HOW MEN MUST BE BORN AGAIN. 551 one is born again when he is convinced of sin, and he forsakes his sins. Now to this I shall answer, that being convinced of sin, and forsaking some of their sins, do not allude to the second birth, to say they are born of the Spirit; for mark the words that followed my saying they must be born again : the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit, and he hears the words of the Spirit and this I told Nicodemus was the second birth; but will men say, this second birth is already come to man? Then let men appear and prove they hear the words of my Spirit.-But thou sayest in thy heart, some will say they have the witness of my Spirit, and the knowledge of my Spirit, that their sins are forgiven; and yet thou knowest, these very men have denied my visitation to thee, as much as any men? then where is their belief in the second birth? I tell thee they have no belief in the second birth, neither do they understand my words; for know I said, Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now I ask of all men, who will be saved, if no one be saved that hath not heard the words of the Spirit, as ye hear the rustling wind? In thy heart thou answerest, no one; or if any, the number is but few: then now I tell thee as before, my WORDS stand for the END, as the words of St. John are-I came into the world to take sin out of the world, that men might be born again after my Spirit, after my Image, and after my Likeness; and I tell thee, this will every man experience, that lives to see the kingdom of God established in peace and righteousness; therefore I said, except they were born again, they could not see the kingdom of God. And now I ask thee, what perfect happiness, what heavenly joy, or what likeness could Saints on earth have of the Saints in heaven, or likeness of ME, or my image, before they are born of the Spirit? that my Spirit is poured out upon them? Therefore the apostle said, they should not all die, but they should be all changed in the twinkling of an eye, and the vile bodies of men should be made like my GLORIOUS BODY; then now see, O men, from the Scriptures of truth, the way ye must be born again, to enter into my peaceable kingdom; for how can flesh and blood as it now is, without a change, be united together in perfect harmony? I tell thee no one can enjoy that happiness to have the world in a perfect union one with the other, and to love one another, as I loved them, before the old man, with all his deeds, be done away, and the new man, which is Christ, be renewed and formed in you; therefore it is written, A new heart will I give them, and a new spirit will I put within them; and I will write my laws upon their hearts, and I will put my Spirit upon their inward parts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; old things shall be done away, and all things shall become new. Then now see how the new birth must come to man, to make this earth the kingdom of God, wherein dwelleth happiness, and wherein dwelleth righteousness: but now look to the pretended Christians, who say they are born again : Is there a heavenly love, and a heavenly harmony, amongst them that do thus profess? Thou answerest, No; then let them know, the new birth is not established in the world yet; neither are men's hearts. prepared for the coming of their Lord, as these that profess they experience it, and think they are cleansed, like the leprous men, go on their way as they did before, and have no thoughts of turning back to follow my Gospel, or to look for the fulfilment thereof; while others do not believe the second birth will ever come at all, or the fulfilment of my Bible will ever take place; therefore I tell thee, my coming to man, before I have opened the eyes of their understanding to look for my coming, is like going to strangers that would not receive ME: there OF THE NATURE OF THE SECOND BIRTH. 553 fore I was not received by man when I came in the body; as the sayings of the prophets were not made clear to their understanding; neither are my sayings clear to the understanding of men; then how can I be the desire of nations, before I have opened the eyes of their understanding, that they may be longing for the coming of their Lord, that every man may be taught of the Lord? Then they will find the truth of the second birth, and hear the words of my Spirit, as ye hear the rustling wind; for know I have told thee, as things come to thee, so will it come to all, when my kingdom is established; then will they know ME from the greatest to the least, and every one will be taught of the Lord. So if men discern the Bible through, they will know the second birth must come, to have the Scriptures all fulfilled; but where is the man, with all his learning, or where is the christian with all his religion, who can prove these things were ever accomplished? I tell thee, no man; but,if they believe my Bible true, they must know they will be accomplished, and all my sayings will be fulfilled, with the sayings of the prophets; for know I said, I came to fulfil them; therefore I said unto Nicodemus, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? for had he understood the prophets, he would have understood the meaning of my words, that when I restored the kingdom to Israel, and established my kingdom in righteousness and peace, and poured out my Spirit upon the sons of men, then a new birth must take place, for men to come to the knowledge of their Lord. If these things had not been spoken of by the prophets, how can men suppose I should ask of Nicodemus, how he, a master of Israel, knew not there things, if he did not know them from the prophets? did men vainly suppose I thought he should know them from my Gospel, that was not established? for they had only seen the working of my miracles, that brought Nicodemus to be an enquirer; therefore I could not have spoken to him as though I marvelled at him, not knowing the second birth from the Gospel; but my observation to him was, that he did not understand these things from the Prophets-that old things should be done away, and all things should become new; for there should be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelled righteousness; then there must be a new birth in man, to be born of the Spirit of God, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of the living God. Therefore I spoke what I knew, and testified what I had said before, and what I had seen and heard before, when the foundation of the earth was laid, that the Word should be established that was spoken in the beginning. Now mark the following words: I said, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Now here are words no man can understand; for know it is written, Enoch walked with God, and was translated; and Elijah the same; then will you say they did not ascend up to heaven? and you know I said, that Dives saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom; therefore no man understood the meaning of my words, saying, No man ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. Now I shall explain the meaning: mark the words that I said to Nicodemus before, that they must be born again of the Spirit, or how could men on earth have any resemblance of the angels in heaven? For no man would ascend to heaven, to have the Spirit there, to be in earth and heaven, and to go from earth to heaven, and come from heaven to earth, in the like manner that I had done; neither would the saints on earth ascend up to heaven to have the change wrought there, and then come down upon earth, to have my kingdom here. Then they must be born of the SPIRIT here below; for who would ascend up to heaven to know my mind and will there? This was my meaning to Nicodemus, to let him know, and to let all NO MAN ASCENDED TO HEAVEN BUT CHRIST. 555 men know, that the visitation of my Spirit, the power of my Spirit, and the knowledge of my Spirit must come to men here upon earth, to make them fit members for my kingdom here upon earth; therefore I said, no man ascended up to heaven for that knowledge; but I came down to give them that knowledge, that I should visit them again by my Spirit. But I know the pondering of thy thoughts: I did not say, no man could ascend to heaven for knowledge, to come down and teach men knowledge, but the Son of Man, which was in heaven. I tell thee, No; I did not explain to Nicodemus, why he, being a master of Israel, should have known all these things; neither did I tell them my meaning of destroying the temple; for had I explained all my meaning, and have made every thing clear to men, then they would have been filled with the knowledge of the Lord before the powers of darkness were destroyed; therefore I left the meaning of my words to be explained when I came in the Spirit to fulfil them. Then as no man hath ascended up to heaven, to know my mind and will, how can man pretend to know it, before I come in the Spirit to explain it? But know, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, I said the Son of Man must be lifted up; and as a serpent I was lifted up by the sons of men, upon the Cross for Man; then now look unto ME, all ye to the ends of the earth, and be ye saved; for I was lifted up for man, that the world through ME might be saved; for so God loved the world that He had created, that in the end it might be redeemed by my suffering the Death upon the Cross, to deftroy all the works of the devil: for if love fulfilled the one, justice now demands the other, and they that will now come to the light will see the justice and the light; and in the light they will wish to walk. But if they believe not the earthly things. of the Fall, when every mystery is so clearly explained, how shall they believe the heavenly things of |