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
drawings of the Spirit of Jesus the true Light in man who in the woman gave this answer to the subtile Serpent We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden But of the fruit of the tree that 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 by the woman in the help and assistance of the Spirit of Jesus the Light in man that caused him to relate to the Serpent the Command of God in what was Gods revealed will to him and in him wherein he was to obey God in doing what God had commanded him to do and wherein he was to obey God in what God had commanded him not to do And hereby having his will kept and preserved in the will of God he resisted the temptation and stood in his obedience to God feeding upon the Tree of Life in him But the Serpent continuing his temptation said unto the woman 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 Serpent had before asked the Question in man Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden What could he willed or desired in the asking of this Question but the drawing of man out of his obedience to God into disobedience But the will at that time was not gotten to be so strong in the man as to prevail over man but it was resisted by the power of God in man May I not say by the same power of God in man that prayed Father not my will but thy will be done Here began the strife between the two wills in man which Paul was sensible of when he said The good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do Rom. 7. God by his Spirit strove in the will of man that is in that will of man which had yielded obedience to God in his Commands and knew the doing of nothing else but of the Commands of God and thereby drawing man to keep man still in obedience to his Commands But another will appeared in man that strove to bring man out of his obedience to God in the keeping his Commands into the disobedience in not doing his Commands for what can it be else but a will that strove so much in man to bring man from his obedience into disobedience In the asking that Question Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden that which asked that Question it was that in man that after it had made a beginning would not nor did not leave tempting of man until it had brought man into disobedience An outward Serpent it could not be because he was one of the Creatures that God had given man dominion over and God brought him to man to name God made him subject to man and man in obedience to God having rule and dominion over him did name him But besides that which makes it undeniable that it was not an outward Serpent is this the seed of the woman which on all hands is owned to be Jesus that saves from sin was to bruise the head of this Serpent that tempted man to eat of the forbidden Tree and this Serpent that tempted man to eat of the Tree that God had forbidden was to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman bruise the heel of Jesus bruise the heel of that which saves from sin And where can ye find in the Scriptures or any where else that ever Jesus that saves from sin bruised the head of this outward Serpent or that ever this outward Serpent bruised the heel of Jesus bruised the heel of that in man that saves man from sin But to this purpose ye may read in Scripture that Jesus in man that saves man from sin bruise the head of that will in man that tempt man to eat of the forbidden Fruit that tempt man to do the things that God hath forbidden as that you may read in the seventh of the Romans where Paul cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of death whereas before he made a great complaint of doing what he would not he found a will in him drawing him to do that God had commanded him not to do but he finds a remedy against that will that bruised the head of that will and that is Jesus Christ And this will in man is known to bruise the heel of Jesus that is as Jesus is in man a saving of man from sin and so bringing man into God again this will in man is striving in man to hinder and hurt this work of Jesus as appears in the aforesaid seventh of the Romans To speak something to the words in the latter part of the temptation of the Serpent whereby he prevailed with the woman Ye shall not surely die although the temptation did not at first prevail with the woman to question the truth of what she knew whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden yet in the continuing of the temptation I believe he did at length prevail with the woman to question the truth of it whether God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden or else how could he have prevailed with her to a belief that they should not surely die if they did eat of it For God had as surely said that they should die in the day that they eat thereof as he had said Ye shall not eat of it but the Serpent having caused in her a doubt or question whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of it he causeth her to believe Ye shall not surely die if they did eat of it How can it be thought that the woman could believe the temptation that they should not surely die if they did eat of the forbidden Tree being God had certainly said that they should surely die in the day they eat of it if she had not first yielded to the temptation to doubt or question the truth whether God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden and if they did they should surely die Doth not experience teach the truth of this that when the Tempter tempteth to do what God hath forbidden that there is first a question or a doubt got up in man whether God hath forbidden it or no And if he cannot prevail so far then to question if it be forbidden yet not so forbidden with such strictness and severity as the Light of God in man doth at first discover it to be forbidden that if they eat of it in the day they eat of it they shall surely die they shall surely receive a punishment from God for it And then although there may not be altogether a yielding so fully to the temptation as to
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
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
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
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
like Gods they are as Gods to themselves for as God made all things for himself to be glorified in them so as much as in them lieth they make all things their own to satisfie and please themselves in them and yet please themselves with a hope that God will forgive them all their sins and that they shall be like God at last And thus when the Serpent had prevailed in his temptations with the woman that they should not surely die but that their eyes should be opened and they should be as Gods knowing good and evil and that 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 then she took of the fruit thereof and did eat The fruit of the Tree was wilful disobedience she eat she satisfied her self with a desire after the knowledge of good and willingly neglected her obedience to God she knew Gods mind and will what she should do but did not obey God in that she knew to be Gods will that she ought to obey him in but instead of yielding obedience to God in what she knew of God the Serpent telling her that their eyes should be opened that was to see more or better than they did see as much in difference as is between seeing with the eyes as if they were shut and the seeing with them wide open And this must be understood as to the understanding and knowing part in man for none can be so ignorant as to think that the eyes of their bodies were not open before the temptation but it is the eye of the understanding and knowledge that was to be opened by yielding to the temptation to know more of God than they did know of him And by this the woman was carried out to a desire of another knowledge of God and likewise to God than that knowledge of God that God had given to them in the Creation and another likeness of God than that Image of God that he had made them in And by this running out after a desire of a greater measure of the knowledge of God and likeness to God and not to obey God in what they knew to be his will to obey him in Here disobedience that got in the forbidden fruit that was eaten they eat that is they filled and satisfied themselves with a desire of knowledge as a man eats and satisfies himself with meat and did not yield obedience to God according to what they knew of God and so that knowledge of God and likeness to God that they were made in And as they were created so they for a time had obeyed God in that knowledge and in that likeness that they were created in until the time of their disobedience and then by their eating of the forbidden fruit their obedience died in them And so man died in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit he died in his obedience to God his obedience to God died in him he died as to that knowledge that he had of God as being in Gods Image the Image of God that he was made in was dead in him mans body did not die in the day he eat the forbidden fruit nor was mans body that Image of God that he made man in Before mans fall all that he did was done by his being drawn lead or going forth by the Spirit of Jesus in him he knew nothing but God and the doing Gods will and to that state man is again to be restored 1 Cor. 15. 45 47 49. The first Adam was made a living soul this was not the body of Adam that God made of the dust of the ground but it was that which after he had made that body then God breathed into that body the breath of life and man became a living soul which was this first Adam the last Adam was made a quickning spirit The first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven As we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also have the Image of the heavenly Here the Apostle giveth the description of the two Adams and what they were made the first a living soul the second a quickning spirit And then what they were the first man is of the earth the second man is the Lord from heaven And then he describeth how he and the Saints were in likeness to the first Adam and shall be in likeness to the last Adam and to the first and second man And as we have born the Image of the earthy we shall also bear the Image of the heavenly Not that we do now bear the Image of the heavenly but we shall in time to come also bear the Image of the heavenly that is as certainly as we have born the Image of the earthy so certainly shall we also when the time shall come bear the Image of the heavenly that is as the Apostle and Saints did then experimentally know what it was to bear the Image of the earthy so by faith they did as certainly believe that they should also bear the Image of the heavenly And to that Image that the Apostle spake of that he and the Saints then were in of the first Adam that was made a living soul which was not mans body that was made of the Earth but that of man which was made in the Image and likeness of God I pray take notice man in the creation was not made God he was but made in the Image and likeness of God God is unchangeable and cannot fall God in man did not change it was that in man that was made like God that changed his Image was changeable which is well worth our taking notice of which if we did our experience would tell us the truth of it how Gods Image changes in us And man in the creation was not so made in the Image and likeness of God but that he might change as he did in eating of the forbidden fruit not by the Command of God but contrary to Gods Command To that state of the Saints in this life which was made in the Image of God and so made as it may be changeable by eating of the forbidden fruit doth what I have here already writ for the most part tend unto that as they have born the Image of the earthy and so was the woman that was deceived and in the transgression for the same Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 13 14. Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression Adam here cannot be taken for the first man Adam made of the Earth for so he eat of the forbidden fruit as did the woman and was deceived and in the transgression with the woman and for his offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation Rom. 5. 12 verse to the 20 verse But Adam here must be Jesus who was made a quickning Spirit and is Lord from Heaven
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
first would have brought man out of his obedience to God into disobedience to God was the same subtile Serpent the same will that in time did its will in bringing man out of obedience to God into the disobedience to God Now this serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made Man in the enjoyment of all the Creatures the Fish in the Sea the Fowl of the Air and the Cattel of all the Earth and the creeping things that creep upon the Earth all these did not tempt nor prevail with man to draw or take his will out of Gods will in doing the things that God had commanded to do and in leaving undone the things that God had commanded him not to do But man in the enjoying and having dominion over all these his will was kept in the doing of Gods will and in the enjoying of all these his will was wholly resigned up into Gods will and to do what God would have him to do with them he knew no will of his own in the enjoyment and having dominion over them all for when God in his will brought to Adam every Beast of the Field and every Fowl of the Air to see what Adam would call them whatsoever man called every living creature that was the name thereof Thus was man kept in the enjoyment and having dominion over all Creatures by Jesus the Light of God in him that none of them tempted him to draw his obedience from God into disobedience to God but his will continued firm in the being resigned up into Gods will and kept in the doing of what God would have him to do and he knew no other will but that will that did Gods will in him But the Serpent that was more subtile than any Beast of the Field he gets into Gods garden into the heart or inward part in man and then there was something in man that would have that done in man that God had forbidden man to do and this at length proved a will in man for that which began the temptation in man continued the temptation in him till there was a willingness in man to yield to the temptation Now the Serpent began his temptation very subtilly and said Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden He puts it by way of question Whether it were so or no that God had said they should not eat of every Tree in the garden To eat is to take in content and satisfaction as the natural body is contented and satisfied with eating outward food so that was the Command of God that man should not eat should not content and satisfie himself with the Tree of knowledge of good and evil that is man should not be contented and satisfied in that he knew what was Gods declared will that he should do and what was Gods declared will that he should not do This man was not to eat of this man was not to content and satisfie himself in but he was to eat freely of the other trees of the garden Man was commanded to eat freely of the Tree of Life of Jesus by which he was by his Spirit in him led into obedience to the Commands of God of this man was to feed freely of that is man might freely content and satisfie himself in that he was drawn by the Spirit of God the Light of Jesus in him into the obedience of Gods Commands and in the doing thereof he knew nothing of any will of his own but was led and drawn thereunto by the will of God in him And on this Tree he was freely to eat freely to content and satisfie himself in But if man as to the outward doing of things does those things that God hath commanded him to do and does them from the leadings or drawings of his own will in him and feed upon this content and satisfie himself with what he does in obedience to God and done in his own will this is the eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil for although one part of it be good as it is the doing of what God hath commanded yet the other part of it is evil as it is a doing of what God hath forbidden for God is a jealous God and will not give his glory to another God will not have mans will to be the leading or moving case In the leading or drawing of man out to do God's will in the doing what God hath commanded to be done this God hath forbidden in man to be done that is God hath forbidden man to take his work out of his hands for it is Gods work onely to work in man an obedience to himself he must work both to will and to do The subtilty of the Serpent said in man Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden Which is as much as to say Is there any Tree in the garden that God hath said Ye shall not eat of Is there any thing in the heart or inward part of man that God hath said Man shall not eat of man shall not content and satisfie himself in Oh how willing is man to eat of to content and satisfie himself with what he finds to be in his own heart or in the inward part of man and especially if he find any thing there that would be willing to be in the doing of any thing as to the outward things that he knew that God hath commanded him to do How little then does man question whether he may not eat of this Fruit content and satisfie himself in his doing of those things that he knew that God hath commanded to be done And so man in the doing the things that God hath commanded to be done in his own will to please content and satisfie himself in the doing of them and man not waiting for the strivings of the Spirit of God in him to draw him forth in Gods will in the doing of those things that God hath required of him to do but mans doing of them in his own will this is the eating of the forbidden Fruit which the Serpent subtilly tempteth to do in his doubtful Question Whether or no God had said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden But man in the woman did not presently yield to this temptation of the subtile Serpent will in the woman had not gotten so much power over the man but when the subtile Serpent presented his doubtful Question in the woman Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden Jesus the Word the true Light of God in man was then striving in man to draw and preserve him from being led into the temptation And so it was no sin in man to be tempted the sin was in being led into the temptation that is in yielding to the temptation which for a time man was kept from by the strivings of the Spirit of God in man the
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
tree of knowledge of good and evil or the fruit of it or to touch the fruit of it this was what was forbidden Jesus was tempted but he did not yield to the temptation and so did not sin Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil Mat. 4. 1. mark that led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil read it within who can in the mystery there is so much in it and so much do I see in it that if I should declare it few at this day could bear it Jesus told his Disciples I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now John 16. 12. I hope I may without offence to any write what is in the Scripture And first as to the time when Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Matth. 4. 1. which is not by every one that reads it minded or any notice taken of it although there is very much in it The time it was then when at that very time that Jesus had by his Fore-runner John fulfilled all Righteousness and had the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighted upon him and lo a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Matth. 3. 15 16 17. then was the time Mark 1. 12. immediately it was that then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Secondly it was Jesus it was the beloved Son of God in whom he was well pleased that had fulfilled all Righteousness it was he that came to save his people from their sins that was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil the Scripture does not say that he went of himself into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Mark saith of it Mark 1. 12. the spirit driveth him into the wilderness Thirdly it was the spirit that led up the beloved Son of God in whom he was well pleased that had fulfilled all Righteousness that came to save his people from their sins into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil it was no man nor any outward earthy Creature that led up Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil but Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil there is much in that I pray mark the words of the Scripture it is not said that Jesus was led down of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil but Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Fourthly this beloved Son of God in whom God was well pleased that had fulfilled all Righteousness that came to save his people from their sins whither was he led up of the spirit to be tempted of the Devil it was into the wilderness not onely led up to a wilderness which might be to the outside of a wilderness but led up into the wilderness he was led up into the wilderness he was in the wilderness what wilderdess the wilderness is all the name that is given to it in the Scriptures outward wilderness have outward names There is a wilderness that is not without nor hath an outward name and yet it is a wilderness and may truly be said to be the wilderness Fifthly and this beloved Son of God in whom he was well pleased that had fulfilled all Righteousness that came to save his people from their sins was lâ—d up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil as first being there in the wilderness and in want he was then tempted by the Devil to do that which God had not commanded him to do to supply his want being an hungred he was tempted to command those stones to be made bread Secondly he being taken up mark that taken up of the Devil into the holy City and set upon a pinacle of the Temple he was tempted of the Devil to presume upon God the Fathers love and care because God had given his Angels charge concerning him to preserve him from harm therefore he was tempted to cast himself down from a pinacle of the Temple Thirdly he was taken up mark that taken up by the Devil into an exceeding high mountain and shewed all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and tempted by the Devil to do that which was altogether unlawful to have given to him the things of the World the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and that was to fall down and worship the Devil And in these temptations in the wilderness that he was of the spirit led up into he did make it appear that he was the Son of God by his obedience to God as is plain by his not yielding in the least to any of the Temptations Sixthly this beloved Son of God in whom God was well pleased that had fulfilled all Righteousness that came to save his people from their sins he was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil to be tempted of him that was a murderer from the beginning to be tempted of him that abode not in the truth to be tempted of him that there is no truth in him to be tempted of him that is a lyar and the father of lyes John 8. 44. I pray take notice of this that the Scripture doth not say that Jesus was led up of the spirit to be tempted of the Devil any where but onely in the wilderness and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterwards an hungred mark that an hungred he wanted bread there is much in that of Jesus being an hungred and when the Tempter came to him he said the Tempter said that which tempted him it was that which said which being taken notice of it may as an instrument in Gods hand be as an help to understand what the wilderness was and what the Devil was and what Jesus temptations were that he was tempted in the holy City and the Temple they were not in an outward wilderness and where is there an outward mountain in the outward world so exceedingly high that upon it may be seen all the outward Kingdoms of the outward World and the outward glory of them and Jesus in the temptation was taken up into an exceeding high mountain and shewed all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them if the Reader who understandeth little or nothing of the mystery of Jesus being led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil did but in true silence of all the earthy part in him of all that is of the flesh in him wait upon God and be like the poor Widow to the unjust Judge who would not give over going to him until he had done her justice so not to give over waiting upon
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
and what the Lord said to Satan of Job and wha Satan said to the Lord concerning Job and the leave that the Lord gave Satan to try Jobs Integrity and how Satan tryed Job I have also read that the Lord said to Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren And of Peters Confidence not to deny Jesus and how he was prevailed with to deny Jesus and of his repenting And I have likewise read of Jesus being led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and when the Tempter came to him what he said to Jesus what answers Jesus gave the Tempter and Devil and by my reading of them and remembring what I had read I could speak and discourse of them but I knew little of them in comparison of what I did then speak of them nor do I now know any thing of them but what by experience I hear of them spoken within me and have seen with the inward eye and have looked upon within me as a measure of them have been acted done or wrought within me and I do believe it to be unlawful for me now to speak or declare more of them than what by experience I have seen and heard of them within me and so much I may speak and declare and no more And if it be objected to me If thou mayst speak or declare no more than what by experience thou hast within thee heard and seen then how hast thou heard and seen within thee That Jesus is a light to all and a Saviour to some that have not heard of an outward Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and crucified at Jerusalem To that I answer I was once without the true knowledge of that Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and Crucified at Jerusalem although from my being a Child I was brought up to read the Scriptures that make mention of such a Jesus and I was taught by my Parents to say that I believed there was such a Jesus and yet I do now know that I did not then when I read of such a Jesus in the Scriptures and said I believed in such a Jesus I did not then know that there was such a Jesus I was onely learned to say so but I knew it not and what was I then better than those that never heard of the name of such a Jesus when I onely heard of the name but knew not what he was that is I knew not what he was as he was sent of God to save from sin And all that profess themselves Christians and know any thing of the work of God in their hearts will own that the knowing by reading or here-say of such a Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and so growing up to be a man and Crucified at Jerusalem and know no more of him that this knowledge of him does them no good as to their Salvation and what are they then the better for their hearing or reading of the Name of such a Jesus are they any thing better than those that never heard of that Name But that knowledge of Jesus that does them good to their Salvation is the knowing of him to be a Jesus that is a Saviour that saves from sin that knowing of him is that which is onely good and profitable to their Salvation and not the hearing or knowing of an outward name of Jesus I knowing and having experience of this within me to be true that it is not the hearing and knowing of the outward Name Jesus that does man any good to his Salvation but it is the knowing him to be Jesus a Saviour from sin that does man good to Salvation and thereby I know and have experienced that God may save some that have not heard of an outward Jesus born of the Virgin Mary and Crucified at Jerusalem and the way how he saves them is by saving them from their sins before I know a saving from sin I know nothing of Jesus but onely as I had heard or read of the Name Jesus but of the nature of Jesus as he is a Saviour sent of God I was as ignorant as those that never heard of the name Jesus I onely knew the Name as it was written in these letters JESVS but the nature of Jesus as he is a Saviour I knew not I did not know him as he is the great power of God to Salvation the onely begotten son of Gods Love the true Light which makes known to man the unchangeable being of Gods Love to the World MAN that whosoever believed in him the onely begotten Son of God the true Light that is whosoever so believed the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World so that none are without this Light they that so believe in this true Light that tells them this is good and what they ought to do and this is evil which they ought not to do and yield obedience to God according to what this true Light the onely begotten Son of God in them makes known to them to be Gods will that they should do or that they should leave undone These that so yield an obedience to the light in them in doing the good that this Light makes known in them they ought to do and in leaving undone the evil that this Light makes known to them that they should not do these are they that Gods love is so to in his begotten Son as that they shall not perish but have everlasting life and this believing the true Light Jesus the onely begotten Son of God and yielding obedience thereunto is not wrought in them by the reading or hearing of a Name Jesus that a man had that was born of the Virgin Mary and Crucified at Jerusalem and that knowledge that we have by reading the Scriptures and hearing the name Jesus preached that is all the knowledge that we now can have more than those that never heard of that Name and of that Man But that which give us the true knowledge of that Name and what that Man was before that Body had a being upon the Earth and what it was when it had a being upon the Earth and what it is now it hath no being upon the Earth I say that which gives us the true knowledge of what that man Jesus was before he had a body upon the Earth and what he was in that body upon the Earth and what he is now that body is taken from the Earth That which gives us the true knowledge of what he was and now is it is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World and so he is a light and the true light in those that never heard of that Name and of that Man as he is the same true light in us that hath heard of that Name and of that Man And as he
a power in Christ Jesus the true light to save us and in that belief to yield an obedience to God in what God hath made known to us to be his will to obey him in In this faith manifested by obedience the Scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation and then as they are given by inspiration of God they are profitable for Doctrine whatever is taught ought to be agreeable to the Scripture and the Scriptures are profitable for reproof all reproof ought to be agreeable to â—â—e Scriptures and they are profitable for correction all correction ought to be agreeable to the Scriptures and they are profitable for instruction in righteousness all instruction in righteousness is agreeable to the Scripture that by this means the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto good works How is the man of God to be made perfect throughly furnished unto good works that is how is the man of God to know perfectly and throughly what are those good works that God requires of him to do Is it not by the knowing of them as God hath been pleased to make known what is his revealed will for man to obey him in as they are written in the Scriptures I speak this as Paul did of those that have the Scriptures as Timothy had and not of those that have not the Scriptures who by the true Light the power of them Divine Nature in them do those things that God hath written in his Law within them by which Law written in them as they yield an obedience to it God perfectly and throughly furnishes the unto good works according to his revealed will written within them This is to make the right use of the Scriptures and not to Idolize them on the one hand as if eternal life was to be had in them as did the Jews and as once I did nor to undervalue them on the other hand as some do who because the true Light is in them and the same true light is in all men and therefore they undervalue the Scriptures because that is in them that gave forth the Scriptures And they are all undervaluers of the Scriptures who refuse to bring their works actions or doings to the Scriptures to try them by the Scriptures whether those works actions or doings of them be the works actions or doings of Jesus the true Light in them Jesus and the Apostles proved their works actions or doings by the Scriptures that they were done by the true Light in them that is that they were done as God had declared to be his will that they should do as it is written in the Scriptures which the holy men spake as they were moved by the true light in them And if any ones works actions or doings be the work of the true Light Jesus in them then they are agreeable and like the works actions of the holy men who gave forth the Scripture as those holy men wrought acted or did by the working acting or doing by the same spirit in them that gave forth the Scripture or agreeable and like the works actions or doings that the holy men by the spirit the true Light in them declared to be Gods mind and will for man to do And those works actions or doings let them be done by whom they will although by such as think themselves equal with the Apostles whose works actions and doings are not answerable and agreeing to what the holy men of old was moved to write to be Gods will that man should obey him in written in the Scriptures I say that if their works actions and doings be not answerable and agreeing to what is written in the Scriptures that is Gods declared mind and will for them to do they may talk of what light they please that light in them if they will have it so called that leads them forth in the doing of any thing that is contrary and not answerable and agreeing to Gods declared will written in the Scriptures it is not the true light but if it may be called a light it is that knowing light or the light of knowledge that Satan himself is transform'd into and it is no great thing if his Ministers or servants work act or do by that light as I my self have done and have therein been deceived by the subtile Serpents self in me I have known much of the subtile Serpents selfs Temptations how he hath tempted me in the doing of what God hath forbidden me to do that thereby I should be in knowledge as Gods knowing good and evil It was Gods Command to Isaiah chap. 8. to bind up the Testimony and seal the Law among his Disciples and that people should seek to their God to the Law and to the Testimony If they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them In Isaiah's days when the Scriptures were less than they are now yet they were then to be bound up and sealed amongst Gods Disciples and people were then to seek to their God to the Law and to the Testimony and if they did not then speak according to this Word of the Law and Testimony then written in the Scriptures it was because there was no light in them that is to say they did not speak according to the movings of the true light in them for man cannot shut or keep out the true light from being in him The true light Jesus is and will be in man teaching him what is Gods will for him to do and so enabling of him to do Gods will if he will believe in the Name in the Power of this Jesus the true Light that there is a power in this light to save from sin if he will yield an obedience to it in leaving and forsaking the doing of that which this light in him tells him God hath forbidden him to do and if man will not yield obedience to this true light the spirit of God in him and thereby come to be saved from sin then this true light the Spirit of God will remain and abide in him judging and condemning of him for his disobedience to the Command of God and they cannot keep it out of them but it will be in them judging and condemning of them for their disobedience And so the true light may be said to be in those that speak not according to the Law and the Testimony of the Scriptures But the true light is not in them so as that they are brought into the obedience of the light and so it may be said not to be in them The light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single the whole body is full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Mat. 6. 22 23. While the eye of the understanding and knowing part in man is single that is alone and onely for God and