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IV.

ment upon all—And I saw thrones, and they sat upon CHAP. them, and judgment was given unto them.

34. So universally believed and known was this Rev. xx. matter, among all who ever stood in any light or or- 4. der of God, St. Paul expresses it as a matter of astonishment that any should be so ignorant as not to know it: Do ye not know that the saints shall judge 1 Cor. ◆ the world?

35. Then as the revelation of God is given in this day of Christ's second appearing, by which the secrets of the heart are searched out, and the real power of salvation administered; so this Word of salvation is sent unto all that are weary of sin, and desire to be stripped of all that is contrary to the pure nature of Christ, and released from the bondage of corruption.

36. Every one that doeth truth, cometh to the light, confessing and shewing their deeds, that their deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. And as sin is ever a transgression of the law, and not one jot or tittle of the law can in any wise fail, till the whole be fulfilled; so in order to obtain a final forgiveness, an honest and full confession of every sin, in the order of God, will forever be indispensibly necessary, while one sin remains concealed in the earth.

37. No person living will freely and honestly confess all their most secret sins before another, as in the sight of God and his witness, but from the most sincere and upright principle. And there is no per son of feeling and candour, but will acknowledge, that the principle which would lead any one, honestly, to bring their dark deeds to the light, and to witness against them, is not the same principle which led the person to commit sin and keep it concealed.

38. For it is the nature and disposition of fallen man to commit sin in the dark, and keep it concealed; so it is the nature of the spirit of God, and the disposition of those who are led thereby, to bring every secret abomination, and hidden work of darkness to ligh and the former is as contrary to the latter as midnight darkness is opposite to the brightness of the meridian sun.

39. And therefore, all such as receive the grace of Ddd

2.

CHAP God, which bringeth salvation, in the present day,
V. first, honestly, bring their former deeds of darkness

to the light, by confessing all their sins, with a fu
determination to forsake them forever. By so doing
they find justification and acceptance with God, and
receive that power by which they become dead in-
deed unto sin, and alive unto God, through Jesus
Christ, and are enabled to follow his example, and
walk even as he walked.

CHAPTER V.

The Sufferings of Christ, in the Work of Regene

ration.

ROM what has been stated concerning the com

Fing of Christ, it is evident that every step of his

coming, from first to last, was contrary to the wisdom
of this world and although he was in the world, yet
the world knew him not: and as little did they know
whence he came, or whither he went when he de-
parted out of the world.

2. Instead of descending through the air, from
some unknown region, in a splendid appearance, and
ascending in like manner, he first came forth from
such a cloud as all other infants come from: and at
his departure, a cloud received him out of their sight.
The truth is, he was born into the world, and he was
born out of it and his being born into the world was
one birth, and his being born out of it was another.

3. And although millions had been born into the world before him, yet he was the first who was actually born out of the world. And as the world were dead in trespasses and sins, he was therefore properly called the first-begotten from the dead, and the firstborn of many brethren. For being found in fashion as a man, with all the infirmities of mankind, and in all things made like unto his brethren, in things natural, and being tempted in all points as they were, it was necessary that he should be conceived by the Ho

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V.

ly Ghost, in relation to a second birth, or being born CHAP. again.

Matt,

4. And by him the Holy Ghost first practically taught the doctrine of the second birth. "Marvel John iii. not that I say unto you, Ye must be born again.-Ve- 7 rily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me [or 28. rather, who shall have followed me] in the Regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

5. Here then was the true design of Christ's coming into the world, not to continue in the nature and spirit which, in behalf of man's redemption, he took upon him, through the medium of a fallen woman; but to be regenerated, or born out of it, into a state of immortality and eternal life, that others might follow him in the same example.

6. It is expressly said, that Christ Jesus was the first-born, and that he was to be followed in the Regeneration; and as he came into the world by water and blood, as other infants do, by which means he took upon him the seed of Abraham, the nature and enmity of fallen man, and in this sense millions were born into the world before him; therefore it is to be certainly understood that he was regenerated and born again for in truth, he could not teach others to follow him in a way which he did not walk himself: and he expressly testifies, Except a man be Johns born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

7. Accordingly Christ Jesus himself opened the way into the kingdom of God, by a real spiritual birth; and all who ever possess that kingdom, must enter in by the same way, after his example; therefore it is in vain for any to stand gazing up into the natural heavens, in hopes of seeing the sons of God ascend or descend, seeing the children of God come forth into his family, by being born again, as much as the children of this world are born into the society of men.

8. And as the spiritual birth is as real as the natural, and the manner of the one is as expressly described as the other can be, and is certainly and pos

CHAP. itively known; so from the time that the new man V. is begotten, he as sensibly grows up into the nature and likeness of him that begat, as the natural man, from his conception, grows up into the nature and likeness of his father.

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9. As the natural man is conceived in a body, and while in the generation consists of two parts, and those two parts are fully and finally separated, in his actual birth, so that the tie by which they were united, is cut off forever, and the inner part comes forth in perfect shape, with all the features of the father; so in the Regeneration there are two, called the flesh. and Spirit, both in the same body, and the one is enclosed in, and bound by the other, from which it must come forth, and be separated, and wholly cut off, before it can enter the kingdom of God.

10. Therefore, as the natural infant in its generation, lies concealed within a second veil; so the real child of God, who is in the spiritual work of Regeneration, is as remote from the natural eye.

11. And as the natural infant, within the second veil, in the womb of its mother, is insensible, and totally ignorant of what passes among the living, until it has been brought forth, and borne upon the sides, and dandled upon the knees, and comes to sufficient maturity; so is the natural man, covered up in the womb of nature's darkness, wallowing in the blood of his nativity, and is insensible and totally ignorant of the spiritual birth, until he is brought forth, separated and wholly cut off from the tie of the flesh, by which his soul is held in bondage.

12. Hence the Lord by the prophet, speaking figu ratively of Jerusalem in her natural state, and of the Ezek.xvi second birth or new creation, saith, "Thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee: thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.-And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee in thy blood, Live; Yea, I said unto thee in thy blood, Live.”

13. Such, in a true spiritual sense, is the highest perfection of man in his natural state, like an infant unloosed, wallowing in the blood of its nativity, and

V.

without a deliverance, and final separation from that CHAP. in which he is held, must perish without remedy.

14. As nothing is born without a separation, and no separation can take place without suffering; so that which bears must suffer in proportion to the nature and quality of that which it bears, and that which is born is liable to suffer in proportion to the natural or inherent relation in which it stands to that which bore it, until it is weaned from that relation.

15. And as that which beareth is first in the order of things, and not that which is born; and as that is first which is natural, and not that which is spiritual; therefore, that which is natural and earthly suffers death in the work of regeneration, while that which is spiritual, and heavenly, is quickened and made alive in the soul; and the soul can only suffer in proportion to the connexion, the near or distant relation in which it stands to that which is natural, until the natural is overcome by the spiritual.

16. The inner or new man in Christ Jesus, was borne by the outer man, or in other words, that which was spiritual was within that which was natural, and was brought forth out of that which was natural and old. And hence, as sin captivated the soul, and occupied that which was natural and old, and the sufferings of Christ Jesus for the redemption of souls, began in Christ's first appearing; therefore the sufferings must continue, in his second appearing, until the work of regeneration is completed, and that which is natural and old, is finally overcome by the new.

17. Upon this distinction between the natural and spiritual body, hangs the whole of the apostles' doctrines; take away that distinction, and the whole New-Testament must appear, to every man of com. mon sense, as the most absurd and incredible ro

mance.

18. But admit that the apostles meant as they wrote, that there was a natural body and a spiritual body then existing, and that the natural was first in the order of things, and afterwards the spiritual, the whole may be understood in the most perfect consistency.

19. This distinction between the natural and spir itual body, is variously expressed, by the outer man,

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