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النشر الإلكتروني

The temple built by Solomon, was partly a figure of Christ, and partly of his church. For, when Christ suffered the temple of his holy body to be destroyed, and was raised again from the dead, John ii. 19. then Christ raised up us the christian church; which is the true spiritual house and temple wherein God dwelleth. 1 Cor. vi. 19.

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And Isaiah the prophet, and also the apostle, speaking of Christ's sufferings, say, in Isaiah liii. and Acts viii. 33. how that the Lord should make Christ's soul an offering for sin, who poured out his soul unto death; and the prophet saith, who shall declare his generation?' Yet the prophet saith, 'He shall see his seed,' namely, Christ; and did not Christ see his seed, his faithful apostles and disciples? And the apostle saith, 'For both he that sanctifieth, (namely, Christ,) and they who are sanctified, are all of one; for which cause Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren.' So then they are of his seed, who can preach Christ, and can declare his heavenly and holy generation.

And again he saith, 'I will declare thy name among my brethren.' So here Christ calleth his believers his brethren; and again he saith, 'Behold, I, and the children which God hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel;' so they are now to all outward professors without possession. Isaiah viii. 18. and Heb. ii. 11.

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And Isaiah saith, The Lord himself shall give you a sign, (namely, the outward Jews.) Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.' Isaiah vii. 14. Matt. i. 23.

This Christ, the Emmanuel, God with us, he was a sign to the Jews, and a wonder, when he came; and he is a sign and a wonder to all outward professors of the scriptúre, without possession, where he is revealed and manifest in his people; for he saith, Behold, I, and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel.' So where Christ, the son of God, is revealed in his people, and they come to be of his seed, brethren, and generation, and declare his generation, they are for signs, and for wonders, and for gazing-stocks to all the outward professors of God, and Christ, and the prophets and apostles, without the possession of their life and spirit.

And the apostle saith, That Abraham was called a friend of God.' James ii. 24. And Christ saith to his disciples, 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I command. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth. But I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Here Christ called his disciples sometimes friends, and sometimes brethren, as before; as in John xv. 19. and Heb. ii. 11, 12.

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And as many as received Christ, to them he gave power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe on his name; which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,

but of God.' John i. 12, 13. These are they that declared the generations of Christ.

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And John saith, Behold, (or take notice,) what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now we are the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.' 1 John iii. 1, 2. Here you may see the world knoweth not God, nor his sons. So it is no marvel, if the world that lieth in wickedness, be haters of God, and haters of his son, and sons, but 'greater is he that is in God's sons and daughters, than he that is in the world;' by which they do overcome the world, as in 1 John iv. 4. And the Lord said to Job, When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.' Job xxxviii. 7. There was cause of joy to hear that heavenly harmony. And God hath anointed Christ with the oil of gladness above his fellows.' Heb. i. 9.

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Moses was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of these things which were to be spoken after, (namely, the substance, Christ,) but Christ as a son is over his house, whose we are,' (namely, that are the sons and children of God,) as in Heb. iii. 5, 6. So here is a distinction betwixt the servant's house, Moses; and the son's house, Christ Jesus.

And Christ said, 'While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may become children of the light;' as in John xii. 36. So the way to become the children of the light, is to believe in the light.

And the apostle saith to the Ephesians, chap. v. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord;' walk as children of the light.

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And again, the apostle writeth to the Thessalonians, 'Ye are all children of the light, and children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.' 1 Thess. v. 5. These were the believers in the light, that were become children of the light, and day of Christ. And Christ said unto such, Ye are the light of the world, and a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid;' and such are to be blameless and harmless, 'the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.' Philip. ii. 15. For as the prophet saith in Isa. liv. 13. and Christ saith in John vi. 45. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children; in righteousness shall they be established.'

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And the apostle saith, 'As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God; the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, namely, with Christ.' Rom. viii. 14. 16, 17. Here you may see the sons of God are heirs of God, and joint heirs

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with Christ; such can declare of his generation; for they which are children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, nor cannot in truth declare of Christ's generation; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, as in Rom. ix. 8. For Christ saith to Nicodemus, except a man be born again of water and the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God, nor enter into it: that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.' John iii. 3. 5, 6. For he that is born of the spirit is persecuted by him that is born of the flesh;' and Jerusalem, that is above, is the mother of all them that are born of the spirit; and so are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, as in Gal. iii. 26. and iv. 26. So as the apostle saith to the church of Ephesians, chap. iii. 6. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel, who were built together for a habitation of God through the spirit.' Eph. ii. 22.

And God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him;' as in James ii. 5.

Christ said, 'He that soweth the seed is the son of man, the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one, the enemy that soweth them is the devil.' Matt. xiii. 37, 38, 39. Here Christ maketh a distinction betwixt the two seeds and the two sowers; and the good seed are the children of the kingdom of God, but the bad seed must be cast into the fire, which are the children of the wicked one. And Christ said in Luke viii. 11. The seed is the word of God.'

And Peter saith, 'Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth, and abideth, and endureth for ever;' such feed upon the milk of the word, and grow thereby. 1 Pet. i. 23. and ii. 2.

And John saith, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God; in this the children of God are manifest from the children of the devil;' and in this the true birth is manifest, and this seed and birth knows the kingdom of Christ, and declares of his generation, who is built upon him the heavenly rock and foundation; for Jesus Christ our saviour abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light, through his glorious everlasting gospel, the power of God. 2 Tim. i. 10. And the apostle saith, 'The law served, and it was added because of transgression, till the seed should come,' namely, Christ. Gal. iii. 19. And now Christ the seedsman is come, who is the end of the law, for righteousness' sake, to every one that believes; and they that believe are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

And the Lord said to Abraham, 'In thy seed shall all the kindreds (or all the families) of the earth be blessed.' Acts iii. 25. Gen. xii. 3. Acts vii. 6. And this is the seed that sojourned in a strange land, and they that did evilly entreat this seed, and bring it into bondage, God did judge. And the promises of God are sure to all the seed, as in Rom. iv. 16. And the children of the promise are counted for the seed; for these are the children of the kingdom,' as in Rom. ix. 8.

'And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with her seed, which kept the command of God, and had (and have) the testimony of Jesus.' Rev. xii. 17.

Now here you may see it is against the seed, which keeps the command of God, and testimony of Jesus, the dragon maketh war; but Christ, the seed of the woman, bruises the serpent's head; for the Lord saith, 'I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring.' Isa. xliv. 3. All who are in the seed know God's spirit and blessings. And the Lord said, 'My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed.' Now is not this the seed in which all nations are blessed, in whose mouth God's word remains? As in Isaiah lix. 21.

And are not these the children of the seed, which are the children of the kingdom of God.

And the Lord said concerning Christ, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' Psalm ii. 8, 9.

And the great image of gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay, spoken of in Daniel, which was broken to pieces by Christ the stone, and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing-floor, and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them; and the stone that smote this image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth: (Dan. 2.) is not this Christ Jesus, who hath all power in heaven and earth given to him, that he filleth the whole earth with his divinity? to whom God 'gave the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; and his seed doth inherit the Gentiles.' Isa. liv. And doth not Christ now inherit the Gentiles or heathen? Yea, the uttermost parts of the earth he possesses with his divine power, light, and seed, who filleth the whole earth, and hath all power in heaven and earth, and ruleth with his spiritual divine rod of iron. Not a rod of corruptible iron, but he ruleth them with his divine rod, and dashes them to pieces like a potter's vessel. They that are the children of the kingdom see this, and know Christ to rule in their hearts, and sit down VOL. VIII.

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in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, who is the first and last, the beginning and ending, by whom all things were made.

CCCCIII.

G. F.

Dear friends, in Holland, Friesland, Hamborough, Frederickstadt, Dantzic, Palatinate, and all other places thereaway, where God's truth and ensign are set up; peace, grace, and truth be multiplied among you from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the fountain of all life, peace, grace, and heavenly wisdom, and understanding; and the God of all power and peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, fill you with it, and his heavenly riches, and that you may all walk worthy of his heavenly calling, in all holiness, righteousness, and godliness, &c. in life and conversation, and that by the word of life and patience, you may answer the truth in all both high and low; so that you may be of good savour to God in the hearts of all people.

For you know there is no other way to God but by Christ Jesus; and you know, that God has raised up Christ to be a prophet in his new testament to be heard in all things; and you know, he opens, and none can shut, and he shuts and none can open;' and you know, that Christ is the bishop of your souls, to oversee, that you do not go astray from God. And you know that Christ is the true shepherd, and has laid down his life for his sheep, and they know his voice, and they follow him, and he gives them life eternal.' And also you know, that Christ is your high priest, made higher than the heavens, by the power of an endless life, and by him you are made a spiritual priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God.

And as for our Yearly Meeting, the presence of the eternal God was amongst us, and his glory, which shines over all; and all was quiet and peaceable; and it was the Lord's doing, blessed be his name for ever.

And your epistle was read in the Yearly Meeting, and Friends in the Lord's power read it, and had unity with your spirits, and are sensible of your spiritual care in the Lord's eternal power concerning truth's affairs in those parts. In which God Almighty preserve you, and increase you, both in his wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, that you may spread his blessed truth abroad, and answer it in all people. Amen. G. F.

London, the 10th of the 4th month, 1685.

CCCCIV.To Friends in Pennsylvania.

Dear friends, I am glad to hear of the good Yearly Meeting at Rhode Island, and that the Lord's power and presence were there

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