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for us, testified in the delivering up of his own Son for all, is still made the key-note of the rising song: "Shall he not, with him, also freely give us all things? Who shall accuse the elect ones of the Father? Shall God, who justifieth (through the blood of Jesus)? Who shall condemn? Shall Christ, who died? yea, rather, who is raised again; who even now, at the right hand of God, makes intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, &c..... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For the conviction produced in us by the Spirit is, that no created power can separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord" (vers. 31-39). (To be continued.)

W. R.C.

THE BABE OF GLORY," &c.

"THE Babe of Glory, breaking forth in the broken Flesh of the Saints breathing out the Life of God (hid in their Flesh) now to be revealed and raised (Isa. xl. 5, 6"), is the title of a work published nearly two centuries ago " by William Erbery." The volume contains several treatises; and amongst them some good remarks, mixed with much error; and furnishes one among the many proofs that God has never left himself without a witness for his truth, which they who were of one mind with Him would recognise. The passages that will be extracted are those only which contain the truth, because our present object is not to furnish an analysis of the opinions good and bad of the author, but to shew the truth which has been proclaimed by him.

"The Gospel is a mystery; the mystery of the Gospel is Christ in us the hope of glory. The manifestation of the Spirit in manifold gifts was most necessary for those who should manifest the mystery of God to men; three gifts especially, of a tongue, interpretation, and revelation.....

"The light of the last times will clear up the mystery of God even the Father, and of Christ, which has been clouded all along by the apostasy.

"If we knew the mystery of God even the Father, and of Christ, in the Spirit, it would shew Christ in us; that is, God in our flesh as in his; Christ as God being one with the Father, and Christ as man being one with his brethren, who are not only one flesh with him, but of his bone and of his flesh, though he be the Elder Brother, and above his fellows."

"Going forth to baptize without the baptism of the Spirit on the church, is not the command of Christ, but against it. What is the command of Christ? The first Gospel-command, next to be

lieving, is Acts i. 4: Being assembled together with them, Christ Jesus commanded that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. Who were these met together? They were the Apostles of Christ, chosen by Christ, and had a commission from Christ to go teach all nations, and baptize, &c. The Apostles, though they had this call and commission from Christ, must not go forth until they were endued with power from on high: they must not depart out of Jerusalem.....We should not go forth of this to teach and baptize; yea, we cannot baptize, because not teach all nations: not every teacher, but he that could teach all nations, was to baptize; and this could not be without the baptism of the Spirit. As they disobey the command of Christ, so they do deny the Spirit of Jesus. You shall not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. What is that? You shall be baptized with the Spirit not many days hence. What is the baptism of the Spirit? is it the presence of the Spirit? The Apostles had the presence of the Spirit before. Is it the abundance of the Spirit? Christ breathed upon them before, and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Yet were they not baptized with the Spirit. So for those to go forth to teach and baptize who have not the baptism of the Spirit, is to deny the Spirit of Jesus.

"The baptism of the Spirit, as I have often said, is pouring forth of all the gifts of the Spirit on the church; for the church under the Law had some gifts of the Spirit, as of prophecy, signs, miracles, healing, &c., which our Gospel churches cannot shew; but the Gospel churches, indeed, had all spiritual gifts: the churches of Christ were wanting in no gifts.

"Friends, the Spirit here is the same spoken of John vii. 39: He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water: this spake he of the Spirit, which those that believed on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given. It is in the original, 'The Holy Spirit was not yet'-the baptism of the Spirit, that power from on high, which Jesus gave when he was glorified, that Spirit was not yet: and as it was not then, so it is not now therefore to baptize in a Gospel-way without the baptism of the Spirit, is to deny the Spirit of Jesus; for John's baptism before was but a legal ordinance.

"They say they are believers in Christ, therefore they must baptize and be baptized. I say again, with Christ; Verily, verily, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater, because I go to the Father. Where be any believers that can do the works of Christ, and greater also? Again, He that believes, and is baptized, shall be saved; and These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues, &c. Alas! where be these things in baptized believers ? nay, rather, the faith that

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the people of God have this day is but a legal faith, as I have proved in my call to the churches. It is not faith on Christ. No, the mystery of Christ is not manifest to Christians; our faith goes no further than the flesh of Christ; it goes so far as to believe Christ born of a Virgin, and suffered at Jerusalem for us 1653 years ago; and so we think to be saved by him, not being revealed in us, and dying in us, and to rise the hope of glory. But who knows Christ in spirit? the Father in the Son? the Son in the saints? so to die with him as to rise with him? This is a mystery they know not.

"The truth of this will appear when the Lord speaks terrible things unto you, and roars in your spirit. Now what is this roaring? He shall roar like a lion. First, the Lord shall roar, that is, he shall speak himself terrible in his people, and he shall speak with power: he shall first of all roar like a man of war, that is, God will first appear in his people, and speak in them, and to them, as a man of war: the Lord is a man of war, the Lord of hosts is his name. Now when the Lord shall come forth as a man of war in you, and in me, and shall roar and prevail against his enemy-that is, against all that without and within us that hinders his glorious appearing-he will make mountains waste, and hills, that is, every high imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Yea, He will dry up all our herbs and pools of water; our purest ordinances and common gifts too shall be dried up; and ourselves destroyed, if we be found among those who oppose his appearance in glory, or pretend to have that which we have not; yea, what we have shall be taken away also. When God comes and roars like a man of war, he will surprise all our strong holds, cast down our haughtiness, and slay our flesh and the goodliness of it; and every thing in us that is below himself must tremble and fall."

"2. As he shall roar like a man of war, so he shall roar like a woman in travail. I have a long time, saith the Lord, held my peace, and been still; now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. That God that is one with thee, that dwells in thy flesh, that blessed God will one day appear with glory in thee and me. When God shall begin to appear in glory, he will roar; first, like a man of war, to waste and destroy thy own wisdom, prudence, confidence, peace; then he will cry like a woman in travail: when God brings forth his glory in thy flesh, he will break through thy flesh, destroy thy flesh wholly; yea, this pure flesh, thy purest religion, reason, knowledge, confidence, comfort, and most spiritual strength, he will so weaken, that thou shalt cry, with Christ cru

cified, I am a worm and no man. Then God will appear to be all in all; he will be thy glory, thy help, and thy strength.

"Will you look upon Christ (you Christians?) If you be now

as Christ was then, you shall have fellowship in his sufferings, and be conformable to his death, whose death was the beginning of his life in glory for his resurrection was the day he was begotten; therefore his pains of death were as the pangs of a woman in travail, to bring forth that glory of his resurrection. So it will be with thee as with him; he was crucified through weakness, saith Paul: that is, never was man so weak as the Son of God was in suffering-a worm, and no man-yea, He, who was the Wisdom and Power of God, was made so weak in his inward flesh and spiritual confidence, that he cries out as a man forsaken of God, as a woman in travail, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yea, he roared in his cry: Why art thou so far from the voice of my roaring? Here God roared; God in the man Christ, which made the man to roar; and be sure God will make thee to roar when he roars in thee, or when thou comest forth to suffer with the Son-that is, to have God brought in thy flesh, and then begotten again to the glory of the resurrection-be sure thou shalt roar as a woman in travail, that is, as Christ did in dying, when his pure flesh was crucified to God, and the Power of God appeared as a worm, and no man.

"These things seem strange to thee, because the Lord has long holden his peace in thee, and been still, and said nothing, nor stirred thy peace; but when the Lord shall roar, when he shall stir up himself in thee like a man of war, when the Lord shall bring forth his own glory in thee as a woman in travail, he will make thy flesh and mind, even our inward flesh, to tremble. "What is the meaning of those honest men and women in the North, that so many of them are taken with that power that they can do nothing else but quake and tremble? For my part, I look upon it as a sign of something both to you and me; that when God shall roar in us, and speak forth himself with glory in us, God shall make your flesh to shake, quake, and tremble; that is, he will make our most heavenly enjoyments and attainments, peace and power, he will make it all to shake and tremble before him.

"In Joel iii. 16, the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake. O friends, there be many of the people of God that will call those that do apprehend things higher than they do, they will call them Notionists; Are not you a Notionist? What is this Scripture to you? When was this Scripture fulfilled in you? You profess you are Zion, God dwells in you; you are Jerusalem, the city of God; God dwells with you. I pray, when did the Lord utter his voice from you, Jerusalem; and roar in you, Zion? Well, he hath not yet. Why so? Because the Lord is silent yet, and saith nothing; he is still; but a day is coming that

the Lord will roar in the midst of you; then the heavens and the earth shall shake; your heavenly apprehensions and your earthly performances, your heavenly hopes and your earthly affections, all shall shake in that day of the appearance of the great God in you.

"O my dear friends, how quiet is the world! at what ease are all the people of God this day! there is nothing speaks, nor stirs, nor shakes, nor trembles in them; the reason is, they have not heard the Lord roar in them: well, when the Lord shall roar out of Zion, the heavens and earth shall tremble.

"It may seem strange to saints, especially to baptized churches, that their faith shall shake, yea, cease at last: where then are believers to be baptized?

"I will speak of that fleshly faith that is most this day among the churches, who, knowing Christ only after the flesh, and having but carnal apprehensions of Christ in the Spirit—not knowing the mystery of his death, resurrection, of his kingdom and coming, no, nor the mystery of faith also-must needs err in the faith; and therefore on this account their faith must fail

and fall when truth and peace shall appear, at the second appearance of Christ, and brightness of his coming.

"But suppose their faith were straight and sound (as it is not, but much confused and fleshly by the spirit of Antichrist long prevailing in the churches), yet the strongest faith shall shake when the heavens are shaken; yea, faith shall cease, when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. Indeed, there will be a great noise, and a fearful cry, when all that is heaven in us shall pass away, and our faith also (2 Peter iii. 10).

"Faith has been the Protestants' God, as good works the Papists' idol, and salvation founded by both on that which is shaking; for all the idols of Egypt do melt at His presence who is coming on a swift cloud (Isa. xix. 1, 2). What ado there is this day about faith, among Professors and Protestants! How many controversies! How it justifieth; and what faith; and wherein. Whereas all their controversies would fall, if men were sensible of their present confusion, and being in Babylon. have now in London, under Paul's, a church called Saint Faith's; for Faith is canonized with us as a saint, yea, as a god to save therefore God will destroy it, as he will famish all the gods of the earth (Zeph. ii. 11).

us;

We

"I will not enter into a large discourse of faith and the failing of it; only I say, it shall shake with the heavens, and cease also at last, in a double account. First, in regard of strength approaching: when Faith shall be swallowed up into vision, and hope into possession, then you all say, faith will cease. And that the vision of God, and sight of his face, will be in this life, shall appear

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