his Disobedience against God and his Holy will revealed in his Testament the Scriptures of Truth suggesting unto the Workers of Wickedness That after Death they shall be hid in the Grave from coming forth from thence to judgment Therefore the Doctors of Antichrist do deny Jesus Christ which dyed at Jerusalem they deny both the Father and the Son they deny the Resurrection of Christ they hate and despise his Ordinances oppose and revile his People they sin and transgress without stay until they dye in Unbelief thinking that there shall be no Resurrection of their Bodies out of the Earth but that the Grave shall be a hiding-place to shelter them from the Judgment of the Great Day But thus saith the Truth There is no Darkness nor Shadow of Death where the workers of Iniquity may hide themselves Job 34. 22. Sect. 16 But Sathan that he might perswade his Servants to go on securely in their Disobedience against God and to yield up themselves wholly to the Counsel of the Prince of Darkness to strengthen them hereunto doth suggest unto them that there is no such things to be expected as those which the Faithfull in all Ages have looked for viz. The coming of Christ to judgment and the end of the World Yet lest a positive denyal of these Glorious Truths should discover from what Spirit that Denial doth proceed he hath taught his Ministers to hide their Designe and to make as if they opposed not the things themselves but only some such manner of accomplishment of them as is not promised They call all such carnal as look and wait for the coming of Christ from Heaven out of them they pronounce Woes upon such as say That Christ is not yet come to judgment and that the World is not yet ended But why is it but because they look for no such thing nor have they assurance of Peace in that day They boast that Christ is come to them neither look they for any other coming That the World is ended with them neither look they for any other end That the Judgment is past with them neither look they for any other Judgment But why is all this but because they do deny that which is indeed the coming of Christ in glory the everlasting inheritance of the Saints the judgment of Christ upon his Enemies and the end of the World when the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up For as testifieth the Apostle The Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word of God are kept in store reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly See 1 Thess 1. 6 7 8 9 10. men 2 Pet. 3. 7 10. Who seeth not except those whose eyes the God of this World hath blinded that they that now call themselves Preachers of and to the Light within all men are the Scoffers that the Apostle Peter said should come in the last times walking after their own Lusts and saying Where is the Promise of his coming 2 Pet. 3. 3 4. yea the great Prophet the Lord Jesus Christ hath foretold of these Seducers and Deceivers as other the Lords Prophets also have done saying There shall arise False Christs and False Prophets which shall shew great signes and wonders to deceive if it be possible the very Elect But that the Chosen of God may be preserved from the Deceits of this great Antichrist Christ hath foretold with what Lyes the Truth of his coming should by Satan and his Instruments be opposed and hath also so described the manner of his coming that all that believe on his Name may know assuredly as the True Christ from the False so his true coming from a pretended coming which the False Christs and False Prophets shall avouch for the True Christ and his True coming with these words Behold he is in the Desart behold he is in the secret Chamber see here see there Matth. 24. 23 24 25 26. all which the Lord warns his Disciples neither to go after follow or believe and withal gives such a Description of the manner of his coming as is altogether inconsistent with the false Christs and false Prophets Description which intimates That Christs coming which his Saints know shall be glorious and therefore publick shall be and is so private weak and dishonourable that some shall not know that he is come till they shew where he is with their Behold he is in the Desart behold he is in the Secret Chamber see here or see there for saith Christ As the Lightening that lighteneth out of the one part under Heaven shineth to the other part under Heaven so also shall the Son of man be in his day Luke 17. 23. or according to Matthew as the lightening cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be Matt. 24. 26 27. In which words four things are laied down to vindicate the great and glorious coming of Christ 1. That he will absolutely come as doth the Lightening Who can deny the coming of the Lightening It is as absolute and certain that Christ will come though some do both deny and oppose it but Christ will come certainly and absolutely as is testified by Christ himself and his Apostles in the Scriptures Immediately saith he after the Tribulation of those dayes shall the Sun be darkened and the Moon shall not give her Light and the Starrs shall fall from Heaven and the Powers of the Heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the signe of the Son of man in Heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great glory Mat. 24. 29 30. For the Lord himself saith Paul shall descend from Heaven with ashout with the voice of the Arch Angel and with the Trump of God c. 1 Thes 4. 15 16. For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10. 37. He saith John that testifieth these things saith Surely I come quickly Amen even so come Lord Jesus Revel 22. 20. Thus it is evident that Christ will certainly come But 2. He will come suddainly as the Lightening cometh as the Lightening cometh suddainly and unexpectedly so also will Christ especially to those that oppose and deny his coming as the Scripture witnesseth But of that Day and Hour saith Christ knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only but as the dayes of Noah were so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be For in the dayes that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entred into the Ark and knew not untill the Floud came and took them all away so shall also
TESTIMONY FOR THE Son of Man And against the Son of Perdition Wherein is set forth the FAITH and OBEDIENCE of GODS ELECT Testified by the Mouth of the Lord Angels Men. With a true Discovery of a Bundle of Equivocations Confusions and Hypocrisies in those who call Themselves Preachers of and to the Light within all Men who yet are so far in darkness themselves that they acknowledge not the Scriptures and Ordinances of Jesus Christ so as to be Directed by the one to the Obedience of the other By Joseph Wright a Servant of Jesus Christ Luke 11. 44. Wo unto you Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites for ye are as Graves which appear not and the men that walk over them are not aware of them Heb. 10. 38. Now the just shall live by Faith c. Isa 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to This Word it is because there is NO LIGHT IN THEM LONDON Printed for Stephen Dagnal and are to be sold at his Shop in Alisbury and at Leyton 1661. To the Beloved FLOCK of JESUS CHRIST that are in the Faith and Fellowship of Him according to his glorious Gospel in ENGLAND And to all them that in every place call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God the Father in the Heavens out of every man on Earth Blessings Riches of Grace Mercy and Peace be multiplyed upon you from the most high Lord of all who dwels in that Immortal Light which mortal Eyes did never see nor can see and from Jesus Christ his Eternal Son in truth and love to the establishing your hearts in the Love of the Truth and to the giving you an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified by Faith which is in him to the Glory of the only wise God to whom be ascribed Blessings Glory Power Salvation Might and Praises in the highest throughout all Ages in the Churches by his only Son Jesus Christ even for ever and for ever Amen My dear Friends and Brethren Sect. 1 IT hath pleased the Father of Mercies that we should have our Lot in these Times wherein Iniquity doth abound and the Love of many doth wax cold and indeed wherein the Mystery of Iniquity doth mightily work and prevail so that if it were possible the very Elect should be deceived and beguiled from the simplicity of the Gospel of their Salvation by the deceits that are abroad and the workers of Wickedness who labour with all their might to darken the Counsel of God by words without knowledge Job 38. 2. Prov. 21. 30. Satan you know hath alwayes endeavoured to Counter-work the Dispensation of God ever labouring to make his wicked Designs and Devices to be as like the Truth of the Lord as possible that thereby he might keep back the Children of men from giving themselves up to the Lord Jesus Christ a notable Example we have of this in Pharoah and his Sorcerers who withstood with Signs wrought by deceit Moses who wrought by the finger of God And it is foretold to us that like as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses even so shall the Truth be resisted by some that would seem to have as beautiful a face for a while as Truth it self so that it will be hard to distinguish the one from the other without abundance of the Spirit of Discerning But this is Truths Character it will have the Victory and Triumph notwithstanding all the fierce opposition that it meets with and the higher men and devils clime to overtop and over-master it and to exalt themselves above it the greater will be their fall and their condemnation and the manifestation of their madness and folly for it shall be discovered as that of Jannes and Jambres also was Sect. 2 Now for as much as Errors and Delusions are many as Truth but one I cannot make it my business at this time to put into your hands an Advertisement and Discovery of them all nay it is needless for me so to do because generally that is done already Notwithstanding I thought good to give you a discription of one that is most dangerous having perfect knowledge thereof from the first springing of it up in this our Nation to this time and knowing how taking it is to many because it seems to carry along with it a zealous Conversation whereby many of you have been apt to think that there is but one step betwixt it and Truth I have therefore very faithfully in this Book set before you the large and wide distance that there is between the things herein opposed and the Truth that you profess that you may be warned to hold fast the Profession of your Faith without wavering and not be drawn away with the flouds of Iniquity like dead Fish with the streams Sect. 3 Many of you are apt to be too credulous to that which seems to have a parcel of good words in its mouth and is spoken against and opposed by some ungodly men not weighing things well before you imbrace them but letting your affections out-run your judgments Be therefore careful and seek the Lord depart from evil be ever following that which is good For evil men understand not Judgment but they that seek the Lord understand all things Prov. 28. 5. Try things out by the Scriptures before the Lord and seek his face by Fasting and Prayer and be sure you be not drawn to Fasting without Prayer for that is dangerous Sect. 4 You have been throughly Warned by the Servants of God to beware of all Whorish Worship it would be a sad thing that for fear of her and her filthiness you or any of you should run into the Son of Perdition's Practises O what great need have you to be sober and watch unto Prayer I therefore your fellow Companion in the patient waiting for of the coming of Christ do earnestly in all bowels of honest affection in Christ Jesus beseech you to handle the Spirit against which I here contend roughly at the door Is not the found of its Masters feet behind it I am pressed to this Work by many weighty Considerations you know how nearly I am related to you that you may not be ensnared and taken in an evil net while I by any means may through grace help and prevent it is that for which the dispensation of God calls upon me I have though unworthy been appointed by many of you for a defence of that Truth of the Gospel which you profess and have had many a grapple with these Fore-runners of the Man of Sin as well as with the Emissaries of the Whore whereby I have the advantage to see into their deceits and whose Servants they are who say they are Apostles and are not but are Lyers Therefore I am bound to make it known to the end that the Mystery of Iniquity may be discovered and that the Christ of God may be magnified his Truth advanced his People established and
the coming of the Son of Man be Mat. 24. 36 37 38 39. Likewise also as it was in the Dayes of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed Luke 17. 28 29 30. For the Day of the Lord saith Paul so cometh as a Thief in the night for when they shall say Peace and safety then suddain Destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a Woman with child and they shall not escape 1 Thess 5. 2 3. Behold saith Christ I come as a Thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Rev. 16. 15. Thus will the coming of Christ be suddain even to them that wait for his coming but unto the Wicked his coming will be unexpected Yet 3dly He will come visibly as the Lightening which lighteneth out of the one part under Heaven and shineth unto the other part under Heaven c. For as the Lightening is seen with the bodily eyes so shall Jesus Christ be seen in the Day of his coming Then saith Christ shall they see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds with great power and glory Mark 13. 26. And they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son c. Zech. 12. 10. Behold saith John he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him even so Amen But unto them saith the Apostle that look for him shall he appear the second Rev. 17. time without sin unto Salvation Heb. 9. 28. Thus will the coming of Christ be visible But 4. At the time of his coming he will shew himself to all generally and universally as the Lightening doth the Lightening sheweth not it self first unto one and then unto another but at one and the same time it so cometh that it may be seen of all from one part under Heaven even unto the other So at the coming of Christ he will shew himself to all generally and universally men shall not need to say Lo here lo there for Christ shall be seen of all together as is testified in the Scriptures of Truth Then saith Christ shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with power and great glory Matth. 24. 30. Behold saith Enoch the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Jude 14. 15. It is saith Paul a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angells in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe c. 2 Thes 1. 6 7 8 9 10. So in the Epistle to the Hebrews speaking of those that in time past obtained a good report through Faith the Apostle saith They received not the Promise God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect Hebr. 11. 39 40. And thus is the Coming of Christ vindicated Sect. 17 But these that will not that Christ should raign over them though they perish for their disobedience yet will they persist in it adding unto their sin of denying the coming of Christ to judgment the denial of the end of the World Whereby it doth appear that their conversation is not in Heaven but on the earth they look not at the things that are eternal but at those that are temporal contrary to the practice of the Faithfull in Christ Jesus 2 Cor. 4. 18. yea so fully are their minds bent unto the present things and so absolutely do they fulfil what Peter did foretel that to justifie their Conceit That all things do and shall continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation even as Satan brought Scripture thereby to carry on his temptation against Christ so these his Servants do alledge that Scripture Eccl. 1. 4. One Generation passeth away and another cometh but the Earth abideth for ever to justifie that which was never the intent of it viz. That the Earth shall never be dissolved and so furious are they that when they have been interrupted in their Discourse by a Servant of the Lord they have pronounced Woes upon him as one that puts the Day of the Lord farr from him when it is apparent that it is themselves that put the day of the Lord wherein the Heavens the Earth and the Works that are therein shall be dissolved 2 Pet. 3. 10 11. far from them For it hath been said by one of them That that might never be and this was not spoken in a Corner but in a great Meeting of those which call themselves Preachers up of the Light within c. but alas what reason have they to interpret that Scripture Eccles 1. 4. The Earth abideth for ever so as to infer from it that the Earth shall not be dissolved seeing the terms ever and everlasting have their period sometimes in the Scripture the Levitical Priesthood is called an everlasting Priest-hood yet who sees not that it is long since ended the Covenant of Circumcision in the flesh Gen. 17. 13. was an everlasting Covenant yet to engage Believers See Gal. 3 4 5. Gal. 6. 21 13. Gal. 5. 1 2 3. Col. 2. 10 11. now to the observation thereof is not according to the Gospel freedome but the Legal servitude from which every True Believer is set free by Christ. So although it be said The Earth abideth for ever yet it is not to be understood that it shall never be dissolved seeing the Lord hath said Heb. 12. 26 27. Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven and this word Yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain So also Heb. 1. 10 11 12. And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the Heavens are the works of thy hands They shall perish but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as
doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail So also Isaiah the Prophet testifieth saying And all the Host of Heaven shall be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scrole and all their Host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine and as a falling fig from the fig-tree Isa 34. 4. And as concerning See Rev. 6. 13 14. Propagation men and women shall cease from begetting and bringing forth children for so saith Christ Jesus our Lord Luke 20. 34. the Children of this world saith he marry and are given in marriage but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage neither can they die any more for they are equal to the Angel and are the children of God being the children of the Resurrection Luke 20. 36. Therefore they grosly mis-interpret that Scripture Eccles 1. 4. that interpret it so as to infer from it that the earth shall not be dissolved and that there shall alwayes be even to eternity a begetting and bringing forth of Children and continuance of the Earth and the things that are therein for this is not the meaning of it neither is there any Scripture of Truth that teacheth any such thing But that which is the intent and meaning of this Scripture is this taking it with the two former Verses viz. Vanity of vanity saith the Preacher all is vanity What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the Sun c. Now if it be demanded How doth it appear that all is vanity it is answered in this 4th Verse One Generation passeth away and another Generation cometh but the Earth abideth for ever That is to say Mans life is brittle and fading he hath here no continual abode nor long continuance but as is declared Job 14. 1 2. Man that is born of a woman is of few dayes and full of trouble He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not But it is not so with the earth for the Earth abideth for ever that is so long as all Generations shall come and go it removeth not as man doth but abideth all the time of one Generations passing away and another Generations coming So that that which is here meant by this Terme ever is a long time or such a time as God hath appointed unto all the Generations of men And as by the Terms Ever and Everlasting concerning Circumcision and the Levitical Priesthood is meant A long time the time of many Generations or such a time as God hath hidden from men according to the signification of the Hebrew root so also it ought to be understood here for God hath revealed to us in his Word of what continuance man as he is a mortal creature is of his time it is not much above threescore or fourscore years but the Earth abideth for time hidden from us for a long time for many Generations We know how long it shall be within a little time ere one Generation passeth away and another cometh But how long it shall be ere the Heavens and Earth shall pass away though we know that they shall pass away yet the time when they shall pass away is hidden from us and the Father hath put this in his own power it is not for us to know these times and seasons Acts 1. 7. So that Man having a very little time and short continuance and the Earth a long time a time not known to us therefore saith the Preacher What profit hath a man of all his Labours which he taketh under the Sun one Generation passeth away they leave that which they have wrought by their sore labour behinde them another Generation cometh and takes possession of that which the former gathered together so that all is vanity and Mans temporal enjoyments more subject to change than the Earth which abideth a long time a time hidden from us the time of many Generations It is not with Man as it is with the earth for the earth holds its own it yet keepeth its being if we take from it it will have it again as the Wise Man teacheth All the Rivers saith he run into the Sea yet the Sea is not full into the Place from whence the Rivers come thither they return again But it is not so with man who lyeth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep Job 14. 12. Sect. 18 But although it be so that the continuance of the Heavens and the Earrh is long and mans continuance in this mortal state is short yet the day of the Lord will come wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up and although the Adversaries of Christ are as willingly ignorant of the Worlds Creation and preservation as of its dissolution though they do as little remember the Judgment of God upon the old world as they fear his Judgment upon the World that now is Yet as by the Word of God the Heavens were of old so by the same Word are they reserved unto Fire as by the Word of God the Earth had its Creation so by its word shall it have its dissolution as by the Word of God the Flood was brought upon the World of impenitent Sinners that know not God nor obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ be cast into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels For all Nations shall appear before See 2 Pe. 3. 5 6 7. 2 Thes 1. 7 8 9. Mat. 25. 41. the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5. 10. The Righteous then shall receive Rest the wicked Tribulation and Anguish indignation and Wrath shall be upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile 2 Thes 1. 7. Rom. 2. 7 8 9. and in that day those that now contemn Christ his Truth and the Prosessors thereof that live and dye in unbelief though they are great and mighty in the World now yet then shall they call to the Mountains and Rocks saying Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great Day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Rev. 6. 16 17. Be wise now therefore O ye Kings as saith the Prophet be instructed ye Judges of the Earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Kiss the Son least he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a
the Lord shone round about them viz. the Shepherds and they were sore afraid And the Angel said unto them Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people not to a supposed Seed or uncreated or eternal substance in man but unto man even unto all people for unto you saith he is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swadling cloaths lying in a Manger not lying within you but lying in a Manger which was not within them and suddainly there was with the Angel a Multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the Highest on earth Peace good will towards men Luke 2. 9 10 11 12 13 14. This is indeed the Gospel of glad-tidings a Saviour for sinners for poor sinful man yea and so saith all the Prophets as many as have spoken have likewise declared these things viz. That God did send his Son to die for man to bear our sins and that God raised up his Son Jesus and sent him to blesse the Creature man in turning every one of us from our Iniquities it could not be to turn himself from his Iniquities for he had none He did no sin neither was guile found in his Mouth yet it pleased the Lord to put him to Grief for us and to lay upon him the Iniquities of us all See Acts 3. 26. Isa 53. 6. yea he was wounded for our Transgressions He was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes are we healed So that it is evident That that Doctrine which is not directed to Man but to a supposed Seed or uncreated Substance in man is not the Doctrine of the Gospel which tendereth Salvation to the Creature but a blasphemous Riddle which tends to the nourishing of Evil Thoughts viz. That the Eternal Witness or Substance stands in need of a Teacher and of a Resurrection out of a fallen or imprisoned Condition or to make Man exalt himself into the Place of God by imagining that something within him as a part of his Person is as Eternal as the Spirit of Holiness in Christ or else it tends to make the Creature man consisting of Spirit Soul and Body utterly to despair of Salvation Sect. 4 But now to Answer thy false Inferences which thou endeavourest to draw from these Holy Scriptures to maintain thy Opinion and Practise of Preaching not to man considered as Man but to a supposed Seed or eternal Substance in Man I say and testifie in the Lord That these Scriptures 1 Pet. 3. 19. Matth. 25. 36. teach nothing in the least to justifie such a Practice but that which is here held forth by the Spirit of God in the first Scripture is this viz. That by that Spirit which raised the Flesh of Jesus Christ from the Dead he had Preached by the Ministry of Noah to the Spirits of men which are now in prison not that he preached to the Spirits when they were in Prison nor that these Spirits are of the eternal and uncreated substance but the spirits in prison are the spirits of those men and women which Christ according to the Spirit of Holinesse did by his servant Noah who was assisted therewith preach unto before they were in Prison that is to say In the dayes of Noah when they were disobedient to the long suffering of God while the Ark was a preparing So that you cannot say the Seed of God was that which was preached to except you will say the Seed of God was disobedient or that they were in Prison when they were Preached unto for then they could neither have been obedient nor disobedient for in Prison they are as a reward of their disobedience which they acted when they were at Liberty and are kept in Prison for the said disobedience unto the great Judgement Day So that the Spirits were not in Prison when they were Preached to but disobedient they were at that time when once the long Suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah while the Ark was a Preparing in which few that is eight Souls were saved by Water at that time when once the long-suffering of God waited while the Ark was a Preparing Then did Christ by the same Spirit by which his own Body of Flesh in which he was put to death was raised again from the dead Preach to them that were then Disobedient whose spirits are now in Prison and so shall remain till the great Day of Judgement when they in Spirit Soul and Body shall be punished with everlasting fire as a reward of their disobedience in refusing the Spirit of Holinesse by which God did strive with the old World an hundred and twenty Years Gen. 3. 6. So great was the Patience and long-suffering of God So unwilling was he that any of them should perish but rather that all of them should have repented Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. which when they utterly refused to do he brought the flood of Waters upon that ungodly World those that would not be turned by the strivings of Gods Spirit but refused that Grace which was so earnestly and affectionately tendred unto them as unworthy of any further offers of Grace were destroyed by the flood of Waters which overthrew their Carkasses and as the just Wages of their impenitency and unbelief their spirits are now reserved in Prison unto the judgment of the great Day of God Almighty when they with all other wicked men that live and die in impenitency and unbelief in spirit soul and body shall bear the punishment of their disobedience And then also the Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation for which cause they are now reserved as in Prison in everlasting Chains under darkness Jude vers 6. shall be cast into the Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone where they and those accursed men and women that have been seduced by him shall be tormented for ever where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Thus it is evident that the spirits in Prison spoken of in the Scripture abovesaid are not to be understood of the Spirit of Holinesse in Christ but indeed of the Unclean and Rebellious spirits of Men and Women who refuse the Grace of God when it is tendred unto them in the day of his forebearance and long-suffering Sect. 5 But thy inference from Mat. 25. 36. to justifie thy Opinion and Practice of Preaching not to man but to a supposed seed in every man which thou callest Christ imprisoned in man is also exceeding false and that which tends to the turning of the minds of men from the Person of Christ by whose Death and Resurrection accomplished in his own Body he hath wrought the Redemption of the Bodies of all others that believe in him to an imaginary spirit â—r
if one should perswade a Woman that defiles her Marriage bed that she shall be condemned for that sin if she repent not which is true but afterwards teacheth her to murther her husband which is to turn her out of one wickedness into another as bad or worse and if thou wilt needs be a destroyer of the Whore more than any other it is by deluding her more than any other for others preach that she might repent and obey the Gospel of that God and Jesus Christ which is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and the Redeemer of mankinde thou callest upon her to repent but withall thou teachest her to reject the Word of God and to observe the Precepts of men to disobey the Gospel of Christ and to obey that which is no Gospel Gal. 1. 6 7. To reject Christ himself which is God and man in one Person and to set up a Power in every man which thou callest the Light as the true Christ Thus thou endeavourest to destroy her by making her two fold more the Child of Hell then she is Let all persons therefore beware of thy evil net that so they may not perish everlastingly by hearkening to thy Counsel Sect. 4 Thy fourth proof is thy discerning all Exception to the fourth Proof secrets but this also I do absolutely deny for there is one secret which thou dost not discern it is the mystery of Christ his taking away the sins of the World in his own Body once offered upon the Cross having slain the enmity thereby See John 1. 29. Eph. 2. 16. And that by that one offering once offered in his own Body on the Cross is the alone Reconciliation of the World the Justification and perfection of them that do believe on his Name Heb. 10. 14. There is another secret also which is beyond thy discerning it is God manifest in the flesh which without controversie as saith the Apostle is the great mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh he saith not in every ones body of flesh he was Justified in the Spirit seen of Angels Preached to the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory This mystery thou art a stranger to and ignorant off while thou spendest thy time in doting about questions and strife of words thou and you whereof cometh envy and strife railings evil surmisings and perverse disputings 1 Tim. 6. 3 4. But Although thou canst discern who thou hast deceived by that spirit of Antichrist with which thou art guided that so thou mayest spread thy net over them and take them in thy snare yet that spirit of which thou boastest so much doth much misguide hee sometimes both in sending thee with messages and in directing thee to censure such as please thee not yea when thou hast called to the Light within to bear witness it hath witnessed against thee So that sometimes thou art deceived with dissemblers which others that have ever disowned thy way have seen and born witness against whose appearance amongst thy followers hath been such that many of them have declared That if ever God was in a man he was in that man notwithstanding of the very same party at the very same time it hath been said by thy opposers That if ever the Devil was in a man he was then in that very man of which I have now all thy party that ever knew him to consent to what was then said from whence it is plain that thou hast not such a discerning as to see into all secrets for in this thou wast deceived So that while thou thinkest thou seest into all others thou thy self art discerned of others thy deceitful dealing is seen by a better light than that which thou seest withall the pride of thy heart as saith the Prophet hath deceived thee thou that dwellest in the Clifts of the Rocks whose habitation is on high that saith in thy heart Who shall bring me down to the ground though thou exalt thy self as the Eagle and though thou set thy Nest among the Stars thence will I bring thee down saith the Lord Obadiah 3. 4. See Mat. 11. 23. Sect. 4 Thy fifth Proof is Thy Sufferings But this also I do absolutely deny to be a Proof Exception to the fifth Proof of the uprighteousness of thy way For first neither have thy Sufferings been so great as theirs who are followers of the Lamb of God Christ Jesus no nor comparable to the Sufferings of some that are adversaries to him as ye also are But it is not Sufferings only that makes a Martyr but the cause for which the Sufferings are therefore either prove that thou acknowledgest the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sufferest for it or else leave off thy boasting in thy Sufferings which are not so great as the Sufferings of other Adversarie of the Gospel for those Romish Priests and Jesuites as great Adversaries of the Truth as they be yet for Sufferings they far exceed the Preachers up of thee so called Light within except you will say that you and they are all guided by one spirit divers of whom have been put to death by the halter and fire but as the Apostle teacheth Though I give my body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing 1 Cor. 13. 3. But Secondly thou sufferest many times as an evil doer and as a busie body in other mens matters 1 Pet. 4. 15. Not at all for the sake of Jesus Christ that died at Jerusalem and in Love to him and to his Truth but because thou knowest it advanceth thy Notion People being apt oft times to close with the Opinions of those which are Sufferers without examining the Tenents which they hold Yet Thirdly Notwithstanding thy boasting of Sufferings there is a spirit in thee that waits but for an opportunity to make others feel the weight of its little finger which will be heavier than the Loyns of other Persecuters I know one that hath felt some of thy justles and thrusts that hath been threatned to be thrust out of doors by head and shoulders though he came not into the house without leave of those who call themselves Preachers up of the Light within who poured out against him their Arrows even bitter words Psal 64. 3. Curses Plagues and Judgements having no better Weapons to defend their cause withall and what can be concluded from hence but that seeing you are so free to pronounce Sentence you will be as free to execute Punishment when soever you shall obtain Power to inable you to do it Is it not from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaketh Mat. 12. 34. Do not fierce words go before blows If we consult with the Apostle we shall find that of them whose mouth is full of Cursing and Bitterness it is â—aid their feet are swift to shed Blood Rom. 3. 14. 15. Thus thy pretended Proofs being answered by way of exception my next work is to deal