The first man Adam was made on the sixth day of the week; and Christ, the second Adam, was crucified on the sixth day of the week.

'The first Adam was betrayed by the serpent in the garden of Eden: Christ our Saviour, the second Adam, was betrayed by Judas in a garden near Jerusalem.

• Christ arose from the dead on the first day of the week; and they that do believe on him are entered into Christ their rest: the christians meet together to worship God on the first day of the week; and on the first day of the week it was, that God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." The Jews' rest was on the seventh day of the week, which was given to them as a sign of the eternal rest of the Lord, sanctifying them, after they came out of the land of Egypt: for before that time the Lord had not given to man and woman his outward Sabbath day to keep, neither in the old world, nor after in Abraham's time, nor in Isaac's, nor in Jacob's time; until the Jews came out of Egypt to mount Sinai in the wilderness. Then the Lord gave the law, and his Sabbath, as a sign in the old covenant, of Christ the eternal rest in the new covenant: and they that believe do enter into Christ their rest.

'Adam, the first man, is the root from whence we all spring naturally: and Christ is called the last or second Adam, because he is the beginning and root of all that are spiritual.

The first Adam was made a living soul; and Christ the last Adam is a quickening spirit.

'Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man, that they might all come into favour with God; and that every tongue should confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

I wrote also a paper there, concerning the two seeds, distinguishing the seed wherein the blessing is received, from the seed which the curse remains upon. Of which the following is a copy:

THE Lord said to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. xxii. 18. "And thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, and as the dust of the earth, that cannot be numbered." chap. xiii. 16. and xv. 5. and xxii. 17. In this seed all nations and families of the earth are blessed; but not in the seed of evildoers and of falsehood, nor in the seed of adultery and the whore. Isa. i. 4. and lvii. 3, 4. "For the seed of the wicked shall be cut off, saith the Lord." Psalm xxxvii. 28. The Lord said to David, "That his seed should endure for ever." Psalm lxxxix. 36. And again it is said, Psalm cii. 28. "The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." Here is a distinction betwixt the two seeds: for the seed of evildoers, of the adulterer, whore,

and of the wicked shall be cut off; so it is not blessed. But Christ bruises the head of the serpent and his seed, which he soweth in them, that disobey and transgress God's command, and rebel against God's good spirit. This wicked seed of the serpent is curst, and is an enemy to the seed, in whom all are blessed. But Christ bruises the head of this cursed seed of enmity, and destroys the devil and his works; and in his seed are all blessed, and all are in unity in this seed. All the children of the seed are the children of the kingdom of God and Christ, and are blessed with faithful Abraham. Whoever are of the saving, divine, precious faith, are of Abraham, walk in the steps of the seed and faith of Abraham, and are blessed with him, yea, of all nations, and all the families of the earth.

'The Lord said to Abraham, "Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years: and that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they (to wit, God's seed) come out with great substance." Gen. xv. 13, 14. Here ye may see, that which afflicts God's seed, he will judge, and did judge; for he did destroy the first-birth of Pharaoh, and overthrew him and his host.

'A holy man said; "Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed or remnant, we had been as Sodom." &c. that is destroyed. But in the seed, which destroys the devil and his works, and bruises the head of the serpent and his seed, are all nations and families of the earth blessed.

'Christ, according to the flesh, was of Abraham and of David: for he took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham; in which seed all nations and families of the earth are blessed. And so they, that are of his seed, are of the generation of Christ; are "flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone." Now all nations and families of the earth must be in this holy seed, if they have the blessings, and are blessed. And, "out of the mouth of this seed's seed shall not God's word depart;" but shall remain and abide in the mouth of this seed's seed, in which they are blessed. Isa. lix. 21. So it is not the first-birth's talking of the words of Christ, the seed, in whose mouth the word of God doth not abide, that makes an outward profession, like the Jews, that did kill and persecute the prophets, and crucify Christ the seed and substance of the law and prophets, which the Jews professed in words, but they denied Christ, the seed and life. All christians (so called) that profess the scriptures in words, and are not in the seed Christ, are in the confusion, and are like the Jews. So neither Jews nor christians are blessed, except they be in Christ, the seed of life.

But though Christ is said to be the seed of David, and of Abraham, as his generation is declared by Matthew and Luke; yet Christ was not born of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

For he was conceived by the holy ghost, born of the virgin, and supposed to be the son of Joseph, but was the son of God. His name was called Jesus, because he should "save his people from their sins;" and Emanuel, God with us. Christ took not upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham (as I said before) and so was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Rom. i. 4. So the generation of Christ is a mystery. Christ saw his seed or word grow up in his disciples; and "Christ in you the hope of glory," the apostle calls "the mystery, which hath been hid from ages and generations; but now is made manifest to the saints, or sanctified ones." Col. i. 26, 27. "Whom we preach; warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." v. 28. For in Christ, the second Adam, all are made perfect and complete; and in Adam in the fall, all are deformed and made imperfect; so out of Christ all mankind are imperfect and deformed; let them paint and dress themselves with the sheep's clothing, and with the form of godliness, of the prophets', Christ's and his apostles' words never so much; yet if Christ be not in them, they are incomplete, imperfect, deformed, reprobates. But the apostle tells the church of Christ. "Ye are complete in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power." Col. ii. 10. (for he hath "all power in heaven and earth given to him." Matt. xxviii. 18.) So all the saints are made perfect and complete in Christ Jesus; blessed be the Lord God over all for ever, through Jesus Christ, Amen, Amen.

'Kingston, the 15th of the 1st month, 1686-7.'

G. F.

Quickly after this I returned to London, and continued there a month in the service of the Lord; being daily exercised either in public meetings, or more particular services relating to the church of Christ: as visiting such as were sick or afflicted, writing books or papers for the spreading of truth, or refuting of error. As it was a time of general liberty, the Papists appeared more open in their worship than formerly, and many unsettled people going to view them, a great talk there was of their praying to saints, and by beads, &c. whereupon I wrote a short paper concerning prayer; as followeth :

'Christ Jesus, when he taught his disciples to pray, said unto them, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name," &c. Christ doth not say, they should pray to Mary, the mother of Christ; nor doth he say, they should pray to angels, or to saints that were dead. Christ did not teach them to pray to the dead, nor for the dead. Neither did Christ or his apostles teach the believers to pray by

beads, nor to sing by outward organs; but the apostle said, he would sing and pray in the spirit: for the spirit itself "maketh intercession; and the Lord, that searcheth the heart, knoweth the mind of the spirit."

To take counsel of the dead, was forbidden by the law of God; they were to take counsel of the Lord. He hath given Christ in the new covenant, in his gospel-day, to be a counsellor and a leader to all believers in his light. Men are not to run to the dead for the living; for the law and testimony of God forbids it. Those Jews, that refused the running waters of Shiloh, the floods and waters of the Assyrians and Babylonians came over them, and carried them into captivity: and they that refuse the waters of Christ, are overflowed with the flood of the world, that lieth in wickedness. They that asked counsel of stocks and stones, were in the spirit of error and whoredom; they were "gone a whoring from God." Hosea iv. 12. And they, that "joined themselves to BaalPeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead, provoked the Lord's anger, and brought the Lord's displeasure upon them." Psal. cvi. 28, 29. So here ye may see, the sacrifices of the dead were forbidden. The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward: for the memory of them is forgotten, Eccles. ix. 5. "Wo to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin." Isa. xxx. 1. G. F.'

When I had staid about a month in London, I got out of town again; For by reason of the many hardships I had undergone in imprisonments, and other sufferings for truth's sake, my body was grown so infirm and weak, that I could not bear the closeness of the city long together; but was fain to go a little into the country, where I might have the benefit of the fresh air. At this time I went with my son-in-law, William Mead, to his country-house called Gooses in Essex, where I staid about two weeks; and among other services, that I had there, I wrote the following paper:

̧‘A distinction between the true offering and sacrifice, and the false, in the old and new covenant.

The Lord saith, "He that sacrificeth to any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed." Exod. xxii. 20. So no god is to be minded, nor sacrificed to, but the Lord God. It is death to sacrifice to any other god, save the Lord. The Lord saith also, "Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread." Exod. xxiii. 18. So that sour heavy leaven must not be offered with the Lord's sacrifice. Again, the Lord saith; "Thou shalt not build an altar of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Exod. xx. 25. VOL. II.

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Therefore have a care of polluting the altar with your own tools, you that profess to offer the spiritual sacrifice.

Jonah said, "He would sacrifice unto the Lord with the voice of thanksgiving," when he was in the fish's belly and there he prayed unto the Lord. Jonah ii. For Jonah in the whale's belly had no lambs, nor rams, nor outward sacrifices to offer.

The Lord forbids his people to sacrifice with harlots. Hosea iv. 14. And the Lord forbids his people to offer sacrifice of the blind, lame, sick, or that which was deformed, or had any blemish: as in Mal. i. and many other places. So they that offer spiritual sacrifice, must not offer the blind, lame, blemished, or deformed sacrifice to God.

The scribe saith unto Christ, "To love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Mark xii. 33. "And when Jesus saw, that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom of God." v. 34. To love God, and their neighbour as themselves, was more than whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the time of the law; therefore all offerings and sacrifices in the time of the gospel, if there be not love to God and to their neighbour as themselves, avail nothing.

'David said, "Let them sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing." Psal. cvii. 22. These are the sacrifices that the Lord requires of his people, more than outward sacrifices. David said, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of mine hands as the evening sacrifice." Psal. cxli. 2. Here David looks upon his prayer to the Lord, and the lifting up of his hands to him, to be accepted with the Lord, as much as the outward incense, and the outward evening sacrifice. Again David says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Psal. li. 17. (See also Isa. lvii. 15. and chap. Ixvi. 2.) These are the sacrifices that David said God would accept, and not despise; which are beyond the unbroken spirit, and uncontrite heart, with outward offerings and sacrifices.

The adversaries of the Jews would have joined with them towards the building of the temple, saying, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him." But the Jews refused them, and said; "Ye have nothing to do with us, to build a house unto our God." Ezra iv. 2, 3. Here ye may see God's people refused their building with them, and their sacrifice. Solomon saith, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." Prov. xv. 8. (See also Isa. i. 11. and chap. lxvi. 3.) Solomon also saith, "Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with