the day they eat thereof they should surely die But the Serpents temptation continuing in her at length it prevailed so far in her to bring her to make a wrong use of that understanding and knowledge that God had given to her For the end of Gods giving man that portion of understanding and knowledge it was that man should improve this his portion of knowledge in doing Gods will in yielding obedience to God But man mis-spent his portion and made use of it in disobeying God and goes out of the doing Gods will into the doing his own will the temptation having first prevailed in man to question the truth of what God had said that they should surely die in the day they eat of the forbidden fruit And then when the temptation had prevailed in man so far as to give credit to the lye that the subtile Serpent said Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil The temptation having thus prevailed in the woman this caused her in that understanding and knowledge that she then had after the temptation had so far prevailed in her and over her to look upon the Tree to be good and not onely to be good but to be good for food that which before when the temptation first entred into her by the understanding and knowledge that she then had she saw to be evil for food and of if I may so say a dangerous and poysonous nature bringing Death along with the eating of it and so she did not then yield to the Temptation but when the Temptation had prevailed in her and over her then it was that in that understanding and knowledge that she then had she saw the tree that once she saw to be evil to eat of to be good and not onely good but good for food the good she then saw in it was in doing what God had forbidden God had not forbidden the being of the Tree The tree of Life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that the tree in it self was not evil the evil was in the eating of it the eating of it was that which God had forbidden and the temptation having prevailed in the woman to question the truth of what God had said and to give credit to the lye that the Serpent had said and when the Serpent by his temptation had prevailed thus far in the woman then he caused her in that understanding and knowledge that she then had to see a good in what God had forbidden which in it self was evil and the good that she saw was a good for food and therefore to be eaten Good food eaten by the outward body as instrumental it hath this in it that is it contents and satisfies the hunger or desire of the body it
refreshes comforts and strengthens the body and it preserves the life of the body and thus did the woman in that understanding and knowledge that then she had look upon the tree to be good for food and so it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she so saw it to be good for food that in the eating of the fruit thereof she should be contented and satisfied in the enjoying of it that is in the eating of it her desire her hunger after it would be satisfied and to speak after the manner of outward eating she in the eating thereof should be so refreshed comforted and strengthened as to be no more wise as a Creature for so she was before the temptation entred into her she was wise as God had made her wise but to be thereby made wise which was another being made wise than that being wise as God had made her it was to be made wise as gods and to live in the being as gods in knowledge knowing good and evil as God knew good and evil this was that which caused the tree to be desired and hungred after it was to make one wise which making wise must be that being wise that the Tempter tempted to that was in the day they eat thereof then their eyes should be opened and they should be as gods knowing good and evil this was that in the tree that was desired and hungred after and the expectation of content and satisfaction in the eating thereof was in that to be as gods to be wise as gods knowing good and evil and thereby to be refreshed comforted and strengthened as to live as gods knowing of good and evil And thus man mis-spent and made a bad use of that portion of understanding and knowledge that God had given to him in which he as he knew Gods will so he was to obey God in the doing of Gods will But instead of keeping in his obedience in doing what he knew to be Gods will there was something in him that caused him first to question whether what he once knew and believed to be Gods will whether it was Gods will or no and having prevailed therein with man then the Tempter caused man to see a good in what man once saw to be an evil that was to eat of the forbidden Fruit and in that man once saw such an evil to be in it as to be the cause of death if he took and eat thereof Now the Tempter caused man to see such a good to be in it that if he took and eat of it he shall be as Gods knowing good and evil and when man saw this at that very instant of time the desire of the mind was to the enjoying of it and at the same instant of time he took and eat of it and then man made his full manifestation and appearance of his going out of obedience in doing Gods will into his disobedience of doing his own will And although then when man took and eat there was the full discovery of mans will in the Temptation yet there was something of mans will that was in the beginning of the Temptation although then it lay hid The substance of mans eating of the fruit of the forbidden Tree consists in this That man went out of his obedience to God which he was once in and so was in the doing of Gods will and went into the disobedience in the doing of his own will which man knew nothing of any will of his own before the temptation entered into him that is he knew nothing of any will in him contrary to the will of God in him Some question there may be which was first in man to draw man into disobedience Pride or Will they are so nearly joyned and united together as it is hard to discern which of them was first But I believe Will was first in man although Pride made his first appearance to be there Man in that great understanding and knowledge that he had of God was therewith lifted up with Pride which caused a desire in him to be as Gods But what was that which so lifted man up was it not his Will in that he would be as Gods And this Will wrought in the earthy part in man as the Mole doth in the ground hidden and not discerned the earth that the Mole raiseth up is first seen before the Mole that is the cause of raising it up so it was in the Temptation Pride did first appear before the Will that raised up the Pride for was it not Pride in man to be so bold to ask a question thereby to question the truth of what God had said Thus Pride first appeared in the Temptation that which would seem to have an equality with God in that it would undertake to question God in the truth of his Word and this was Pride that which was so lifted up with that great understanding and knowledge that it had of God was Pride and it was by the understanding and knowing part in man that that question was asked it was by that which knew that God had spoken to man and knew that man was to eat of the trees of the garden and by this knowledge it was that Pride asked the question yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden And what was that that thus lifted up man was it not his Will wherein he desired to be as Gods but this Will was not so strong at first as to prevail with man to go out of Gods will there was a greater appearance at first of Pride in questioning the truth of what God had said than there was an appearance of Will to be as gods And in this the Serpent the Tempter was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made for man having the enjoyment and dominion over all them they never lifted up the heart of man into pride nor did they cause in man a will or desire to be as gods When God had made man the tree of Life was in the midst of the garden in the midst of mans heart or the inward part of man which was Jesus in man keeping man in obedience to God As long as man obeyed God he lived in God and God lived in him and the tree of knowledge of good and evil both trees were in the midst of the garden and were not forbidden to be there that which was forbidden was the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil The eating of the fruit of it was forbidden and not onely to be eaten but not to be touched and that is the great mystery of the Creation of man which God in his time will make known in man and to man his Creature that both trees were in man as made in his Image To be tempted is no sin nor forbidden that which is forbidden is to yield to the temptation that is sin To eat of the
God in true self-denial in being as a nothing in thy self until God send his spirit that quiet into all truth to guide to search to let thee understand something of the great mystery that is in these few words Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil thou wouldst then find that those few words have been much read without and very little understood by the outward Readers within they have read little of them within themselves The forbidden fruit as it was presented in the temptation it was pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make wise the knowing of Gods will and not to do Gods will is the forbidden fruit What God requires of man to obey him in and what man knows to be Gods will that he should obey him in is good but to know Gods will and not to do it is evil that is the knowing of good and evil in the action which is sin To know is very pleasant to the eye because it makes wise and how much is there a desire in man going forth after knowledge that they may be wise because Wisdom is one part of the Essence or Being of God and it is to be like God and so man in the temptation had a desire to be like God as being wise And thus man desired to know more of God than he desired in that knowledge to yield obedience to God in what he knew of God And this is the forbidden fruit to have a desire to be wise like God to know God or the mind and will of God and not to obey God according to what he knew to be Gods will this was Adams fall this was the forbidden fruit which man was not to eat of nor yet to touch it And now man is fallen who can say upon a true examination of himself in the inward parts that he is now judged or condemned for the doing of any thing but for the doing of those things that God hath made known to him that he ought not to do or else he is judged and condemned for the not doing of those things that God hath made known to him to be his will that he ought to do and should do the condemnation is either for doing what we know we ought not to do or for leaving undone what we know that we should do The woman mystically being the figure of mans being drawn by the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man for as the Lord God took the woman out of Adam so is mans being drawn by the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man is the work of the Lord God and they are given as Help-meets for the life of Jesus in man that is as Help-meets for that life of Jesus in man that is in him saving of him from sin And as the woman as she was taken out of Adam although she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh yet she had a distinct and separated body from Adam so in the mystery is to be understood mans being drawn by the spirit of Jesus or the goings or leadings forth of the spirit of Jesus in man although taken out of Jesus in man as the woman was taken out of man to be distinct and separated from Jesus in man and serve for the end the woman was created for to be as an Help-meet for man so man by these drawings of the spirit or the goings or leadings forth of man by the spirit of Jesus in man are as Help-meets for the life of Jesus in man How is the life of Jesus in man refreshed and comforted when there is in man a drawing going or leading forth of the spirit to meditate of Gods goodness or to meditate of some mystery that God is making known to the Soul either what God is or what he hath made man to be or what man was before the fall or what man made himself by the fall or what God hath made man by his redeeming of him or what man shall be in the resurrection or sometimes in praying or speaking or some sudden Vision or breakings out of the manifestations of Gods love in these or other of the drawings leadings or goings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in man How is the Life of Jesus in man helped and refreshed that is that Life of Jesus in man that is in him saving of him from sin So as the woman was created to be an Help-meet for Adam so hath God made man by these drawings leadings or goings forth of man by the Spirit of Jesus in man as Help-meets for the Life of Jesus in man as he is in man a saving him from sin Now as I said before as the woman although taken out of Adam and was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh yet she had a distinct and separate body of her self So in the mystery although man by these drawings of the Spirit or goings or leadings forth of man by the Spirit they come from Jesus and are taken out of Jesus in man yet in the mystery they are to be looked upon as a distinct and separate body from Jesus in man as the woman was a distinct and separate body from man Now the Serpents self or a mans own will as separated from God as it is in the fall and so is become a fallen Angel or Spirit and being in the garden of God that is in the heart or inward part of man this presents to the woman that is to man as being drawn of the Spirit or his goings or being led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in man a desire more to know the things of God than to come into the obedience of what God hath by those drawings leadings or goings forth of the Spirit made known to them to obey him in and this is the forbidden Fruit for man to desire to know more of God in those manifestations or enjoyments that he hath received from God by the drawings leadings or goings forth of his Spirit in them than to obey God in what he knew of God or that God doth make known to him of himself in those manifestations or enjoyments that he gives of himself unto man And this desire after knowledge this Serpents self or a mans own will in the fall presents to be very pleasant to the eye of the woman and to be desired to be made wise and by it to be as Gods But these presentations to the woman is to be taken as if man in these drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit were distinct and separate from Jesus as the woman was from the man And that is onely to be taken as to that sense or knowledge that the Soul wherein these drawings or goings forth of the Spirit are acted hath of them that is as the Soul or inward part of man does look upon the drawings
goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in them and take them in as their own drawings goings or leadings forth after God and do not look upon them as they are the work of God or Jesus in them And thus as at a distance or separate from Jesus that is the Soul first losing the being sensible of its being drawn going or being led forth by the Spirit of Jesus in them to be the work of Jesus in them and so not keeping in the low and meek Spirit but being lifted up with what they enjoy of God in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in them self or mans will in the fall prevails through the pleasing part that it hath of those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit as to look upon them as their own and they do not look upon them as the work of Jesus in them And from this a desire gets up in man to be wise And so that in man which is the woman that was drawn led or went forth by the Spirit takes and eats of them that is to take it down into them and satisfie themselves therewith as their own drawings leadings or goings forth after God which they were drawn led or went forth to by the Spirit of Jesus in them Not that the drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit of Jesus in man can eat of the forbidden Fruit they cannot eat of the forbidden Fruit but man in those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit eats of the forbidden Fruit that is he takes down into himself as man does the food he eats a desire more to know of God than to obey God in what he knows And so as mans body is satisfied with taking in and eating of his food so man satisfies himself with taking and eating of knowledge and contents himself with knowledge as with food to live upon and his life is in it And the reason why man takes in eats and feeds himself upon knowledge in the drawings leadings or goings forth of Jesus's Spirit in him is because of mans not minding or having regard to the root from whence those drawings goings or leadings forth of the Spirit in him sprung which is from Jesus in them but they looking upon them as their own and as springing or coming from something of their own And here the subtile Serpents self or mans own will as it is separated from Gods will gets in his head and having got in his head he by degrees rigles in his whole body He at first began so with the woman he first said to her Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden He puts it by way of question and causes her to question whether it were true or no that God had said that they should not eat of every tree of the garden And when Jesus the Light that lightneth every man that cometh into the world tells the woman what was Gods Command and the Will of God that they should do and the punishment if they transgressed Gods Command that is they should die it was Jesus in the woman that gave the Serpent this answer it was that in the woman that if she would have believed and obeyed would have kept her from sinning from eating the forbidden fruit But the Serpent he having got in his head into her in causing her to question the truth of Gods Command whether or no God had said they should not eat of every tree of the garden Now he rigleth in his whole body and by his lying would make God a lyar saying Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Here the Serpent gets in his body rigling it in a little at once First he removes the penalty out of the womans thoughts perswading her she shall not die as God had said and so gives God the lye or makes God a lyar And when the Serpent had perswaded the woman that God had not said true then he easily wrought in her a good opinion of himself that he spake true when he told her the lye that God knew that in the day she eat of the forbidden Fruit their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil they should not onely be as Gods but their eyes should be opened so as that they should see themselves as Gods How doth experience at this day teach the truth of this That before the Devil doth prevail with them to yield to his temptations he first begets a doubt or question in the heart whether indeed God hath forbidden the doing of what the Devil tempteth to do that is as the Devil presents his false gloss upon it that there is a good to be gained by yielding to his temptations as he did the forbidden fruit to the woman that it was good for food and to be desired to make wise And if the Devil once prevail so far as to get the Creature to reason the case with him whether the doing of what he tempteth to be lawful or not lawful and so makes the person doubtful and questioning in what before he knew and believed to be the will of God and obeyed God in as was the case of the woman she knew and believed she was not to eat of the forbidden fruit and for a time obeyed God in it then he soon prevails with them as he did with the woman to hopes of escaping the penalty that Jesus the Light in them hath told them would follow upon their breaking Gods Command and then how easily is the Creature carried away to a belief of what the Devil said to be true as did the woman that by yielding to his temptations they shall be great gainers the woman was promised to have her eyes opened and to be as Gods knowing good and evil What greater gain can any have by yielding to the Devils temptations than to have their eyes opened and to be as Gods And who is it that can say if ever they did take any notice or regard how the Devil tempts them and how they have been carried away with his temptations if they have not in some degree or measure found it to be so That first there is a question or doubt in them whether what they are tempted to be a breaking of the Command of God or if it be a breaking of the Command of God yet not so great a breaking of the Command of God as that they shall surely die for it that is be surely damned for it but they may eat of the forbidden fruit and yet be as Gods that is break Gods Command and please themselves therein and have their own minds wills and desires satisfied in what they do And what can be greater gain than this to have their minds and wills This to them is a Kingdom and herein they think themselves
to be as gods to be of himself and to do of himself that is to be as gods to have no dependency upon another but of himself and thus man in the garden and in the time of his being drawn led or carried forth by the spirit of God or Jesus was tempted by the Serpent the subtilty of self in him and by the temptation deceived the temptation prevailed in him to a desire to be as gods Man as he was made in the Image of God so he had in him neither desire nor will to eat of the forbidden fruit but yet he was not so made in the Image of God but that Desire and Will got up in him to eat of the forbidden fruit as he did In the midst of the garden was the tree of life Jesus that saves from sin is the tree of life this was in the midst of man as he was made in the Image of God and the fruit that this tree brings forth is obedience to God and of this fruit of the garden man was commanded by God freely to eat of he eat no other meats that is as the natural body takes into it outward meat and eats it and so is filled and satisfied with it so man as made in the Image of God he took in of the fruit of the tree of life Jesus which brought forth the fruit of obedience in him and man eat thereof that is he filled and satisbed himself with obedience to God as he was in the Image of God As the outward body takes in and eats and fills and satisfies it self with outward meat so man as made in the Image of God eat took in filled and satisfied himself with obedience to God And the tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden that is man knew Gods will what he should do and that was good and what he should not do and that was evil and for a time man stood in his obedience to God eat of the fruit of the tree of life and lived in obedience to God for a time although the tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden God had made known in man what was good and what was evil which was not forbidden to be in man what God did forbid was evil man was not to do evil but mans knowing of what God had forbidden was not an evil so the tree of knowing what was good that God had commanded to do and knowing what was evil that God had forbidden to do was not an evil tree in it self and therefore not forbidden to be in man God doth continue it still in man it was the eating of it or the fruit of it and touching of the fruit of it that was forbidden and man did not eat of the fruit thereof as soon as he was in the woman tempted by the Serpent but at or in the beginning of the temptation he stood in his obedience to God in eating of the fruit of the tree of life as appears by his acknowledging in the woman Thou mayst eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die here man continued in his obedience eating of the fruit of the tree of life although tempted and in the acknowledging Gods Command to the full height or largeness of it in answer to that doubtful question of the Serpent Ye hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden take notice how the Serpent leaves out Gods Command and the Name of the tree that God had commanded not to eat of that so his temptation might the easier take place and by it got into the man by the woman and onely puts it in as a question Yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden when it was Gods Command saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 2. 16 17. mark here is a Command forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but there is nothing said of not touching the fruit thereof and when man by Jesus in him gave an answer to the Serpent by the woman and that while he stood in his obedience eating of the fruit of the Tree of life he tells the Serpent that they were not onely forbidden to eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil that was in the midst of the garden but they were not to touch the fruit of it By which it plainly appears that at the first beginning of the temptation man did not yield thereunto but stood fast in his obedience in feeding upon the fruit of the Tree of life in him Jesus the Tree that brought forth the fruit of obedience in him and so kept him from sin But the Serpent for so may the temptation be fitly compared to a Serpent who can twist and turn himself round and round he continued in his body turning it about the Tree of Knowledge As I have seen the likeness of a Serpent by man pictured upon the likeness of a Tree without me so have I experimentally seen the Serpent within me upon the Tree of Knowledge And although the Scripture doth not plainly speak it in plain words yet experience teaches me and the Scripture speaks to that purpose that although the Serpent had so full an answer given to him that not onely the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden to be eaten but it was also forbidden to be touched yet the Serpent would not leave his temptation in his doubtful question whether God had said they should not eat of every Tree in the garden but the Serpent did continue in his temptation therein tempting man till he had caused man in the woman to doubt or question the truth of what God had commanded for if man in the woman had not doubted or questioned the truth of what God had commanded he could never have believed the Serpent when he made God a lyar God had said to the man In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die And the Serpent said to man in the woman Ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day mark that God had said That in the day man eat thereof man should surely die The Serpent said to man in the woman Ye shall not surely die And that God knows that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be open and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil In that day that God had said they should die in that day the Serpent said they should be as gods Can any one believe that the Serpent could have perswaded man by the woman
to have believed this notorious lye of his if he had not continued in his temptation twisting winding and turning himself about the Tree of knowledge in man and in that causing him in the woman first to question the truth of what God had said that he should not eat of every Tree of the garden Before the Serpent could perswade him into a belief by the woman that they should not surely die if they did eat of the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat of and not onely so but perswaded him to a belief that God knew that in the day they eat thereof their eyes should be opened and they should be as gods knowing good and evil I say can any one believe that the Serpent could perswade man that he should not surely die in the day that he eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil if he had not first prevailed with man in the first part of the temptation to question or doubt whether or no it were true that God had said that they should not eat of every Tree of the garden And thus when the Serpent had prevailed with man to bring him to doubt or question the truth of what God had said and to believe the lye that the Serpent had said when the temptation had prevailed to this then man in the woman saw that the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make wise then by the woman man took of the fruit thereof and did eat And thus the desire of the will got to be uppermost in man after the forbidden fruit Man then did not obey God according to that knowledge that he had of God but had a greater desire after the fruit of the Tree of knowledge than he had after the fruit of the Tree of life which fruit was obedience which for a time he had eaten and lived in but when the desire was carried out after knowledge to eat of that fruit and live of that then man died in his life of obedience then man died in that very day of the week that he eat of the forbidden fruit he then died so as he ceased to obey God in what he knew of God And then he eat he filled and satisfied himself with knowledge and desired knowledge more than obedience to God in what he knew of God And although knowledge while obedience was joyned with it was a good Tree yet when man did not continue yielding obedience to God in what he knew of God then knowledge it became an evil Tree and brought forth the evil fruit of disobedience which was forbidden which man was not to eat of nor to touch it for in the day he eat of it he was surely to die and did die in the day of the week that he eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil but not a death of the body that lived hundreds of years after his eating of the forbidden fruit Jesus was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world John 1. 8. and so he was in man as made in the Image of God he was the true Light that gave him the true knowledge of God what was Gods will that he should do and what was Gods will that he should not do And so knowledge as a Tree was in man when man was in the Image of God and while man yielded obedience to God according to the knowledge that he had of God it was a Tree of knowledge of good but when man had the knowledge of what was the will of God and did not obey God in that knowledge then that knowledge that was good in man became evil And so the Tree of knowledge of good became a Tree of the knowledge of actual evil and brought forth the fruit of disobedience which was sin which man was not to eat of nor touch man then knew evil by doing of evil which before he onely knew evil as it was what God had forbidden to be done and in that knowledge of evil was no sin committed no Command of God broken in the knowledge of that to be evil that God had forbidden to be eaten of And if any should think it not to be true that the Serpent should set upon man to tempt him when he was in that glorious state of his heart being filled with Gods love and his love to God and upon God onely and he in that state of love to do all that he did by the Spirit of God drawing leading or carrying him forth to do what he did and then in that time when he was eating of the fruit of the Tree of life in him for the Serpent to set upon him as he did to tempt him not to be contented with that state that God had made him in his Image but have a desire to be as gods I desire them that question the truth of it to consider Christs temptations and when the Devil set upon him to tempt him and read it in Matthew Mark and Luke and you shall find it to be at that time when he had fulfilled all righteousness and was full of the Holy Ghost and had that manifestation by a voice from Heaven that he was Gods beloved Son in whom he was well pleased And then immediately the Devil set upon him to tempt him and what was he tempted to He was tempted not to be contented with that condition that he was then in as being an hungry he was tempted not to be contented with it but to make use of a means that God had not appointed to satisfie his hunger And the like may be observed in the other temptations And although there was a declaration from Heaven that he was Gods beloved son and that God was well pleased with him yet the Devil tempts him twice with a doubt or question whether he were the son of God in these words If thou be the son of God command these stones to be made bread And if thou be the son of God cast thy self down And the Devil brings Scripture if I may so say to prove that he might yield to him in his temptation in casting himself down For it is written he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone Both these temptations were that by his yielding to them he might have or manifest a further or another manifestation or making known of himself to be the son of God than that manifestation or making known of him to be the son of God that the Father had given of him from Heaven But Christ did not yield to any of the temptations man at first resisted the temptation of the Serpent and did not yield to it yet man did not as Christ did continue resisting the temptation and so he was prevailed with and overcome and eat of the forbidden fruit