The delivery of the Law in ten particulars,
given forth by Wisdom to a Translated Spirit

    These are the Laws of Paradise,⁽⁷⁾ which must be observed by all who set foot there according as they were declared and given forth by Wisdom, when I was in the Spirit. She thus spake to me:

    "Having cautioned thee that thou mayest not be secure, telling thee that the Tempter and the Tree are both here,⁽⁸⁾ I, Wisdom, bid thee take good heed, considering that thou art yet but a stranger and knowest not the constitutions, orders and worships required by the King of this Holy Land. Lest thou shouldst also miscarry here, as did the first Adam and many more since who have come thus far in the similitude of the Second (Christ), I do now present to thee, out of my peculiar Love, Christ, thy Looking Glass. They that did miscarry, the Dragon hath plucked down again, awakening in them the essences which were slain by the Death. Behold thyself in Him who was thy dying Pattern⁽⁹⁾ and now must be thy Living Spirit, to act answerable to Him, bodily and spiritually. And as He was in Paradise invisible and in this present world visible, in like manner now thou art.

    So the same Law which was enjoined by the Father to Him, is expressly to be observed by thee. Not one jot or tittle is to be lessened therein. For here the New Covenant is to be reestablished, in which the laws of pure and uncorrupted nature are again revived, which were engraved upon the heart before sin entered to erase them. And as this internal Law of Liberty was lost in Paradise, so in all ages it could never be found by any until they returned there again to fulfill the whole righteousness hereof⁽¹⁰⁾ through the Birth, Power and Spirit of Jesus, Who hath imprinted the Law of eternal nature upon the fleshly table of a pure heart.

    This becomes a Law of Life unto itself that none need say 'Know the Lord,' from henceforth, if they but come to know themselves after the Law of this Paradisical Life. This Law I will give to thee as God gave the Law to Moses in Ten Particulars. Thus, what is given thee shall answer to the outspoken word from Me, who, for a general benefit to all, do require thee to record these following precepts, purely as they flow from My Unknown Deep:

    Thou shalt own and bear witness to the True God, manifested through His Virgin Wisdom, as come to restore nature to its own eternal originality, which consisted in Light, Purity and Power. Thou shalt have no other God live in thee but Jehovah,⁽¹¹⁾ whose arm alone hath redeemed and brought thee into thy original liberty and sovereignty again, through the internal dying, as the acceptable propitiation.

    Thou art not to frame or carve out in thy mind a strange God (though it may be after a heavenly likeness), worshipping thou knowest not what or whom.⁽¹²⁾ The fallen essences would make a god like unto themselves, gross and elementary, with which the earthly sense might be familiar and have recourse to for supply in a gross visible manner. Then would the invisible Creator come to be owned in word but denied in the faith as to His omnipotency through this going a-whoring after the god of reason.

    This bowing down and worshipping of this rising sun, which governeth the Day of this fallen creation, with the apostate spirits still crying in man's nature, is as it was of old, "Up, make us gods which may go before us, that we may have our sensible sight fed." As for this invisible working power, it delays to come down to us, though His arm hath been made bare and wrought great deliverance, yet now being withdrawn, we know not what is become of this Unknown God that keeps in such a circle as we cannot break in to Him.

    Therefore, saith the unbelieving Israel, "We will make choice of a god for ourselves after our own likeness." Now from this high idolatry thou art prohibited, upon pain of losing Wisdom's blessing. For thy God will not bear nor suffer anyone whom He hath placed in this New Land to have any other god but Himself. He is jealous of His Honor and will be trusted and rested upon and have the whole worship and subjection of the will and adoration of the mind, not admitting either sense or reason to be His rival. Faith without doubting and love unfeigned is the sum of this commandment, which thou shalt observe with all fear.

    Let none dare to make mention of the most Holy Name in their mouths that are not with their hearts incorporated into it. Oh! How hath Wisdom's all-piercing eye seen this sacred Name vainly made such a covering and highly to have been abused by many dead rotten spirits that have put it on as a mantle to hide their witchcrafts and spiritual sorceries. This has been one of the greatest of grievances in this day to thy God. It is not so ill taken from the unbridled and profane spirit as from the civilized righteous one, whose leaven be thou wary of. And, understand from Me what weight this Name bears when not taken in vain, but to good purpose, as thou art required now to do, according to these My directions:

    First, suffer thy restored creaturely being, as having become a new believer, to be baptized and plunged throughout into this Name, which is the golden pool where the Holy Ghost opens His fiery stream. And He invites to drink down this precious Name or else all will be in vain. No unbeliever is capable of this fiery baptism, for the solemnizing of this holy seal must, according to what is recorded, follow after believing.

    A second rule is that thou mayest receive and bear this Name worthily. Give it place that it may all overrun thee in such a way that thou mayest disappear and be hid in it so that nothing may be found but this holy flaming Name purifying every property, turning all into a Godlikeness as becomes this holy place. Thus you will come to know what is the effectual working of this Name,⁽¹³⁾ as it is written not only within, but upon the forehead, being clothed all over therewith. This is no less than the establishing the New Covenant, making good this promise, "I will be to thee a God, and thou shalt be to Me a People." This is to show a cementing into each other so as there shall be no need for such as are arrived here to say, "Know the Lord," for His Name is now become One and All. Thou shalt know Him within thee to be Jehovah and shalt act in a restored simplified nature as in the beginning. Only after this manner is it a worthy taking and bearing of the Name of the true God, which thou art to take heed and drink it in.

    This is a considerable duty that thou art charged to call to remembrance, minding whereunto thou art called to solemnize a holy Sabbath. And since none but those who are dead can cease from their working properties, this commandment reacheth only the children of the Resurrection⁽¹⁴⁾ who know nothing of serving in a Martha-like carefulness. There must be a Rest in Paradise, yea all that smells or savors of the six days labor which entered in with the curse of mortality is to be ceased from. I say, all sinful workings, either in mind or in body, we are to rest from, not doing our own pleasure nor speaking our own words. This is that true inward Sabbath we are called to sanctify our God with. This is true, but there is also a Rest which reacheth farther than all this. But you will say, "wherein and from what must we cease? Pray give us the particulars of it."

    The first is this: a total cessation from the working property of reason, the motion of which must be stopped. There is no occasion for it in this New Paradisical world. It is forbidden fruit to the children of the Resurrection that must live one and the same life with Jesus and with the angels. That life is a divine supernatural life strictly bound up to the mystery of faith here to be revealed. Thou must, as one alive from the dead, forget all those morsels of mortality which maintained the sensitive properties and which are only allowable for the inhabitants of the earth.

    A second particular is that not only thy eternal spirit and mind rest from labor and commerce, but also thine outward, in which live the working essences that would be continually trafficking like a whirling wheel that is never at rest. These are the son and the daughter, the manservants and the cattle within the gates of the external man that are prohibited working. They have fulfilled the time hereof in the six days working properties and are now entered into this holy Sabbath where nothing must be known but such a life as can take pleasure in loving the Lord thy God with all thine heart. No work here is required of thee but to believe and rest upon His omnipotency to bring all into thy hand.

    Thou needest not to wander out from the Tabernacle, which the Lord hath pitched, to gather provision. It shall be rained down into thy tent, if thou continuest in this holy Rest of believing.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

    Here thou art required to honor thy eternal Father and Wisdom, thy true natural Mother,⁽¹⁵⁾ which hath brought thee forth and up to that stature and degree in which thou now art come. Hence no less is expected from thee, and as My fear and love is with thee, so My honor must be thy great concern, so that length of days may be thy blessing from thy Father and Me forevermore.

    But to answer to the thoughts of thine heart, which saith, "Oh! my Mother! Wherein and how may I come to laud and honor God, my Father and Wisdom, my Mother, according as thy firstborn Son, my Pattern, hath in His Paradisical body done while He was in this world?"

    Consider that Jesus, then in His high and holy calling, from His birth to His ascension, held forth one pure act of glorifying His Father in observing the Law of Wisdom, His Mother, from whose eternal virgin nature He had His existence. And now know, that as thou hast had thy birth from Me, thou art to run parallel in the same lineage, having passed through the birth/death and art answerable to Him that was before thee. Him thou art to follow after in hallowing that great Name, which is secret and known but to few, according to these following rules:

    First, in being partaker with thy Jesus in the holy calling and order of priesthood (which is a perfect separated life), being once taken in, thou art to consider what thy charge is. Thou art by this come under the vow of a Nazarite Life and art to go no more out. Having the consecrated oil upon thine head and circling about thine heart, thou must no more defile thyself, either for any dead father or mother, son or daughter,⁽¹⁶⁾ lest thou profanest the Name and holy sanctuary of thy God instead of honoring it. For He will be sanctified in and through the whole royal priesthood because the crown of the anointing oil is therefrom pressed, giving glory to God on high.

    A second rule, by which thou mayest model the life of Him that did always magnify the Father, is to rest and live in the prophetical spirit as a seer into that which is beyond the veil of the pernicious sensitive life. This is in order to do and to determine all things according to what thou art made quick-sighted in, through that oil which maketh the eye to be all light. Thus thou shalt see what is done within that region and kingdom where the Father and Wisdom, the Fountain of Light, govern jointly together.

    Thou art to make thy application and enquiry at the oracle of Wisdom, which is fixed in thy inward part. For thou canst not lessen nor impeach the honor of thy God more than in not obeying the spirit of prophecy. That spirit of prophecy⁽¹⁷⁾ is and shall ever rest as a sign of distinction upon the Holy Priests, who are called to be nigh to the Holy One, and who may be known from others by such gifts and powers whereby they may be enabled to glorify the Fountain and Giver of this spiritual eminency.

    A third is when thou art come to take unto thee the dominion and power to rule and to subject all things to be as thy footstool, as Christ hath done. It is certainly the pleasure of Wisdom to give thee a kingdom, and all others whose ears are open to her discipline. Sovereignty well becometh thy Paradisical habitation, for there it was first left, and there thou, by abiding faithful to these Laws, shalt recover it again and know how to manage the golden scepter of power, as well as the rod of iron which is for the idolatrous faction who stand apart and refuse to submit to the reign of Jesus in this His second appearance⁽¹⁸⁾.

    Neither will He now be awed or frightened out of His right, but will make all those usurping and tyrannical spirits, which have lived until now in man's nature, to yield and bow, whether in bodies or out of bodies. Upon whosoever this Name is written, there terrible majesty will appear, to consume with the brightness of the eye all such as would oppose God's return to nature again with His mighty sovereignty. See now to what thou mayest arrive. It is well worth thy running for such a prize, for by taking it thou wilt highly bless thy Father. And thou canst never honor thy great King and Chief High Priest with a greater and more acceptable tribute than this.

    Whereas it was said in the Old Covenant, "Thou shalt not kill," here thou art required to do self-murder and not to spare cutting off the Head of that life which would cut thee out from having a name and place in the New Jerusalem.

    But you will say that is done already, or I could never have known a resurrection into this Paradisical light and liberty where I frequently behold glorified objects and hear the unutterable sounds condescending to come down to the organical senses to let me understand the mind and pleasure of the Father of this, my new-begotten spirit. It is true, thou art now quickened into such a life as is no more to be put to death. For there is no condemnation to such as are risen with Christ. But yet know there is a mortal sense that hath not yet left thee, which hath thrust in here along with thee.

    This, as it was by the first Adamical man awakened, so by the Second (in thee) it must be extinguished, if thou desirest to know no more curse. Which curse did enter as soon as the windows of the earthly senses were opened. Then Adam came into the strife of the four elements (Editor: arrogance, greed, envy and wrath), and he needed not to be told that he was naked or hungry, the Intelligence of it now being in his own depraved sense.

    But you will further say, "How can this be possible until mortality is swallowed up in Life so that there is no more occasion to use this world, whose very consistency is by these senses? For, take away the two foundation pillars and it will not, nor cannot exist longer."

    Well, it is no more than what is decreed, for Babylon must fall. Let it be then the cry and the endeavor that in thyself thou mayest first behold its fall. Be thou unafraid of thy undoing as to this self-degradation, for it is the injunction of Paradise that all strife should cease that thou mayest come to know only a life of serenity and peace in this holy place, where a cessation of mobility and of all working essences is required.⁽¹⁹⁾ Which essences, if not stopped, would busily ply thee and so destroy the supernatural property which acts through the all-seeing Eye of Eternity and refuses all contributions from the sensitive part, knowing well its own sufficiency to make thee to flower forth again in Paradisical power.⁽²⁰⁾

    Be now henceforward wholly passive as a seed, that, through the conjunction of the heavenly powers, thou mayest put forth a bright Lily Body,⁽²¹⁾ which shall be above all creaturely benefits. And doubt no more that showers shall be lacking here for the increase, for all is ordered in its proper course and season to bring this flower up unto its perfect growth. All thy danger will lie in the temptation of seeing that there is nothing of visibility to live upon but that all must be continually renewed from the virtual power of the White Stone⁽²²⁾ that is given to answer to all and every necessity.

    Therefore, take good heed that thou dost not mistrust or deny it, for herein was the transgression of that chosen generation whom Jehovah, by His wonder-working deeds, would have convinced and made to understand that no other fountain blessing should they ever stand in need of. He gave them so many proofs of His all-sufficiency, bringing them even through the deep Red Sea.

    All these mighty deeds were so that they might have no cause to question whether that same Almightiness would still be their subsistence in all places, and by which means the barren wilderness should have been as a fruitful Lebanon. Had they not revolted, God intended no less than to miraculously feed and clothe them, but the inundation of sense overwhelmed them with such insecurity as to turn that which would have been a Paradise into a waste-howling desert as the reward of unbelief.

    I have set before thee this instance so that thou mayest be cautioned to hold out the set time of probation in the pure faith of dependence on the Almighty Power. It will be to thee a perpetual springing Paradise wherever thou wilt be, with fresh and new ideas of powers and love-joys which will always greet thy pure spirit.

    Receive now this charge from me, who say unto thee, "Live only by the virtual power of the generating Word, which reneweth Bread every hour as being that true multiplying virtue, which virtue beware thou dost never quench or kill. For in this lieth the precious Gem, the all-acting Stone, which alone can give the passage to Mount Paran."

    Thou art not to break the marriage-knot which is tied betwixt thee and the Lord, thine Husband, to whom thou art betrothed through the Eternal Spirit. For it is a high breach of the Covenant of Love which is established upon immutable promises on God, the Father's part, and on thine. Wherein there is a passing over to each other before witnesses that bear record in the high court of Heaven of this espousal betwixt thee and My beloved Son, the heir of all the riches of Heaven's glory.

    Now seeing this royal match is made and concluded by consent of the everlasting Father and of Wisdom, thy mother, who could not propose a more honorable, worthy Person to unite thy spirit unto, thou art required to abide most constant and loyal to Him. Never so much as look upon or entertain any other lover, thereby defiling the marriage bed in committing of spiritual adultery, which doth consist in these following particulars:

    First, in the lust of the eye after this or that creaturely object which soon betrays the heart, stealing it away insensibly before it is aware of it. Thou dost stand in great temptation here, having such variety of objects still to court and to captivate thy mind from thy true and royal Consort, who watcheth every motion and affection thereof, which way it worketh, being a very jealous Lover and One who is resolved to prove thy constancy in the time of His absence. He therefore permitteth this and that Delilah to allure and to encroach upon thee with subtlety that He may know what is in thine heart. And according as in this time thou dost pass the test, so will the decree come forth for a further proceeding until the consummating part.

    The second caution I have to give thee is not only to make a covenant with thine eyes, but also with thine ears. For all enchantments come in through the senses, which though even in Paradise, are yet obnoxious to ensnare as Adam with his Eve were by their means. They, taken with the sight of their eye and entrapped with the hearing of their ear, were drawn on by one sense after another, even to the tasting of death and the cutting asunder of the golden link, which gave them the heavy fall out of Paradise into this world.

    This is the effect of the adulterous eye and ear. Stand then upon thy guard with fear; see thou be not snared in by them; hearken not to any other voice but what thy Jesus, through Me, shall speak to thee. For thou art prohibited from conferring with any other, well-knowing of what dangerous consequence such a liberty would prove. It would provoke thy Lord to jealousy, who cannot bear that thou shouldest be familiar to talk with any other spirit. For the serpent is most subtle and seeks many ways to make a prize of thee. He is ever watching to break the royal band of this intended marriage-union, which hath been so long designed by Me, and which I would now see finished.

    Therefore, let My counsel take place with thee so that thou dost neither taste nor handle those inviting and pleasant fruits that seem to say, "Come, eat of me; try whether I do not excel all that is in Paradise. See whether I have all that is capable to suit the palate of thy sense. Why shouldest thou deny thyself to taste hereof, depending only upon that which the spirit of faith must bring down to thee? For this spirit of faith is not always present with thee to be commanded to run to and fro on thine errand, as occasions require. But I will be sure never to fail thee, who am thine old lover and friend. Why then shouldest thou forsake me for one that is unseen and that cannot be handled sensibly?"

    After this manner, Oh My Bride, wilt thou be exercised if by any means thou canst be drawn away to break thy faith with Me. For I will surely knit thee wholly to Myself so that thou mayest not at all regard this spirit of reason, which thus seeks to flatter and entice thee from Me. Remember that it is I who hath plighted My troth unto thee, never to forsake or cast thee off, if thou dost retain thy virginity and shalt not suffer thyself to be drawn down and away from Me by any of these fine twisted cords. For thy Jesus cannot allow any other lover to share in thine heart. And if at any time a stranger He shall find there, know that from thee He will take it most unkindly.

    Although they may say, perhaps, that they are the friends and not the enemies of the Bridegroom, being of a more spiritual sort, yea, even such as are perfumed with a Paradisical scent, know that against such thou must also stop that sense. For it is possible to commit adultery with seraphic angels if thou dost awaken any lusting desire to them more than to thy Jesus.

    So beware then of running into any spirit,⁽²³⁾ though it be ever so sublime, for there is more danger in this than in those objects that are of a more visible, gross and earthly dress, thinking that with these who are spiritual, thou mayest be more free and more bold. It is true that thou mayest, but yet here it is good to be limited, that thou be not circumvented and suffer thy virgin head to be deflowered. Wherefore keep thyself from all as an unspotted mirror. So shalt thou come to be the chaste Bride of the Lamb and to enjoy the nuptial bed.

    But after all this, methinks I hear this question to arise in thee, "How long shall it be before the marriage shall be solemnized? For I am now kept in suspense, not knowing how long my Jesus will yet prove me in Paradise, to try my loyalty. I am like a desponding lover and would gladly know the very day and hour so that I might get myself in a readiness to meet my Beloved, that when He calls I may not be surprised."

    This is a query that may be allowed, though not to be resolved as to the date or prefixed time. Hast thou not learned how the times and seasons the Father still reserveth in His own power, who keepeth always this prerogative to Himself, while He admitteth none to look into His calendar (no, not the angels) until they are ordered to sound the trumpet for proclamation when the Marriage Feast is ready. Therefore, go thy way and stand in thy lot. It is enough thou art chosen and elected hereto. Thy present business is to observe this law of pure chastity, in which thou art to await patiently the motion of thy Bridegroom, who doth not forget the cry of the Spirit and the Bride but may suddenly come before thou art aware.⁽²⁴⁾ Therefore, at all times watch and have thy virgin robe on, and thou shalt not need to fear that He will delay long.

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

    Whereas it is said, "Thou shalt commit no theft," so by Me it is again confirmed, as the Law of Paradise, that thou also observe this rule as it relates to thy God in the first place, and, in the second, to thy neighboring inhabitants in the outward world where thou visibly art resident.

    Now wherever there is a peculiar property, there may be an act of violence to procure it for oneself by way of robbery. Here, therefore, understand that the everlasting Father doth appropriate unto Himself that which He will not give to any, much less be robbed of by any. What is that, you will say? It is His Godhead,⁽²⁵⁾ which none are to assume to themselves after any manner whatever. For in this doth absolute sovereignty and greatness of majesty and honor conflict, which are essentially appointed to Him and to none other. Wherefore be thou aware of this high sacrilege and give not this honor, or rather, steal it not away from that Holy Being, to whom only it doth belong.

    But you will say, "Far be it from me ever to rob the Most High of His honor." Thou wouldest not do it knowingly, but I shall unfold to thee a most subtle and hidden way of deceit, of which the first Adam was guilty, so making it hereditary to all His posterity. He, by that first act of disobedience, stole from God, his Maker, the glory of His sovereignty and would have assumed the Godhead to himself by going forth into a divided essence to be wise in a self-property. This awakened the sinful arrogance to those sad effects that are known throughout the whole universe of fallen spirits to this very day.

    For Adam committed this high theft in Paradise and crept out (in the divided property), away from God. He should have kept his first estate in a permanent band of unity. Thus, he lost his Godlike power and dignity, which would have been appropriated unto him had he not severed and gone out from the eternal essences of God (the abyss of his being, out of which he was generated) to be a mighty, potent king and hierarchy in the angelical and Paradisical world. Under God he was to have ruled like a god, freely and unfettered, and did so until it was most cowardly lost.

    Well, but now I know thou sayest in thine heart, "How may I bring back into Paradise this honor, name and praise of which I would not for a billion worlds rob my God now that I, Oh Mother, see in thy glass the evil consequences hereof?" If so, then summon all those essences wherein stand the virtual powers and mights which belong to thy God. Along with them, thou art to return to Him and to work in an undivided spirit according to the operative power which will work Godlike through all thy properties for the recovering of those lost goods. Of these lost goods in thee hath the subtle serpent, together with the harlotry spirit of this world, cheated thy God.

    But now Wisdom is come to direct the manner in which all shall be cemented and gathered in again. Therefore, thou mayest not take from the inhabitants of the outward world any of their bitter, unsavory morsels in all of which the secret venom of that evil tree lieth hid to this day. Yet, the whole universe of spirits (people: Editor) do still take this same evil tree and feed upon it as if it were lawful for them to do so, claiming it to be a matter of necessity or even claiming it to be an ordination from the Most High. But the fact that this is not so will soon be made apparent when the sun shall break forth (the Day-spring even now rising) that shall convince the unbelievers that there is quite another way for the ransomed of the Lord to live.

    Which way I will declare and open to thee, that thou mayest take nothing of Egypt's stuff along with thee into thy Father's house where all is in abundance. But indeed, these treasures cannot be obtained except by the key of faith (the Spirit of Faith), which opens and shuts, and doth all here at its pleasure. It is continually bringing down and carrying up as a mighty power. Which Spirit of Faith is God's only Familiar Friend, who can do anything with Him. Then, with all getting, do thou aim at this, which will make thee do exploits indeed. As it is my gift and skill to make this key, so it lieth in thy power to turn it in the lock which will make this mystical door to fly open, uniting the divided essences to act miraculously.⁽²⁶⁾

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

    Here thou art required not to bear false witness against thy neighbor but to love him as thyself, being one with, or nearer to thee than thyself.

    But you will say, "Who is this my neighbor?" Dost thou not know him, thou that hast been so long an inhabitant in the Paradisical ground? He is even that true Samaritan⁽²⁷⁾ who hath poured in the restorative oil for thy healing, who hath taken the care of thee wholly and undertaken thy cure then when He saw thee wounded unto death. His eye pitied and officiated in this love service as one who had a fellow-feeling of thy calamity and suffering under the violence of cruel blood-thirsty spirits, under whose power thou wert fallen. And seeing thee now in such imminent danger to lose thine eternal life, He was immediately sent by the everlasting Father to rescue thee out of the hands of these robbers who designed to kill the heir of Life and Glory in thee.

    So here you may see who is that true, worthy neighbor whom you are obliged to bear witness to and for, and not against, steadfastly bearing record of the truth from the Spirit of God's Wisdom dwelling in you, which is the only true Prophet and Witness for Jesus in thee. Verily there are intruding spirits that would come in as false witnesses. Of whom be thou aware and be not found in the conspiracy with them who would condemn that Just One again and crucify the Life afresh that is risen out from the morning womb of God's Virgin to be the anointed Nazarite. Against whom, out of thine own nation, false prophets will arise to seduce, and, if possible, deceive My elect and precious seed, now formed into the heavenly similitude.

    But I am come to give thee Light that in it thou mayest see all the false transforming spirits that would subtely bring in old traditional things instead of, and in opposition to, My pure and unmixed doctrine. This I do never fail to pour into the clean and gold-refined vessels so that by it thou mayest be tinged throughout, and in thyself feel a mighty burning oil spiriting thee for infallible prophecy.

    This will give thee the true witness for divine Wisdom in her first-begotten Son, Jesus, Who now must be testified unto as the Finisher and Consummator of what is yet left to be done. He will not come as a bare record only,⁽²⁸⁾ to prophesy or preach the everlasting gospel in thine earth. This witnessing falls much too short to cause the coming down of the New Jerusalem in which thou art to wait until thou be transfigured all over by the Holy Ghost. He (the Holy Ghost) will then be the true and undeniable Witness Who will need no John the Baptist to cry by voice or proclaim that this Jesus is verily the Son of God.

    A greater testimony than that of man is verily now required. For God, seeing that to be but weak and ineffectual, hath ordained a more glorious demonstration which shall convince the unbelieving world that Jesus is risen and doth appear to certain witnesses upon whom the lot is fallen, and according to foreknowledge. They are to show in their age and time (at the opening of this oriental stone and diadem of glory), what manner of persons they shall come to be, in and through the touch and sight hereof, in being made all pure, wise and potent by it, according as their Jesus is. For nothing short of this will be worth bearing a record to.

    Therefore, I do give you this charge, to look and wait upon seeing this change in yourselves, so that you may indeed be My worthy recorders and eye-witnesses of Jesus in your own persons. The dominion will first come down to Wisdom's offspring, because they are trained up to perfection through wise discipline, obeying My revealed will in all things. Know also, this commandment doth reach further than to love thy Jesus in thyself. That must not be all. Thou art to know Him conjugally and neighborly wherever He dwelleth bodily, and thou art to do so with the same love, care and concern as for thyself, always to administer supplies to His necessities as God giveth to thee.

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

    This is the great, full and last charge which I shall leave with thee, still running parallel with those Old Covenant Laws which are never to be nullified⁽²⁹⁾ but are to be fulfilled according to Christ Jesus, the original Example. They were given forth to the first Paradisical man and are to be revived now afresh unto a full and perfect accomplishment without diminishing one iota or tittle of them, according to that word of thy Jesus, who said He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it in thee and for thee.

    He will be the end and the consummation of the same for the obliterating of sin and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. Here then, thou art forbid all coveting or engrossing desires after that which is the possession and enjoyment of another. For whatever is of this doth proceed from an evil eye, which must be plucked out as that which can never be satisfied but is still apt to envy and covet after what is his neighbor's.

    Now here is to be understood a threefold neighborhood that borders upon the intellectual mind. The first, as was shown, is Wisdom's root and offspring, Jesus, the firstborn of all new creatures, existent bodily in thyself. Secondly, He is thy neighbor, as He may be considered incarnated in another as well as in thyself. Thirdly, it is thine outward man, which hangeth and cleaveth to thee as the subtle Gibeonites, who would still be adjoined to the inward man and never be separated from it.

    This last neighbor is as the Esau, who would come in for his birthright but is rejected and must live by his sword, which is to bring in his blessing consisting of the fat things of this outward principle, to which his blessing gave him right. And he, being thus confined hereunto, is not to meddle with Jacob's portion that is of quite another nature. For to Jacob the dominion is pronounced to have the Lordship over all, in and through cohabitation with the Shiloh of God. That is thy true neighbor, indeed.

    Now as to what thy Jesus hath in thee, thou needest not to covet. For thou art in ownership with Him. All that is the Father's and Mine (Wisdom's) is His. So what is His is thine in common, which thou shalt better understand when thou art come to the tenth number.

    Thy present restriction is to not give thine eye free reign upon what is another's portion, as to eternal possessions. For one may come to his inheritance before another, according to that spirit which worketh as a free sovereign agent to increase spiritual substance. And this may be either sooner or later, as the Spirit worketh more or less industriously (as He is accustomed to operate in various ways), according as the soil and nature of the ground is found to be that of a much different constitution.

    In some, this internal ground is richer, more pleasant, fatter and every way better than it is in others, just as you may see in the visible earth. But everyone is to be contented with his lot as it is divided. Caleb's portion was much above that of his fellow brethren, whose dwelling was betwixt the upper and nether springs.

    So, if thou shouldst see thy spiritual neighbor much increased in powers, in gifts of prophecy, in knowledge, in understanding the deepest of all mysteries, and living in a more stately habitation than thou, enjoying therein the virgin wife of youth, having menservants and maidservants to command, saying to this one, "Go," and he goeth, having all things put under and in subjection to him as a Solomon in great dominion and glory in the reign of the Holy Ghost, yet all this must not draw thee out to covet.

    "No", you will say, "It is hard to see all these high preferments conferred upon my spiritual neighbor, and yet I must not desire the like dowry and riches, to stand upon equal ground with him." Mistake thou not, for I do not here prohibit any from looking after the same liberties and increase, but let it be from their own fountain opening out of their own deep ground from which everyone is to be blessed according to that nature and soil in which they are planted. And there you are to dig deep until you shall come to find that precious stone with your own name upon it, which may advance and establish you in the like state of glory.

    For so it is ordained that all who are Mine should improve their own stock of Life and so each one wear his own crown, not coveting anything that is another's. Because I have enough to give to every one of My children, even a full income and blessing, so that there shall be no occasion of grudging one against another. But their growths, degrees and gifts may be different, as I shall see meet to dispense in My own wise counsel, which will be sovereign, giving no account to any creature, but will confer My favors upon such as I see and know to be most diligent.

    For which they shall have no cause to repent who have wholly inclined and bent their minds toward Me and who do entirely cleave unto these My laws. These laws I now present without a Mosaical veil, that thou mayest behold the good will that I do bear unto thee and unto such as know and love My Name. So as a pure Nazarene, do I separate thee for the work which I have cut out for you to imitate exactly, as approving yourselves in all things, willing to please Her who will be your crowning reward.

    But I must not forget to caution thee concerning that outward-birthed neighbor, lest thou shouldest covet that which is his right in this outward principle where he also hath a great lordship and a mighty sovereignty over all whatsoever the visible earth doth bring forth. Here in this world is a temporal kingdom consisting in riches, honor and majesty with dominion over their fellow creatures, wherefrom I have set thee free.

7. Since spiritual law is only for spiritual people and cannot be fulfilled in a slavish sense by any, it seems needless for me to say so here. Let none handle these things with the carnal mind or along earthy lines, for this will surely be as hurtful as it was for uncircumcised Philistines to gaze upon the Ark of the Testimony in olden days. Indeed, these things are not for the merely religious, the merely doctrinal mind, or those bent upon satisfying their natural curiosity as to spiritual things. It is for those whose hearts pant after God with an insatiable desire to be one with Him.

8. Think it not strange that one having come to such an exalted spiritual station is yet to be tempted and assaulted by the Adversary. Was he not present in Paradise at the beginning, when all the woe and sorrow had its inception? Paradise is not the final destination but a place of testing and proving which Adam failed and Christ Jesus surpassed.

9. Here is the net of safety which Jane constantly employs. It is Christ, who is the golden measuring Reed, it is Christ, who is the golden Shekel and weight of the temple, it is Christ, who is our Looking Glass and Dying Pattern! Only from such sacred ground do the true Lily Plants grow and flourish. Many are this day teaching that we are already dead, already raised (to which the Scriptures surely attest), . . . already ascended, already immortal, already living behind the veil in Christ's divinity (to which the Scriptures are eloquently silent), but their lives show nothing of the sort. Paul taught, by inspiration of the Spirit, that because we have been crucified with Christ and raised again from the dead with Him, that we are thereby freed from the lusts and desires of the carnal man to live, not for ourselves any longer, but for Another! As surely as there is an eternal cross in the heart of God, the cross is a way of life for those who truly follow Christ. It is not some past experience from which there has come a reprieve. Instead, the cross is flesh's one, everlasting sentence. We are to die daily and can do that only because the old man has most surely been crucified so that he cannot hinder us from living for God.

10. Jane is not saying or even implying that there is a righteousness aside from Christ which we must fulfill by our own doings. Rather, she is saying what much of the Church is loathe to give heed to, that Christ is in us the power of God that must manifest His life in and through a people. This is not about holding to particular creeds and dogmas. It is about Christ Jesus living His life in us just as sinlessly, just as perfectly, just as powerfully as He lived it in His own personal body. It is not seemly that the Head should hold to one standard while the Body holds to quite another. This that she here expounds is the proof that Christ is all that He came to be, to, for and in a people. A LIFE!

11. Ah! Does this not sweep away the pretense and facile religion in which the many take refuge? This is the true utterness that the Kingdom of God is all about. There is to be no sharing of the heart with family, esteemed friends, money, lands, houses, wife, children, nor most of all, with self and its king, Reason. This is utterly beyond the ability and motive of the natural man but the normal life of the Spirit-led, spiritually-minded man who has matured to a certain level in Christ.

12. This, dear friend, is why we are to know not even Jesus after the flesh any longer. God is Spirit. We are not to worship an earthly, Jewish man. Though He at one time had an earthly, Jewish body for the purposes of Atonement, He is forever the Lord from heaven and has been exalted far above all things. So long as we attempt to worship an earthly Jesus, we shall not know Him in His deity. It is the Holy Spirit alone Who is able and willing to take that which is Christ's and reveal Him to us. All we shall ever need for a full and satisfying walk and worship is to be found only in the Spirit! Anything less is but the offspring of Reason draped in religious garb.

It is an observable fact that one of the gods men so readily worship is "the works of their own hands." Many a religious work, movement or teaching is nothing more than a molten golden calf birthed usually from the ground of good intentions ("It seemed a good idea at the time.", could have been written upon Aaron's or even Adam's tombstone.). Around these man-made gods men and women have sung, praised, danced and made themselves naked as unto the Lord, worshipping they know not what. When men would have you give them your unreserved obedience as you look to them for direction and a "word from God," it would be well to remember that the God-ordained and anointed Priesthood, represented in Aaron, the High Priest, was instrumental in the molten golden calf of Horeb.

13. There is far more to doing something in the Name of Jesus than merely saying, "In the Name of Jesus!" The Name and Nature are very, very closely associated to each other. When God is speaking of some receiving a new name which no one knows save he that receives it, He is speaking of receiving the very nature of Christ, which no one knows except they who receive it. Those who live and walk in the nature of Christ, live and walk in His Name, so that whatsoever they do, they do it as unto the Lord, in His Name. It is more than merely saying, "In the name of Jesus!"

There is much to be said of her charge to bear this Name worthily. In this present hour there seems to be little if any true reverence for God or His Name by many, some of whom claim to declare what has come to be known as the "Sonship message." Some are claiming that we have but simply to wake up and realize that everything we have called reality is but a bad dream. We never really left heaven, we never really fell, that we do not need to be born again in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven because we never really left it! Such a statement as, "I am (God), You are (God)", is nothing less than the most horrible blasphemy, and nothing but the man of sin sitting in the temple of God showing himself to be god. Those whose hearts are truly bent upon union with God cannot allow such rank and potent leaven in them. The Lily-plants of the Lord cannot grow from the soil of such high and lofty altitudes. They seem to grow best in the shade of obscurity where no weed can grow with them.

14. Let me say here with all clarity and love that a special day of the week, such as SATURDAY, is not what God is speaking of when He speaks of "keeping the sabbath." The Saturday Sabbath is but the type of the true spiritual one. I know that many fine, dedicated men and women who love God wholeheartedly are attempting to "keep a Saturday sabbath," and I will not engage in a dispute with them over it. But ceasing from our own works as they arise in Adam, as God ceased from His, is what God is after, (that means more than ceasing from external labors) and until we have arrived at that ability through the power of His resurrection, we shall not keep the true sabbath, regardless of which day of the week we seek to hallow. Instead, we shall find ourselves seeking to do in some natural, slavish way, that which can only be done in Spirit. Our life is in the Spirit, and any time we are in the Spirit, we are in the Lord's day and keeping His true sabbath! Is it not true that the laws of Paradise are written to those in paradise? And is it not also true that the only ones in Paradise are the children of the resurrection? If this be so, then who else but the children of the resurrection can keep God's true sabbath?

15. Perhaps you are wondering, as I at first did, "What does she mean, Natural Mother? Surely a birth from Wisdom would be called spiritual." In this she is definitely referring to the restoration of our original nature which we had before Adam fell, not to that nature derived from him after the fall. Thus she uses the term, "thy true natural mother." When I refer to that nature of which we partook before Adam fell, I do so on the following basis. If Levi, who was in Abraham's loins, received credit for tithes paid by Abraham simply because he was in Abraham's loins, and if we all fell when Adam fell, simply because we were in Adam's loins when he fell, then the same holds true for us before Adam fell. We were in his loins before he fell, when he was still in union with God, when he was still one with God; and therefore we were then one with God and in union with Him on that basis.

"The doctrine of our redemption absolutely asserts that the seed of the woman, the bruiser of the serpent, the engrafted word of life, called again in the gospel, "that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Therefore, Christ was in all men in that same fulness of the relation of a Father to all mankind as Adam the first was. Christ was born of Adam's flesh, took the human nature upon Him and therefore stood as a human creature in the same relation to mankind as Adam did. Nothing . . . was wanting to make Him as truly a natural Father of life to all mankind as Adam was at first, but God's appointment of Him to that end." Quote by William Law, Wholly For God.

The Christ of humanity was not of Adam's loins but was the woman's seed (as the Bruiser of the Serpent's head) and therefore was qualified to be a faithful High Priest and Father as Adam was to be an unfaithful one. Thus we have known a birth out from Christ's loins through His sinless humanity so that we may say with Him,"We come from God and we return to God." Therefore, Virgin Wisdom is our native Mother. "Oh, the depths of the riches both of the Wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Whom be glory forever" --Romans 11:33-36.

16. She is, of course, referring here to the fact that those who have been raised from the soulish realm (Pentecost) are not to allow the responsibilities and obligations of that realm to be any longer placed upon them, thereby defiling and disqualifying from ascension, but are to learn to remain in and to walk in that realm of spirit (Tabernacles) to which they have been raised. Jesus' forty days on earth before ascension served for no other purpose known to me than to show us that once we are raised up (by the baptism of that quickening Holy Spirit), we are to walk according to that life to which we have been raised and not according to that life from which we have been raised. Jesus asserted as much when He refused to allow Mary in her soulish emotions to touch Him (not physically). He was raised from the physical, soulish realm to that of spirit, and He would not allow the things of the soulish realm to place their binding effects upon Him lest they defile and disqualify for ascension. It is so with us. If we are truly desirous of ascension, for union with the Father and glorification with Christ, in order to then minister from that exalted realm to others, then we must pass our probationary (trial) period as those learning to walk only in that higher realm to which we have been raised. The realm of Pentecost, with its mixture, from which we have been raised, defiles and disqualifies for ascension.

17. This spirit of prophecy is to be distinguished from the gift of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy is a permanent, constant way of life, which does not come and go, fall and lift in its seasons as we have witnessed in the operation of the gift of prophecy. Further, we are encouraged that we may have free access to Wisdom's counsel within ourselves! What an incursion this makes for those self-ordained priests of the Lord who want all men to come to them for direction and counsel. What an encouraging word to those whose hearts are set upon union with God! But know that this will not be attained to in an hour or two. It requires what we often are not willing to pay -- time! But there is a place to which one may arrive that is far better than having "a word" from God. Did you know that Jesus did not get a word from God for everything He did? He did not have a vision for everything He did, even though He said, "I do only those things which I see my Father do." He resided at the place of which I speak. Not getting a word from God, but KNOWING THE HEART OF GOD!

18. Second appearance? He appeared the first time in the humility of the vile body and being so clothed over with it, was not recognized by the very ones whose religious claims implied they should have been the first to know Him. He is now about to make what He terms His "second appearance," in His saints. If His first appearance was in the humility of this vile body, His second appearance will not be after that order. He appears this time without sin unto that salvation which shall include the redemption of the body and shall involve the swallowing up of the mortality of that body of death by the life-giving Spirit of Christ within, putting under foot the last enemy that shall be destroyed.

19. Can it at all be otherwise for those called to be partakers of God's Eternal Harmony? The Eternal Unity and Oneness of the Godhead Trinity (about which there has been, and still is, much debate) consists of the Eternal Harmony generated by the ONE WILL that exists among them. In such a state of oneness-of-will, there can be no strife; there can be only the peace, the joy and the triumph which is the revenue of such Harmony. It is here in this place and nowhere else that the true Sabbath of God is kept. "Not my will, but Thine be done," is the heart-cry of every aspiring son of God. It is toward that place of one-will that we aim.

20. When Adam was in his original state of creation, he was complete in himself to generate all things necessary for life's preservation and maintenance. He spoke from the ground of Virgin Wisdom (which is still resident in all them who are in Christ) when he named every creature according to its nature. But when Adam reached out to the tree of knowledge to partake of a knowledge from a source other than God's Eternal Wisdom, he committed whoredom and adultery, upon which, Wisdom fled from him and all Adam's posterity, not at all willing to be defiled by maintaining a relationship in such a degraded state. Now Wisdom is restored in all those who are brought forth in Christ who never broke faith with her. Therefore, we are to leave the sensual (devilish) wisdom and reason of this present world the same way as Adam first left Wisdom, allowing the opening of that Paradisical Flower within us, despising and rejecting all deposits, revenues and inputs from any realm other than Wisdom's. We are to know and acknowledge that this is indeed possible and attainable in and during the life of our present mortality, to which Enoch's life so loudly testifies and gives witness.

As to the all-seeing "Eye of Eternity"-- John Pordage, a contemporary and friend of Jane Leade's, says this: "I now come to speak of the second particular concerning the Eye placed in the center of the Globe of Eternity, called by God Himself, the Abyssal Eye of Eternity (When I read this, I thought, "While some are so insistent upon calling God by some so-called correct name, such as Yahweh, He has named Himself, Abyssal Eye of Eternity.) This Eye is the Seat of the Spirit of Eternity, which Spirit of Eternity is God Himself, as He subsisteth in His own pure, simple, abstracted Essence, before introducing Himself into the principle of Eternal Nature. (Which He did in order to manifest Himself)." This "all-seeing Eye of Eternity" as is borne out above, is sometimes referred to as the Globe of Eternity. This is another way of referring to God's distinct characteristic of knowing all and seeing all.

21. This can be none other than the new spiritual body with which we are to be clothed upon from above. Such a body is becoming to those who are risen from the dead as only this spiritual body is fit for ascension and union with the Father. It is the change of raiment known only to the Melchizedek Priesthood (Ezekiel 44:15 & 19). Only such a body as the bright Lily-body can bear the awful glory that shall rest upon it in the mighty acting power of the Holy Ghost that shall be given without measure. It is known also as the Tabernacle Body of the Holy Ghost.

22. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" --Revelation 2:17. It should be kept in mind that this is a promise to the overcomer only. When an Israelite was sold into slavery because of his debt or the debt of his father, it was written that he must be allowed to go free and return to his rightful inheritance in the year of Jubilee (every fiftieth year) or as soon as the debt had been satisfied. Upon satisfying said debt, the individual was issued a white stone upon which was engraved the evidence of his release. All this was but the type of which the above verse alludes to in promise. But it goes farther than this. The "White Stone" represents the restored ground of Eternal Nature springing forth from within those who have come to their year of release. That is the true evidence which alone attests to the reality that a release from the bondage and hard servitude in Adam has been effected in an individual. It is from such a ground of restored sinless, Eternal Nature that all outflowing creative powers exist for the providence and maintenance of every possible need and occasion to those happy recipients. It was Adam's and his progeny before he lost it, and it is to be returned to us in the Last Adam, Christ.

23. Many have run after "men of the cloth," anointed servants of God, to the detriment of both the pursued and the pursuer. We are indeed to honor those who have oversight and responsibility for God's heritage, but nowhere, nowhere are we enjoined to displace the Lord's rightful privileges in us with those of a mere man, however anointed and godly he may be. It may seem unnecessary and perhaps even extreme to give such a warning to those eyeing the "Ladder of Ascension," but we must keep in mind, as Jane aptly cautions us, Adam and Eve fell from Paradise! Therefore, it is not to be thought unseemly or improper that such a dire warning is given to the very throne-hopefuls. There are dangers even in Paradise of which we yet know very little, so humility is a very good antidote against all risings and upliftings, without as well as within.

24. She is not here espousing that foolish notion born of tradition that, "The Lord may come even before I finish this sermon!" She is addressing the very real potential that we as individuals may be visited by a coming of the Lord and so must always walk as those who look for their Master's return. She is not speaking of a return of the Lord in a general sense but as it may relate to us as individuals. We must always be watchful, as those who, with lamps trimmed, loins girt about, staff in hand, look for their Lord.

25. As I sat in a meeting at a convention a year or so back, I listened incredulously to the speaker (two of them in fact) say repeatedly, "I am god! You are god!" The people, as they stood to testify, began to mouth the same thing. Some have the temerity to say, "I am living in immortality! I have nothing more to receive of God. I have already entered into all He has for me!" If that were not bad enough, some of God's people (more than you might think) always nod their heads in agreement and give forth a hearty amen, not willing to be left behind in the area of revelation, even if it is wrong.

Such statements as mentioned above do a great deal to bring reproach upon a bonafide message and work of God. Though God is indeed redeeming man and restoring him to his original ground of Eternal Nature and co-deification with Himself, nowhere do we find a shred of evidence that man at any time becomes God! By the very nature of things it is an impossibility. That is a purely Mormonistic statement. Instead, this state of co-deification is wholly conditional on man's unreserved dependence upon God his Father. Anything contrary to that comes from the one who sits in the temple of God showing himself to be god.

26. I do not intend to belabor the subject, but has it never occurred to those making such exalted statements as, "I am god!", or to their hearers, that they are without any of these attending powers and evidences? One might be allowed to give heed to them if they indeed showed some semblance of that faith through which mighty deeds attended Christ's ministry upon earth. No, their claims reside only in words.

27. This can be no other than that lovely, lowly Nazarene whom we are to love as ourselves.

28. The fundamentalists believe and teach that all immediate inspiration and powers of the Holy Spirit ceased immediately after the Scriptures were canonized (after there was a Biblical record of the inspired Word). Why the apostles and those who were eye-witnesses to the powerful acts and words of a living, present Christ still needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit while we who have never seen the same mighty acts or heard the living Word fall from the lips of a present Christ don't need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, no one has ever been able to explain to my satisfaction. It would seem to be the other way around. They believe that once the Scriptures were given as God's record and witness, nothing of power was any longer needed. As if the words coming from a physical Christ were so inferior as to need the confirmation of a dead letter book. In fact, they refer to the Bible as, "That which is perfect. . ." and therefore, that which is in-part (prophecy, knowledge?, miracles) has been done away. But, as Jane L. here asserts, God will not allow that Christ Jesus come as a mere bare record in the written word. He is to come forth once again, after the Spirit, in a people in whom flesh becomes the Word, with all attending powers, grants and privileges to witness an irrefutable testimony that Jesus the Christ is indeed the Son of God. This living testimony shall lay to rest all confusion and controversy, for with these shall be the power to execute against the stoutest gainsayer. They shall have absolute power and authority over those spirits working unseen behind the scene and shall not be slack to use it.

29. Be reminded that Jane Leade is not placing before us something which must be done in a legalistic and slavish way. She is bringing to our attention, though, that the Law was given to point out the complete inability of the natural man to live according to it. It was not after the natural man; it was after the spiritual man because it was spiritual. "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" --Romans 7:12. But what the carnal man could not do according to carnal commandments, God accomplishes by writing the same laws upon the table of our heart by the Holy Spirit, causing our inner man to delight after the law of God. Christ is the fulfillment of that law as He lives out His life in us.