Chapter XIII (2)

“And Christ hath changed the priesthood of Aaron, that offered
sacrifices, that was made after the power of a carnal commandment;
but Christ was made after the power of an endless life, a Priest
for ever, who is holy, harmless, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. This is the Priest that gives power to
all that receive him, to become the sons and daughters of God: and
Jerusalem that is above, is the mother of all the sons and
daughters of God, and is free; but Jerusalem that is below, is in
bondage with her children. They that are the children of Jerusalem
that is above, do not look down at Jerusalem that is below; but
they look at Jerusalem that is above, which is their mother.
Christ said, ‘Neither at outward Jerusalem, nor in the mountain of
Samaria, should God be worshipped; but God should be worshipped in
Spirit and in truth; for he is a Spirit, and such he seeks to
worship him,’ John iv. This is the worship that Christ set up
above sixteen hundred years ago; and therefore the idolatrous Jews
must never think to offer their outward offerings and sacrifices,
nor set up their outward worship at Jerusalem, in the holy land of
Canaan more. For Christ, by the offering up of himself once for
all, for the sins of the whole world, hath ended all the Jews’
offerings, and changed the priesthood, and the law by which it was
made; and hath blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, which
commanded both priests and offerings; and triumphed, over them. So
he is the offering and sacrifice of all the children of the New
Testament, and New Covenant, and heavenly New Jerusalem, that is
above. He is their Prophet that openeth to them; their Shepherd
that feeds them; their Bishop that oversees them; and Priest that
died for their sins, and is risen for their justification;—who
sanctifies and presents them to God. He is the one Mediator
between God and man, even the Man Christ Jesus.”

G. F.

Kingston, the 9th of the 10th Month, 1687.

After this I went to GUILDFORD to visit Friends there, and stayed three days with them; having a large and very good meeting there on First-day. After which I came back to KINGSTON again, and tarried about two weeks longer, visiting Friends, and having meetings amongst them, both at their public meeting-house and in their families. Many things I wrote while I was at Kingston; among which was the following:—

“‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish (mark, not perish,)
but have everlasting life,’ John iii. 16. Again, he saith, ‘He
that believeth on the Son of God, hath (mark, hath) everlasting
life,’ ver. 36. So these believers have everlasting life while
they are upon the earth. And ‘He that believeth on Christ is not
condemned; but he that believeth not, is condemned already, and
the wrath of God abideth on him.’ And, ‘He that heareth Christ’s
word, and believeth on God that sent him, hath (mark, hath)
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is
passed from death,’ the death in the first Adam, ‘unto life,’ the
life in Christ, the second Adam, John v. 24. And that meat which
Christ doth give, endureth unto everlasting life, as in John vi.
27. And the water that Christ doth give, shall be in him that
drinks it, ‘a well of water springing up into everlasting life,’
John iv. 14.

“Christ said to the Jews, ‘Search the Scriptures, for in them ye
think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me;
and ye will not come to me, that ye might have life,’ John v. 39,
40. Here ye may see eternal life is to be found in Christ, and not
in the Scriptures, which testify of Him, the Life. Christ’s sheep
that hear his voice, know and follow him; he gives them eternal
life, and they shall not perish, neither shall any pluck them out
of his hand. They shall not pluck Christ’s sheep, to whom he hath
given eternal life, out of his hand. Christ said to Martha, ‘I am
the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he
were dead (mark, though he were dead) yet shall he live; (mark,
live, though he were dead;) and whosoever liveth, and believeth in
me, shall never die. Believest thou this? Martha said, Yea, Lord,’
John xi. 27. This is the true and substantial belief, which they
that believe, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John
saith, ‘This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal
life; and this life is in his Son,’ 1 John v. 11. ‘The life was
manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness, and show unto
you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us,’ 1 John i. 2. So these were the believers that
had eternal life in the Son of God, and showed it unto others. ‘He
that hath the Son hath life,’ says John, ‘and he that hath not the
Son of God, hath not life,’ 1 John v. 12. Christ says, ‘Every one
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall
receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life,’
Matt. xix. 29.

“The wicked that do not receive Christ, shall go into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into eternal life. The true servants
of God have their fruits unto holiness, and their end is
everlasting life; for ‘the wages of sin is death: but the gift of
God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Such have a
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. Therefore I desire that God’s people may endure all
things, that they may obtain this salvation, which is in Jesus
Christ, with eternal glory. For Christ being made perfect, became
the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him. This
eternal salvation is above an external salvation; for they come to
receive an eternal inheritance, and live in the possession of the
everlasting gospel of joy, comfort, peace, and salvation, having
everlasting life in Christ Jesus.”

G.F.

Kingston, the 6th of the 11th Month, 1687.

Another paper I wrote there, concerning the Stone spoken of by Daniel, chap. ii., which became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth; showing “that thereby was set forth the kingdom and power of Christ:”—

“When Christ, the Stone, that became a great mountain, and filled
the whole earth, had broken to pieces the head of gold, and the
breast of silver, and the belly of brass, and the legs of iron,
and the feet part iron part clay (which were the four monarchies,
to wit, the Babylonian and Mede, the Persian, the Grecian, and the
Roman), and had ended the outward Jews’ typical kingdom; Daniel
saith, ‘in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed,’ Dan. ii. 44. Christ
saith, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,’ Matt.
xxviii. 18. And, ‘My kingdom is not of this world,’ John xviii.
36. ‘Christ is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of
every creature. For by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they
be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers,; all
things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all
things, and by him all things consist,’ Col. i. 15-17.

“Here ye may see, all things consist by Jesus Christ, and all
things were created by Christ, and for him, whether they be
things in heaven, or things in earth, visible or invisible, they
were created by him and for him; yea, thrones, dominions,
principalities, and powers, these were all created by him and
for him. So Christ ‘is King of kings, and Lord of lords,’ Rev.
xix. 16. And the ‘Prince of the kings of the earth,’ chap. i. 5.
Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, with which he shall smite
the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
vessel of a potter, shall they be dashed in pieces, who do not
obey him, the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is Christ,
who said, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,
the First and the Last;’ so he is over all nations, and above
them all. We must understand this rod of iron, by which Christ
rules the nations, is a figurative speech of Christ, who is
ascended into heaven, and is at the right hand of God. All power
in heaven and in earth is given unto him, and all things were
created by him and for him; so then they are Christ’s, and he
hath power over all things, for all are his. So, as the
Scripture saith, ‘By me kings reign, and princes decree
justice,’ Prov. viii. 15. But if they abuse his power, and do
not do justice, as is decreed by Christ, the King of kings and
Lord of lords, the First and the Last, they must feel and know
the weight of his rod of iron, by which he will rule such as
abuse his power. That is decreed by Him, who hath all power in
heaven and in earth given to him, and rules in the kingdoms of
men.”

G.F.

Kingston, the 11th Month, 1687.

Several other things I wrote while at KINGSTON; for my spirit being continually exercised towards God, I had many precious openings of divine matters; and divers portions of Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New, relating to a state of regeneration, and sanctification, &c., were brought to my remembrance by the Holy Spirit; some of which I committed to writing, as follows—

“They that touched the dead were unclean, and were to be cleansed
by the water of purification, Num. xix. And they who touch the
dead doctrines or faiths, and let them in, burden the pure,
defile, and make themselves unclean, until the spring of the water
of the Word do arise, and wash and cleanse them; for all the dead
in Adam in the fall are unclean, and they must be washed by
Christ, in his blood, and water of life, who quickens and makes
alive.”

“A dwarf might not come near to offer upon God’s altar; but he
might eat of the holy bread, that he might grow, Lev. xxi. 20, &c.
So the new-born babes may eat of the milk of the Word, that they
may grow thereby and increase. He that had any blemish might not
come near to offer upon God’s altar; neither might anything be
offered upon God’s altar that had any blemish, or was unclean,
Lev. xxi. And it is said, ‘The ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,’ Psal.
i. 5. But ‘God standeth in the congregation of the mighty,’” Psal.
lxxxii. 1.

“The camp of God was to be kept clean and holy. That which was
unclean, or defiled, was to be kept out of God’s camp in the old
Testament. And in the New Testament all that is defiled and
unclean must be kept out of God’s kingdom, the new and heavenly
Jerusalem, that is from above. All was to pass through the fire
(even of those things that would bear the fire), and to be
purified by fire and water, before the people might come into
God’s camp, Num. xxxi. So all must be circumcised and baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and be cleansed with the blood
of Christ, and washed with the water of the Word before they come
into the kingdom of God, and into heavenly Jerusalem.”

“The apostle Paul says, ‘We know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is
from heaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life,’ 2 Cor.
v. 1, 2, 4. Here is (WE in the earthly house of this tabernacle)
which (WE) are they that have received Christ, and are become the
sons of God, new creatures, and children of the light, that
believe in Christ’s light; who have an eternal house in the
heavens, where mortality is swallowed up of life, in which house
from heaven they will not groan.”

“Peter said, ‘I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle,
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly
I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ
hath showed me,’ 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. So Peter knew he must put off
this tabernacle shortly; but as long as he was in it he stirred up
the saints to their duty in holiness, that they might remember it
after he was deceased.”

“The apostle Paul says, ‘The first man is of the earth, earthy,’
(mark, earthy), 1 Cor. xv. 47. ‘And as we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly’ (mark,
the heavenly), ver. 40. And, ‘We have this treasure in earthen
vessels,’ &c., 2 Cor. iv. 7. ‘Nevertheless I live,’ said he, ‘yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ Gal. ii. 20, who is the life of
all God’s people.”

“Christ said to the Jews, ‘That the dead are raised, even Moses
showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: for he is not the God
of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto him,’ Luke xx.
37, 38. So, ‘None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether
we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die,
we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and
revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living,’ Rom.
xiv. 7-9. For all died in Adam; and Christ, by the grace of God,
tasted death for every man, that they might come out of the death
in Adam, to the eternal life in Jesus Christ, who is also a
quickening Spirit; for as in Adam all died, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive. So Christ that died and rose again is
Lord both of the living and of the dead: for the living live to
the Lord, and die in him, and are blessed.”

“All Christendom say they believe in God and in Christ, and that
they believe Moses and the prophets, and preach Christ, Moses, and
the prophets; so their words and writings are preached and
printed; and ye say ye believe them. But what life do ye live? Are
ye through the law dead to the law, that ye may live unto God? Are
ye crucified with Christ? and doth Christ live in you? Is the life
that ye now live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God; and
ye do not live, but Christ liveth in you, who gave himself for
you? Is this your present life? for the just live by the faith
which Christ is the author and finisher of: by which holy, divine,
and precious faith they have victory over that which is vile,
unholy, and not divine; and in this faith they please God, and
have access to God and his Son, who fulfilleth the law and the
prophets. For the law and the prophets were until John; and since
that the kingdom of God hath been preached, and men press into it:
and the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John, though
he was the greatest prophet born of a woman. See whether ye are in
the kingdom that stands in peace, and righteousness, and joy in
the Holy Ghost, or not.

“Christ, ‘who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of
every creature, was before any creature; for by him were all
things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
or invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him; he was
before all things, and by him all things consist: and he is the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead.’ So here ye may see that all things were made by
Christ Jesus, and created for him, and by him all things consist
and have their being, who is the firstborn from the dead, and
dieth no more. It pleased the Father that in him all fulness
should dwell; and by Christ to reconcile all things unto himself,
whether they be things in heaven, or things in the earth. ‘In him
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,’ who is the
head of all principality and power; for ‘all power in heaven and
in earth is given to him,’ the first-born of every creature, and
the firstborn from the dead, who liveth for evermore in his power
over all; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. While
the world’s spirit rules in men’s hearts, they do not know Christ,
nor the beginning nor ending of the work of God.

“Christ was outwardly crucified and slain without the gates of
Jerusalem by the disobedient Jews; and they that hate the light of
Christ, disobey his gospel, quench his Spirit, and are erred from
his faith, crucify to themselves Christ afresh. So Adam and Eve,
and their children that disobeyed God, did slay the Lamb; and the
blind Jews, that disobeyed God, crucified Christ Jesus; and the
outward Christians, that live and walk not in Christ, but in sin
and evil, though they make an outward profession of Christ, yet
crucify to themselves Christ afresh. But as to Christ himself, he
is ‘ascended far above all principalities, thrones, powers, and
dominions,’ so that they cannot put him to death or crucify him
any more as to himself: but what the killers, crucifiers, and
persecutors do now upon the earth, is against Christ, as in
themselves, and in his members; as Christ said to Saul, ‘Why
persecutest thou me,’ Acts ix. 4. For what is done to his members
Christ takes as done to himself, Matt. xxv. 40, 45. And they that
did not visit Christ, but persecuted him in his members,
persecuted Christ in themselves first.”

“The serpent, that enemy to man and woman, the destroyer, the god
of the world and prince of the air, that ruleth in the hearts of
the disobedient, got in by disobedience. But Christ bruises his
head, breaks his power to pieces, and destroys the devil and his
works; and through death destroys death, and the devil, the power
of death. So Christ, the light and life, hath all power in heaven
and in earth, and openeth the prison-doors, and the eyes of the
blind, and takes captive him that hath led into captivity, and
gives gifts unto men. So Christ binds the strong man of sin,
spoils his goods, and casts him out; hallelujah! For the strong
man of sin is the god of the world, and his house is the whole
world, that lieth in wickedness. And this god of the world hath
kept his house, and his goods have been in peace, until a stronger
than he comes and binds and casts him out; and then destroys him
and his goods. So Christ, the Son of God, who is stronger than the
devil, having destroyed the devil and his works, setteth up his
own house. All the believers in the light are the children of
light, are of the Son of God’s spiritual house, and the Son of God
is over his house for evermore: glory to God in the highest,
through Jesus Christ. Amen.”

“God spoke by the mouth of all his holy prophets concerning Christ
Jesus, his Son, the Holy One; so they were holy men, and not
unholy, that God spoke by. Therefore all that name the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ are to depart from iniquity.”

G.F.

Kingston-upon-Thames, the 11th Month, 1687.