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air, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience, that disobey God and his good spirit.

And the prince of the air makes many like the unclean fowls of the air with his foul airy spirit, by his foul air in whom he rules; and he is the ruler in all the children of the disobedient, which disobey God's good spirit, he rules in them with his airy unclean spirit, who blinds the disobedient with his dust and air; for dust is his meat, who is out of the truth, and abode not in it, in whom there is no truth; and all that disobey the holy spirit of the lamb, are his followers and subjects, and he in whom there is no truth, rules in them, who is the author of all sin, corruption, and darkness, whose end is in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone, and that of his followers; but the chaste virgins follow the lamb, and they that are led by the spirit of God, are the sons of God, and walk in the truth, and worship God in spirit and truth.' His truth is over the head of the devil, and he is out of it, and cannot get into it, for there is no truth in him, and therefore he and his followers are not like to get into the truth, that God's children worship God in.

G. F.

Several plain truths manifested and declared from the Spirit of God, and borne testimony to by Christ, the Apostles, and Scriptures of Truth.

I. Concerning Mount Sion.

II. A distinction betwixt wars and armour in the old testament

and the new.

III. Concerning Cain.

IV. Concerning uniformity, and conformity.

V. The authority of the church of Christ.

VI. Concerning exhorting and admonishing.

VII. Concerning such as cry against orders, &c. By G. F.

MOUNT SION was a hill higher than other hills, and it stands northwards in Jerusalem, and therefore is called Sion, that is, a watch-tower, because from this hill, (Sion,) from it one might see the Holy Land, and all the countries thereabouts; and upon this hill David built his city, and blew the trumpet: which Mount Sion and Jerusalem were types of the heavenly Jerusalem and Sion; for the Lord said, 'I have set my king or anointed upon my holy hill of Sion. Heavenly Sion is the hill, or mountain of God's holiness; beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion; let Mount Sion rejoice,' Psalm xlviii. For VOL. VI.

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God will save Sion; the salvation of Israel comes out of Sion, (to wit,) Christ, who is elect and precious, laid in Sion, but not in the outward hill, or Mount Sion; for Christ was born in Bethlehem, and David saith by prophecy, concerning Christ, Oh! that the salvation of Israel was come out of Sion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.' Psalm xiv.

And again he saith, Let Israel rejoice in the Lord that made him, let the children of Sion be joyful in their king; for Sion shall be redeemed through judgment, and her converts through righteousness.' Is not this Sion God's people, and not the outward hill? For out of Sion shall go forth a law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Is not this heavenly Jerusalem, and heavenly Sion, that the word of the Lord and his law go out of, and not out of the outward hill Sion? In the last days, Isaiah saith, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of all mountains, and exalted above all the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.' Is not this heavenly Mount Sion, and heavenly Jerusalem? And Isaiah saith, The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high, he hath filled Sion with judgment and righteousness.' Sion is called a city of our solemnity, and Jerusalem, a 'quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.' Is not this heavenly Jerusalem, and heavenly Sion? But let the hypocrites or sinners of outward Sion or Jerusalem be afraid, which may be removed or broken, which heavenly Sion or Jerusalem cannot; for no unclean thing enters into it. O Sion! that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God.' So here are Sion and Jerusalem that bring good tidings.

Now, do ye think that this was the outward Jerusalem, or outward bill? for Christ was born in Bethlehem, a chief corner stone, elect and precious, laid in Sion; but it doth not say in the outward hill Sion. Isaiah speaks by prophecy, Isa. li. He will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee, even in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Sion, thou art my people.' Here you may see that Sion is God's people; and how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings glad tidings, that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Sion, Thy God reigns,' when the Lord shall bring again Sion, to wit, his people; for the outward moun

tain, with the outward hill, was not removed. And the redeemer shall come to Sion, and unto them that are turned from transgression. Isa. lix. and Rom. xi. And this redeemer is Christ. And Isaiah saith, 'Who hath seen such a thing, and who hath heard such things? Shall a nation be born at once? For so soon as Sion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Now, here you may see the wonder of Sion's travail, which was not the great hill, nor watch-tower in Jerusalem. And Zachariah saith, The Lord shall yet comfort Sion,' that is, his people. Zach. i. And Zachariah saith, Shout thou daughter of Sion.' And again he saith to Sion, 'Let not thy hand be slack.' So Sion was and is God's people.

And Micah saith, In the last days, &c. the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established above all the mountains, and it shall be exalted above all the hills.' So, here is God's heavenly mountain, or watch-tower, which is above all hills or mountains, and people shall flow unto it, and many nations shall come, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.'

Here God is the teacher of his people, and nations; for these last days are the days of Christ, in his new covenant or testament, where the Lord goes forth from heavenly Sion, the mountain of the house of God, established above all mountains, and the word from heavenly Jerusalem, that is above old Jerusalem, which was the word of faith (the apostles preached) in people's hearts and mouths. Rom. x. Micah iv. Isa. ii.

The Jews, in the old testament, they had the law given to them at the outward hill, Mount Sinai, who had the outward hill north in Jerusalem, called Mount Sion, and read the outward law in outward Jerusalem; but the mountain of the Lord, or heavenly Mount Sion, which is called the mountain of the house of the Lord, is established on the top of all the mountains, and exalted above all the hills, so that all nations may see it and flow unto it. And Obadiah saith, Upon Mount Sion shall be deliverance, &c. and saviours shall come upon Mount Sion, to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.'

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And the apostle saith, Rom. ix., As it is written, behold, I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.' And Peter saith, 1 Pet. 2, Behold I lay in Sion, a chief corner stone, elect and precious, and he that believeth on him, shall not be confounded; to all that believe in him he is precious, but unto them that are disobedient, he is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, who stumble at the word, the stone which the builders disallowed, (viz. the outward professors,) the same is made the head of the corner of God's house,' whose house God's people are, and in this

Sion, the chief corner stone, which is laid in Sion, was not laid in the hill called Sion, in outward Jerusalem; for Christ, the chief corner stone, was born in Bethlehem, as is said before.

And the apostle writes to the church in his epistle to the Hebrews, and said, They were not come to the Mount Sinai, where they received the law, but ye are come to Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; and they were come to the general assembly, the church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,' &c. See that ye refuse not him that speaks from heaven; if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven, whose voice shakes not the earth only, but the heavens also, but if ye hear the voice of Christ and follow him, ye will receive his kingdom that cannot be moved nor shaken.

And now, all ye Christians, that profess Christianity, are ye come to Mount Sion? or are ye under the law which came from Mount Sinai, not Mount Sion? which law commanded tithes, offerings, sacrifice, oaths, and swearing, with outward tabernacle, sanctuary, and temple, and priests' lips to preserve people's knowledge, commanded by the law in the old testament. And if ye be come to Mount Sion, and heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, then you see the innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect; and they that are come here, their names are written in heaven; and such are come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, who speaks from heaven, whose voice shakes the heavens and the earth, that are to be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken, may remain. Heb. xii. And John said, Rev. xiv. 'He saw a lamb stand on Mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand, having their father's name written in their foreheads; which were redeemed out of the earth, and from amongst men, and they followed the lamb; and in their mouths were found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God; and they sung a new song, before the throne, and no man could learn that song, but the hundred forty-four thousand which were redeemed,' &c. Then surely this was spiritual, this was heavenly Sion, and not earthly, which the hundred and forty-four thousand stood upon, which were redeemed from the earth, and so from earthly Sion, and earthly Jerusalem, and all those earthly things; that followed Christ the Lamb, and was with him after he was risen, before the throne of God. G. F.

Gouses in Essex, the 13th day of the 2d month, 1683.

A distinction between the Wars and the Weapons, and the Arms and the Armour in the Old Testament and the New; for in the Old Testament they were carnal, and in the New Testament spiritual.

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THE apostle bids the church of Christ, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.' So this wrestling was with spiritual weapons, spiritual men; for carnal men wrestle with flesh and blood, and with carnal weapons, and men's armour, and not the armour of God. And again the apostle saith, Take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done, and having overcome all, to stand, having your loins girt with truth.'

So this is a heavenly girdle, not natural; and 'having on the breastplate of righteousness,' this is a spiritual breast-plate, not natural; 'having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,' which is the power of God over the devil, and before he was; to be shod thus, is not with outward shoes, but with that which will never wax old nor wear out; and above all, take the shield of faith,' that faith which Christ is the author and finisher of, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;' this shield of faith is holy, divine, and precious, and is the victory; which spiritual faith, God and Christ is the author of, and not men. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.' Phil. 6. This helmet of salvation is spiritual, and the sword is spiritual; so not a natural sword or a natural helmet; and the word of God is called a hammer, a fire, and a sword, to hammer down, and cut down, and burn up that which hath made a separation between man and God; and it is called the ⚫ word of reconciliation, that reconciles to God.' So the true church and ministers of Christ are to prove themselves by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the holy ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left.' 2 Cor. vi.

For though the church of Christ do walk in the flesh, yet the apostle saith, 'We do not war after the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the plucking down of strong holds, (to wit, of satan,) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, having in readiness

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