that Knowledge which devours the life then be no longer as the wild Asses Colt but take up the yoak of the Son in whom thou sayest thou believest that the life of Faith thou may feel and know for only in the obedience is the life made sure to thee of what thou believest and thereby is Faith and Knowledge made perfect But until thou attain power for obedience of Faith thou art dead and knows but words in which thy Faith stands without life which accomplishes nothing but will arise to condemn thee when thy time is out Therefore in all thy seeking mind that which worketh in a lowly mind calling thee into the Obedience of what is there made manifest in the begettings of the Father and not in the conceivings of the Brain but in the Son For in the Brain-knowledge the Boaster Rules who glories in the wisdom of words but not in the words of life but in the Obedience of the Son is the Father known and glorified in such as walk in the Spirit and not in the wind whose praise is of God and their lives hid with him from all knowledge but what is Revealed in the Obedience of the Son So from man you may learn the knowledge of words but the knowledge of life is only begotten of God so he that hath the Son hath life not of the disobedient Nature for the only begotten of God is Conformable to him that begetteth him in all things through Obedience So feeling thy measure of the begettings of God in it be obedient and seek not to be above it in any thing lest the enemy thereby get power in thee to puffe up thy mind in thy Knowledge above thy life which devoures the life Therefore as thou feels Faith Love Meeknesse Gentlenesse Patience or any Godlinesse move in the Spirit therein become obedient with all diligence and thereby shalt thou know the power thereof against all the contrary motions in thy flesh so shalt thou learn the salvation of Grace unto life eternal which thou canst never attain by talking or any other way but in the Obedience thereof so shalt thou not receive the grace of God in vain nor words without the working power of life whereby the living knowledge of the Mystery of godlinesse will daily encrease For by Obedience of the Spirit is the soul purified from its darknesse and pollution and made fit for the further manifestation of the hidden Mystery and the receiving the fulnesse thereof and walking therein And so by the holy Ghost thou shalt be able to confess Jesus Lord over all powers in heaven and in earth the opener of all secrets and only revealer of the Father who begetteth by whom thou becomes wise in thy knowledge unto salvation not unto vain babling whose words shall rise and Condemne them who glory therein But thou if in Spirit thou hearken diligently and obey shalt know that he who sometimes spoke by the Prophets doth now speak by his Son the everlasting power of godlinesse only begotten of the Father and in all things like unto him in whom he is made manifest And the Prophets have Prophefied of Glory to come but the Son declares the Father in the present life according to the measure of him formed and as he arises in fulness he opens the heavens and gives the inheritance thereinto An opening of Light to all sorts of Rulers and People that wait for the Kingdom of God that you may not oppose him in his appearance nor set up another to reign upon earth in his stead DO you say you seek God you Rulers and People will you seek his face upon earth or would you see his appearance to reign in righteousnesse or can you rejoyce to see him manifest in Flesh or do you love his Image who is the Father of Lights from whom you look for the Son from Heaven then be not carnally minded in your expectation least you know him not in his appearance who is a Spirit and so oppose him as your Fathers in the flesh ever did except you be born of the Spirit you cannot see the Kingdom of God The Father dwells in the light and changes not and the Son is the light of the World in his own Image by whom he changes all things that are out of him and overturns shadows and customs and makes the world new and in Spirit and power is his Kingdom upon Earth and the flesh is the Vail with which he was ever hid from flesh and blood but revealed in spirit to such as desired to know no man after the flesh to set up or to worship And no man could ever say that this Jesus was Lord but by the Holy Ghost So with the light of the Spirit alone which sees through the vail is Jesus known to be Lord and King for ever with which you may all see what you set up to be Lord and Ruler in your selves or over others You that chuse Rulers Judges and Justices Mayors and Constables c. Do you see through the Vail to chuse Jesus in Spirit to Rule over you or over others Is that eye open which knows the Holy Ghost and what Vessell is filled therewith that you may chuse him to Rule in his Kingdom do you seek for that Spirit to chuse withal by which alone Jesus is known to be Lord Then it is plain you seek Gods Kingdom in the face of Jesus Christ who is that spirit which turning to causes the vail to be taken away from all hearts and will change you also into his Image by that Spirit as saith the Scriptures So there was none to be chosen for Judges Kings or Rulers in Israels Common-wealth but who had of this Spirit and Unction put upon them and then the Lord Reigned over them in his Anointed whether King Priest or Prophet man or woman but when they chused Rulers like other Nations then they rejected not Samuel but the Lord that he should not reign over them Now you that say you seek the Lord to Rule over you and say thy Kingdom come minde what you chuse to rule in you or over you with what spirit least your practise oppose your prayers and make void your daily expectation do you chuse after the flesh as other Nations do or do you chuse after the holy Ghost If you chuse after the flesh then you set the vail betwixt you and the Lord and Gods Kingdom and his Image you cannot see and so you reject the Lord as other Nations do but if you look through the Vail unto that which is within the Vail then shall the vail be taken away from all your hearts and you shall see him amongst you whom you wait for and him alone set up and worship and chuse him alone to reign over you who is near you at hand to all that put not his day afar off So if you make Rulers like all the Nations then after the flesh they that are rich they that are proud they
that are full of earthly glory c. Here is the earth set above then the Vail is before your eye and you see not the Lord that Spirit nor do you set up Jesus to be Lord by the Holy Ghost But if that eye be open in you that can see through the Vail of earth and all this deal of flesh and darknesse to that which is within the Vail even the Holy One in his Temple him to chuse and set above in your minds Then your eye shall see the Lords anointed and the King in his Glory and he shall rule whose right it is in every heart and your Governous shall be of your selves and all violence shall cease and shakings of Governments the Government being upon his shoulders who is the Prince of all your peace in the great in the small who shall reign in righteousnesse and judge the people with equity for God and not for rewards to whose authority every knee shall bow and every tongue confesse for conscience sake his Name being written in every heart will then be read whose Kingdom is everlasting and in spirit and power he reigns and in spirit is worshipped in Heaven and in Earth who fills all things with the presence of his Glory and his Kingdom is near to all that can believe it s within you saith Christ and he rules where he is not known though not to salvation who is made of the Seed of David after the flesh by the Word of God to all Generations a King for ever according to promise whose Kingdome the eye which the God of this World hath blinded is putting afar off who sees not the Light of his Glorious Gospel though he be not afar off but him in whom all things have life and being either to salvation or condemnation and this is the condemnation that light is come already into the World which men who loves their evil deeds say is to come and so looks for that without who is a Spirit within and therein hath ever reigned more or lesse but now is arising to his day over all the World whose sound is gone out to the ends of the earth and his light ariseth in every heart to life or condemnation and some it leads into rest and others it pricks to the heart and they kick against it and will not have it to rule therein and to this day he is rejected of the builders who is the first born unto God in Spirit blessed over all And now all sorts of people who in truth wait for the Kingdom of God upon earth with that which in you is of him you may all see if you keep that eye single when he draws near who is born of the Spirit and when he is put afar off in his Government here below when you behold in any manner of Authority such a spirit as is for God alone looking to that of God in every man without respect of person or riches and with a single eye seeks to find out where that measure of God is transgressed in any or where it is oppressed by any and with that measure of God in himself seeks to set judgement upon the head of the transgressor and to set free the innocent principle of God in all which will not lead any to evil then is the judgement of God and for God and that of God is set above in all that 's he that 's born of God here the Kingdom of God is near and as this increases so God draws near and his Kingdom increases and that of God in you all will answer thereto and rejoyce thereat which waits for him and that which is upright in every heart shall say that is the Judgement of God and in that Vessel is God on his Throne according to the measure of that Spirit set up in Judgement so is Jesus Lord by the holy Ghost known and bowed to But on the contrary in what place of Authority soever it be in which the Innocent comes for Judgement against the Oppressor who is too strong for him and so seeks to justice to plead his Cause and to deliver the seed of God that is burthened And when he comes his Cause is not heard but is thrust away if not further ensnared because he cannot oppress that of God in him more either by bowing to something of vain Customs or Worships never set up by God nor owned by his witness for Conscience sake Or else because he cannot fire his judgement by feeding a Covetous Spirit which is for Rewards and not for God that he Judges and so the Innocent soul is not relieved at this throne but sent away as an of fender from that place where he should be eased and justified with the judgement of a free spirit for justice sake doth not that of God in you all testifie against this that judgement is here turned backward in that vessel and that Jusus is not Lord therein so the innocent heart is sadned but not saved and the Kingdom of God put afar off and the Scepter of righteousness not seen Wherefore Rulers and People who set up flesh in stead of the holy spirit to rule over you the wills of men the pride and glory of this world or any visible thing here below born after the flesh see what you chuse and what you put afar off and with that spirit you now chuse you will never see the Kingdom of God nor be able to say in truth that Jesus is Lord It s by the spirit of holiness meekness and true judgement and works of righteousness that Jesus is known to Reign and therein stands the sight of his Kingdom and Lordship in every heart in every Court and in every place of judgement to all generations which you deny in chusing the man of this world after the flesh to rule in you or over you therein And yet you say you look for him and thy Kingdom come delay but deny him in the simplicity of his lowly spirit to rule for his own in all as all your Rulers ever did as you have read in words and now may read in deeds the world by wisdom knows not God so that spirit chuses its own to rule but cannot receive him whom you say you look for And how should any one who sees the Kingdom of God and where the simplicity of Christ is above own that Kingdom or worship that spirit and not betray the simplicity of Christ and give his honour to another And if in the meekness of mind you did but weigh this you could not think it so strange why so many at this day who have received the Kingdom of God in his lowly just and righteous spirit chuse rather to suffer death under that spirit of this world then to bow to worship it or confesse that due thereto which belongs onely to Jesus the Lord neither would you say it was obstinacy or contempt of Authority rather to suffer by the will of man then to rob
delight in these things who ever hath come to take the minds of his people out of these things up into the heavenly treasure doth he now delight in earthly glory strife and exaltation Is the weapons of his Warfare now become carnal wherewith he overcomes his enemies doth he now come with haling and beating whips and prisons and cruel tortures to take the Kingdom of peace who hath suffered such things formerly from the world himself will he now turn oppressor of that which is tender in Conscience and grind the face of the poor or pervert the Judgement of the needy Should he now be seen in works of this nature were this to appear the second time without sin unto Salvation as he is promised Sure the vail is thick over that heart who sees not that this is not his Kingdom Power nor Glory nor his Image who is the same yesterday to day and for ever Yet is this nature above in many and chosen to Rule over many who say they wait for his Kingdom that eye being darkned with the love of the world which should give the true fight of his coming the carnal mind thinks God to be like himself But did you but honestly look into your own hearts with that eye which puts a difference between things that differ in your selves to know each motion of each Spirit and each power and the end and nature of its working the earthly and the heavenly you would soon be able to Judge of these two which so far differ in their fruits and are so contrary in all things and to own the right heir in his Kingdom But while you suffer the god of this world to keep his throne in your hearts by letting him captivate your minds and affections into earthly delights it is not like he will suffer you to chuse aright nor receive another to reign in you or over you the eye of the minde being blinded therewith the light of the Gospel cannot shine into the heart by which you should chuse and which gives the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus nor that treasure be seen or received in the earthen vessel as King either in your selves or others but the wise in heart knows what they wait for and when they see him they rejoyce with the joy of his Kingdom which consists not in carnal things nor comes with outward observations but whose coming is within and whose Kingdom consists in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost blessed be our King for ever and blessed are they who put not his Kingdom afar off And therefore you Rulers and People of all sorts high and low this word is to you and this day is to you the day of the Lord arise and receive your King into his Kingdom that he may receive you and establish you therein the Lord is at hand he is near to all that call upon him in truth righteousness To you Princes Judges Justices Mayors and Constables all sorts of Rulers who are in the place to Govern the Lord is at hand he is near you all the Kingdom of God is within you the Principle of God is within you with which if you mind it he will break the yoak of the oppressor within you and without you by the sword of Justice that 's his Kingdom upon earth put it not afar off let it arise in your hearts set it up above the will of man let it shine in your hearts let it speak in your Courts that which is of God in you all which Judges justly and with equity lay by your will your pride your covetousness and all that 's above that Spirit of meekness in your minds and make room in your hearts for the Holy Ghost that thereby Jesus may be Lord in you and over others that you may know him to whom Judgement belongs to be in you you need not say who shall ascend into Heaven to bring down Christ from above or who shall descend into the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead for he is nigh you and you may feel his witness in Spirit and his Word is in your hearts the Word of Faith the Word of Righteousness that therewith you may all know him who standeth in the Congregation of the mighty to Judge among the Gods who Judges not unjustly nor accepteth the person of the wicked but that with him you may deliver the Poor and Fatherless and Judge the cause of the Stranger wherein they are oppressed that 's his Kingdom and that 's the Word of Faith and the Word of Righteousness that leads to it And if this be set up in your own hearts to love it more then gifts and rewards persons or earthly glory then is the Lord near you and his Kingdom is above the earth in you and your work will be to set it above the earth in others and so the Kingdom of your Father who begets this in your hearts his Kingdom comes as his Will is done upon earth as it is in Heaven where all obey him there is the Kingdom his the Power is his by which you Judge and the glory is his of your Righteous Judgement now and for ever if you therein abide And thus shall you be of the obedient Children to that of your Father in you begotten who say and do who pray and practise and not like the Scribes and Pharisees and Lawyers who said and did not who made long prayers but devoured the poor and needy and Judged not the cause of the stranger but laid heavy burthens upon others and bowed not thereto themselves who could not believe in the light nor receive Christ within them though he told them the Kingdom of God was within them and his Word had no place in them who was filled with pride and wilfulness so they had lost the Key of knowledge the Key of David to open to them the way into annointing whereby to know Davids Lord to reign in Spirit which hath the Promise of Davids Throne for ever So when they lost this the Kingdom departed from Israel and the Priesthood also and he set up his sign to the Gentiles preaching the Kingdom of God to them that were afar off and they that were not a people came to the Kingdom of his annointing and that great Mystery that had been hid from ages was opened thereby to the Gentiles which was Christ in them the Hope of Glory and Kingdom of the Father And now you that are called Christians and are making great Declarations what a glorious Kingdom the Kingdom of Christ will be at his coming and what holiness and righteous Government and many high things and great glory you look for c. But above all the rest how are you estranged who are gone out again from the annointing to look for this without you while you reject it within you Was Christ within them that great Mystery that had been hid from ages which by the hearing of Faith was
been short of this work as they were in whom the Child was unborn when he went away in the flesh and they knew not what Spirits they were of until he came again to them in Spirit and was revealed in them then could they preach the Resurrection of the dead and the Souls Redemption and desired to know him no more after the flesh when once they had received him in Spirit but Preached Christ within the Hope of Glory who till then looked for an outward kingdom and glory until they had received his promise He that dwelleth with you shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you the world seeth me no more but ye see me and because I live ye shall live also at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you And this was his promise whom they received whom the world seeth no more whose expectations are carnal neither can any see the Kingdom of Heaven but who are born of this Spirit and Heirs of this Life and he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life but the wrath of God abides upon him whatever he may say he believes and none hath the Son but as they receive this Spirit and are led by this Spirit and born thereof And this I found also that this Son of God doth not appear in any within or without but as he conforms them to his own Image which he hath alwayes born in this world as saith the Scripture When he shall appear we shall be like him who shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body from glory to glory by the same Spirit And herein we have boldness in the day of Judgement because as he is so are we in this present world and this is not obtained with thoughts of believing without but by a lively working Power which works out the earthly image and nature and conforms to the heavenly in that spiritual birth which is not of flesh and blood nor could flesh and blood ever discern it in whom it was but ever hated it in whom it hath appeared in all ages Which is of a shining nature where it is begotten of the Father and cannot be hid where it is formed but by his fruits gives light to the world contrary to the worlds wayes showing of his coming to Judgement against the deeds of darkness And this heavenly begetting of the Father is to be holden forth in that clear Image of the Father according to every several measure as he grows therein without mixture that all may see that he is not of this world who also takes them out of this world as he grows in any or they in him forth of the world they must go bearing his reproach that the Scriptures may be fulfilled they are not of this world even as I am not of this world and this is the worlds light and condemnation even his coming And so I find that Faith which joyns to the world where it is and doth not overcome the world is not the faith of Christ nor layes hold on the Power of Christ though Faith may believe the History of the Scriptures concerning Christ which faith sets not up the Kingdom of God in the heart and casts out the world there that faith saves not the Soul from the pollution of the world through lust and so is but a conceit of Salvation and not the Power of Salvation as saith the Scriptures Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even your Faith and the faith which works not thus is like a body without a spirit which is dead But the living Faith that stands in Christ Jesus that Spirit purifies the heart and Conscience and makes toward God in Christ the example in all good things overcoming what ever would let the appearance of Christ in his temple or hinder the bringing forth his vertues which is believed to be in him to the utmost of what ever he hath received of the Father for such believers who believes not in a lye but in the Truth and Power of God as it is in Christ Jesus and hath been declared in Scriptures not for a discourse but for an inheritance of life of whose fulness we all receive according to our Faith till his coming and we be compleat in him and he in us and so not come short of the Glory of God the end of our Faith and Conversation that to the world he may be manifest in life and power to be the same that ever he hath been though he have appeared in several forms in the flesh yet one in Spirit to make up a compleat body And therefore we find those who were of this Faith witnessed Christ present which the worlds faith could never receive under any form or profession but counted it blasphemy and that spirit the spirit of the Devil And so Isaiah witnessed this Child born to them that so believed in his time who was the mighty God the everlasting Father c. whose Name they knew to be Immanuel and this was before he appeared in that Temple at Jerusalem and Ezekiel was called the Son of man before that time also and Paul said he was revealed in him and spoke in him and wrought in him and in his flesh that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ was to be filled up for his bodies sake which is the Church and to whom he forgave any thing in his time he forgave it in the person of Christ and many more might be noted who confessed the same Christ in them present both before and after his time at Jerusalem which Testimony could never be received by the wisdom of the world in his Temples before nor then nor since to this day for the god of this world being King in the heart and having blinded the eye of the mind that should see his spiritual Glory through the light of the Gospel he perswades the world that he is either past or to come but never present and as many as are brought to confess him before men find it so at this day who are hated of all men for his Names sake that the Scriptures may be fulfilled and his Testimony finished And this Faith which confesseth him present is that which the world cannot bear nor receive who will preach him themselves at a distance what he was and will be but this faith cannot reach his coming at present in any measure to grow to his appearance now nor will this faith ever give an entrance into his Kingdom upon earth nor the holy rest nor is this the Faith of Christ that puts him thus afar off which fills with all the fulness of God And by what I have learned this is clear to me for ever without any more Controversie That the faith that admits of sin is not Christs Faith nor hath
opened to the Gentiles and was the Hope of Glory to them even Christ within them whom the Apostles preached warning every man and teaching every man that they might present every one perfect in Christ Jesus the Hope of Glory within them which Faith the Jews not receiving lost their King and Kingdom And is your hopes without you as the Jews was Is that the Hope the Apostles preached to the Gentiles or that which enters within the vail Is there not a vail drawn over your hearts again whilst you read this in Scriptures And have not you lost the Key of knowledge who are gone out from the annointing in your hopes Have you not lost the Key of David which should let you see Davids Lord in which the Kingdom of God is established for ever Did God swear this to David after the flesh or to Abraham after the flesh or to any after the flesh Then how is his Kingdom everlasting Or why did he say the flesh profits nothing And why did the Apostle say they desired henceforth to know no man after the flesh no not Christ himself Flesh and blood passeth away but this Kingdom is everlasting so him whom the Apostles preached in Spirit by the receiving of the Holy Ghost wherein they were to grow up to his age and stature and appearance him you reject in spirit to be the hope of your glory and kingdom and wait for a Government after the flesh and so shut up the great Mystery of godliness which was opened and the Kingdom against your selves which Mystery is not after the flesh but God manifest in flesh Christ within the Hope of Glory and this Mystery was ever shut with carnal expectations but opened in the Spirit as it was so it is who denies the Spirit to be Lord shuts up the Kingdom Wherefore arise out of the flesh you Rulers and People and receive your King long hath he been rejected and thrust out of the Throne of Judgement for which you have no Peace nor Establishment Why will you not turn to him who calls you in Spirit what a shame is this that you are called Christians and know not your annointing Christ in you What Christians and without Christ Christ not come What do you Rule withal and discern with and Judge with Is not all that reprobate who knows not Christ in you But if you know a Just a Holy a Righteous Principle of Spirit in you that is of Christ set it up and you set up Christ bow to the Holy Ghost and you worship in Spirit and thereby you shall say that Jesus is Lord set up his light in your hearts and his day will arise to you all for there must the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts which will give the knowledge of God near you and true Judgement near you and that which Rules over spiritual wickedness near you which all must bow to who receives the Kingdom of God honour God in your hearts set him up in your hearts let him be Judge in your hearts and first receive his Light and Judgement there before you pass Judgement upon others least you in judging others before men condemn your selves before God David had little thought he had done that when he said he that had taken his neighbours lamb should surely dye and you may soon do the like if you go out from the Spirit and Judge before you receive Judgement in your own hearts and see all be clean there first then is your Scepter established in Righteousness and your Judgement in Truth which is the Scepter of the Throne of David in Spirit which condemned David in flesh and will condemn you in the flesh if you sin against it and that is his Kingdom and he is King for ever who in Spirit condemns sin in the flesh and for this end is he manifest that the Righteousness of the Law may be fulfilled in all who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit which comes in his Name who went away after the flesh that the kingdom might come And if you receive your Authority and Judgement in this right Principle of God it will Judge for God in all your selves and others and it will fit you to be Mediators betwixt the Offender and Sufferer in all and you will see what it is which transgresseth and what is transgressed and the nature of every offence to pass an equal Judgement accordingly and this is of God and he loves it and where that of God is pressed not to clear the oppressor but to Judge the oppressor and set that of God which is innocent free and here with that of God in your selves you Judge for that of God in all and set that of God above the oppressor in all which oppressor is not of God in you nor in others but is to be Judged and for the Law and for the Sword but against that of God the Law is not And here is Gods Kingdom already near and not afar off where God is all in all and the Righteous reigns and the power that is ordained of God the Soul is subject to for Conscience sake towards God in Heaven and Earth and that of God in every Conscience shall answer to your Judgement and Authority and God shall set you up therewith as a terrour in every heart above the evil-doer the murtherer and traytor and the arrows of the Almighty shall stick in the hearts of all that seek to undermine this Government for the Kingdom of God it is in which he Rules who cannot forget himself nor hath this Kingdome been taken from any who once received it thus till they go out of it themselves by suffering or setting up another to rule above that measure of this Just and Innocent Principle of God And if you receive this Kingdom from Heaven in love of it then shall you receive your Judgement from Heaven also and your Law to Judge by and God shall make you rich towards him in Righteous Judgement and towards his People and a discerning Spirit will he give you in this Annointing to know hard matters that are hid from flesh and blood which you shall receive in secret and bring forth openly and all shall hear and fear and praise the Lord for you and you shall no more go to the Heathen to learn Judgement whom the Lord hath removed far from him nor shall you uphold those Laws by which the servants of God hath suffered formerly in the times of Popery nor shall the Statutes of Omri be kept and observed nor follow the wayes of the house of Jeroboam for you have seen what God hath done concerning them that you may fear to follow them But you shall have your Laws from the Law-giver Christ Jesus and your Judgement from the Father of Lights whose Ministers then you are to whose sword that of God in every Conscience shall answer which is written in every heart and which every heart shall fear to offend when they
this world and that which is to come And in the workings and attainments of this living powerful faith I have found several measures according to my growth therein from the Word of the beginning of Christ or the first Principle of Christ and the fulness age and stature of Christ as betwixt a Babe a man grown in strength much working in spirit I found betwixt faith received of Christ Jesus Christ learned in me for though I received the faith of his fulness in what he was at Jerusalem in his flesh there at once yet had not I so learned him in Spirit life in my mortal flesh nor put him on at once but in the light of Faith I saw I was so to run as to win him before I could put him on wherein I came to see and know my self begotten again in him by faith towards God who is the way to God in which way I came to see the begotten of the Father manifest in measure in me in the pure image of a Holy Child seperate from the fleshly sinful seed or Christ formed in me as the Scriptures witness and when I did behold his pure image and his pure mind and nature so far contrary to my own yet then was not he in his Kingdom nor all things put under his feet nor could I say that Jesus was then Lord in me but by the Spirits working by this Faith I had received and in hope thereof was I made to endure the loss of all things and to deny all things that ever this holy Spirit did War against in me which might any way oppresse this holy plant or hinder its growth owning his judgement in the light upon what ever was in my heart or affections but him alone though never so much gain in my account in the world which judgement being owned consented to against my self and all my self lovers therein was I parted from them in judgement and so then was they subdued by the powerful workings of that Spirit and put under his feet and I set free from them to arise with him above them being brought from under them and this was not done all at once but in order as he appeared in the light to manifest every particular evil And as that Faith I had received wrought by love to him a consent in my spirit to his just judgement upon them and I made willing to give them up to the fire and to come out of them and joyn to him in the execution least he should consume me with them as it must have been had I stayed in them and here I found the benefit of the light which goes before his face to prepare his way and the salvation of Faith which saved me through hope of him that I was not destroyed in my sins which Faith and hope gave me an entrance within the vail or a hiding place in him while the indignation was over which was to passe upon the man of sin And so a voice was heard in the wilderness calling out of sin into a way I knew not but as the light of his Covenant led me in the spirit of Elias turning my heart towards him that he might not smite the earth with a curse at his coming in which way ere I came into the Kingdom of Christ my pure rest I met with many hardships and great travels and many temptations and tryals within and without but the greatest enemies was yet within me which would upon ever hardship be tempting with unbelief to destory this Faith and hope which was all that I had set before me to encourage me to endure such hardships and to follow the light in a way I had not known and to walk in the Clouds to meet the Lord and to leave my former knowledge and wisdom and glory and riches to go in a way I had not walked and to abide such assaults on every hand every foot the world which I was called out of ready to overtake me and compasse me about and to turn me back again into what I had seen and enjoyed behind me ever seeking to perswade me that I should never attain to him that was set before me in the Faith and hope Then come I clearly to see that though I had received the Faith of Christ as a shield in this War by which I was saved that the wrath of God took me not away in these temptings and murmurings and reasonings and doubtings which did arise in the fleshly part yet the purchased possession was not yet redeemed for me to enjoy at present though I had heard and believed the Gospel of salvation and was sealed with the holy Spirit of promise till I came to be builded up with Christ for an habitation of God through the the Spirit And I found by dayly experience that my salvation was not compleat so long as my soul was subjected under any earthly lust or passion nor the War over but as by the mighty working of God in me by that Spirit this came to be subdued under the feet of Christ and the Soul set above it with him to reign in the heavenly place so was my Salvation nearer then when I believed for the Soul is not safe while sin lives or the flesh lusts for that wars against the Soul and every sin wounds it and this shall all know who are not past feeling what ever their Faith be touching Christ Jesus or what was wrought in another whilst sin defiles the Soul it is not safe nor the honest heart hath peace and rest for the rest and peace is placed in the Holy City where comes no unclean thing into which the Soul enters not till that all righteousness be fulfilled upon earth the Soul singled from all corruption have put on immortality death swallowed up in victory when the sting is taken away which is sin the strength of sin which is the Law which is not taken away but where it is fulfilled there onely grace reigns through righteousness and this I found to be truth as the truth is found in Jesus as I came to learn him and put him on by Faith which I had believed and I see the folly of such as would make void the Law by talking of Faith and Grace where sin is yet standing and the Soul taken captive therewith which I had often sought peace therein to my self but could not inherit liberty to my Soul any other way but as it came to be purified in obedience through the Spirit And this work was not wrought in me by the knowledge of Christ after the flesh but as I came to learn him in Spirit for spiritual wickedness had taken my Soul captive and by the Spirit it must be sanctified and set free And I came to see that if I had been in his company here on earth as long as his Disciples were in the flesh and seen as much as they did and heard from his own mouth I should have
the Lord of his glory deny Christ in his Kingly office and set up another in his place And herein true wisdom may see that in so doing we resist not that power which is ordained of God nor the person but that spirit we testifie against by sufferings under which God never annointed for a Saviour holding forth the annointing as we have received for a witness against him in the spirit of meekness confessing our King in whom we receive power to suffer so to us he is come and by the gift of the Holy Ghost we can say he is Lord therefore to us there is but one Lord though there be many so called whether in heaven or in earth yet have we but one in all both in heaven and earth and him we know where ever he is by the gift of the Holy Ghost and to him in spirit we confesse and bow and the fruits of his spirit are manifest with the light of the world testifying against all the works of darkness in all the children of his Kingdom And to us he is born who is from above the holy Child wonderful in Councel and strength whose heavenly power and vertue takes our affections from all earthly objects and worship whose name is Immanuel and it is written in our hearts and shed abroad into the world in our lives and Christ Jesus is the end of our conversation him alone to put on above all to Preach by walking in him as we have received of that lively image of holiness and Truth the annointed of God and so we confesse him before men who is the right Heir in what vessel soever he appears and the prayers we give to God where this treasure is found in the earthen vessel and the hope of all our glory is Christ within and the increase of his Government is Christ within of which there is no end and with that spirit is all righteousness established the Kingdom of God upon earth and Eternal life And where this is not seen chosen and followed there men rule in their own wills and where mens persons and riches is respected in chusing such there the same is respected in judgement by such and the Law of God is perverted and the sword of Justice which should defend the cause of the innocent is laid by and the fist of wickeduess lift up against that which is tender of God in every conscience and when this rules the righteous Seed mourns in secret but wickedness reigns openly And this is and ever was the state of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of the Gentiles the one rules in the Spirit of Holiness and the other exercise Lordship in their own wills chosen and set up not by the Holy Ghost as you may read in the Scriptures concerning Israels common wealth who when they wanted the ruling of this spirit they sold themselves under their enemies but when this was their Judge they had a Saviour chosen after the spirit not after the flesh what ever was the vessel the Spirit was their Saviour Moses was a poor wandring Shepheard yet in this Spirit a God to Pharaoh and Saviour of Israel Samuel a poor man who received no reward for judgement and when they went about to chuse another after the manner of other Nations they rejected God who then gave them a King in his wrath David a poor man not chosen by the outward appearance as man looks but by the heart by the direction of the Spirit he was the Shepherd of Israel and his seed of the same Election hath the everlasting Kingdom of promise to all generations Elisha a plowman yet by that Spirit was he the Chariots of Israel and horsmen thereof Deborah a woman yet a Judge deliverer to Israel And too long would it be to instance in all ages how he hath set up his throne and saved his people in this Election not of wisdom riches or worldly glory but the poor of this world rich in Faith heirs of the Kingdom of promise which you say you look for but cannot see nor receive while you chuse after the flesh as the world hath ever done who still have bent all their wisdom and Religion to keep the Heir out of his Kingdom whom they have been looking for after the flesh but not believing in the light to give them a fight through the vail to him that is born of the Spirit have resisted the Holy One and chosen the murtherer as did your fathers so do you alwayes resist the Holy Ghost and as it was so it is that which is born of the flesh is flesh and chuses after the flesh and worships after the flesh for it can see no further it cannot see the Kingdom of God and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit and chuses after the spirit and worships in spirit and these are contrary Kingdoms and he that 's born after the flesh persecutes him that 's born after the spirit ever did and ever will do for the Scripture cannot be broken which hath so said and is now fulfilled And now you that are called Christians you read and Preach of this King Christ Jesus and his Kingdom what a One he ever hath been in his appearance upon Earth by whom he hath been received and by whom rejected and after what manner he hath ever suffered and by what power he hath reigned in all ages and this you will confesse in words but will you now receive him to reign in you Or can you own his appearance where it is set up in others and not be offended therewith is that eye open that knows him or can you delight in him who was never like the world in his walkings was not he ever poor as to this world and therefore rejected of the rich and learned lowly and rejected of Princes and them that was high was not his work ever to change shadows and forms and Religious traditions set up in mens minds above the life of Truth and leadings of the spirit and to set up spiritual worship and obedience in its place And therefore by the builders ever rejected and condemned and his new work was ever foolishness to the wise wherefore he bare the reproach thereof with patience was he not ever meek and innocent and harmless in his conversation towards all men as a Lamb indeed seperate from sinners in life yet seeking them to save out of sin with the dayly giving up his life c So he was and so he hath ever appeared on earth now can you receive you King as he was you that wait for him Or do you think he is changed Is he now become proud and lofty in flesh after the world cruel and covetous and hard-hearted subtle and crafty to deceive the simpie strong and violent to trample on the helpless doth the glory of his Scepter now stand in meats and drinks and fine apparel or great earthly possessions doth he now come to take up his abode and