by the man how the Devil got into him nor how this Devil or Devils went out of him and got into the Herd of Swine nor what become of those Devils in the Sea whether drowned in the Sea or no but however so as I have said before so I say again that there is no Devil without a body that can torment another neither can that Devil if he were not generated in man either come in or go out of man but he must be seen otherwise he is no Devil at all as for instance the distemper of man cannot be cast out but it may be seen and felt in the foul and stinking body that poysoned and distempered the minde of man And how dost thou know that the Soul of man leaveth or goeth out of the body at the hour of death CHAP. 9. Shewing what the Soul is and what it is that dieth how that the Soul which is the life of the body can dye and nothing else but life that dieth Reason VVHY I believe the Soul cannot dye because I conceive it a thing impossible the Soul being an Eternal Spirit cannot be capable of death and besides Solomon saith Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it So that it is my believe the Soul cannot dye Faith Though this Principle be fully cleared in the Prophets Book called joyful news from Heaven yet I shall reveal the truth of it upon another account that the Soul is mortal so capable to dye otherwise it could not live Eternal for as nothing but life can dye and that life being dead shall be made capable to live a life Eternal Reason Before thou proceed any further let me but hear how that nothing but life can dye which it is conceived by all knowing men that life which thou callest the Soul is immortal and cannot dye Now that natural life that runs in the blood may dye and therefore it is confessed when a man is murthered or hanged his breath is stifled and so the natural mortal dies yet all this while as Salomon saith The Soul goeth to God that gave it Faith Having in our former writings made it appear that Solomon was the highest pitch of Reason that ever was so what he spake was onely knowledge in nature and not by the Revelation of Faith therefore no Scripture For Reason imagineth things that are not and things that cannot be understood by any sober man much less by a man in Revelation as to think that an immortal Soul or Spirit should be limited to a mortal body which is as possible as light and darkness to dwell together as an immortal Soul to live in a mortal body therefore I say that the Soul and body of man are one distinct living and dying essence for the Soul or Spirit in the womb by degrees congeals together into a rational fire of blood and water and so in due time become a compleat body of flesh blood and bone so that the life that is in man is not Divine but natural onely Reason This is strange that the Soul or Spirit of a child should conceive in the womb that being a breath or gift of God and not generated in or by the seed for I read that God breathed into Adam and he became a living Soul so his Soul was not immortal but mortal and so is all man-kind Faith However it is strange to thee yet I know it is a real truth to me that the Word by which God first created life in man that Word or Breath was immortal which by his fall became mortal as at large is cleared in the seventh Chapter and this know God never created but male and female and gave life but once and since every life in its kinde hath generated bearing seed in its self so that from my Revelation I say that the rational Soul or Spirit of man lyes secretely hid in his seed like unto a spark of fire which spark doth quicken it self into a living form like unto his nature and so having cloathed it self with flesh his Soul or Spirit runs invisibly through the whole body and so is one entire substance being both conceived into life in the womb togegether and both living together upon the earth their appointed time and being both polluted together with sin is it not requisite that they should dye together and turn to the dâ—st and nâ—n-being again until the general bodily Resurrection of all man-kind Reason I know no other but that every man hath in him a good Spirit and a bad spirit as it is written The spirit lusteth Gal. 5. 17. after the flesh and the flesh agaâ—nst the Spirit and these are contrary So that by the learned it is believed that there is a natural life and an Eternal life in one man otherwise the body and Soul are both one which in Scripture I never read that these were both one bâ—t two one fleshly and the other spiritual Faith Didst thou know the truth of what thou hast said then wouldst thou know as followeth that every man in his fallen spirit hath remaining a little light or motion in him to justifie all the righteous proceedings of the Creator in his Conscience at the last day yet mind what I say he hath but one Soul or Spirit in him for that which the Apostle calls spirit in this place was a Divine light of life received unto the dark understanding by vertue of a word speaking from the eternal Spirit of the Lord of glory and not the essence of the holy Spirit for I know that those who do expect a glory to come in the invisible Heavens do confess that the spirit of the Divine Majesty is inâ—â—nite unchangeable immortal eternal therefore how thinkest thou it possible for men or Angels to be capable of the indwelling of the 〈…〉 nce of his Eternal Spirit and that which the Apostle calls flesh was mans own Spirit which consists of nothing but confused lying imagination or cursed carnal reasoning against the Heavenly light aforesaid Now that I may answer the last clause of thy demand that the Soul and body is one it is written All the Souls that came with Jacob into Egypt which came Gen. 46. out of his loins were threescore and six â—ouls again it is written Thy Fathers went dowâ— into Egypt with seventy persons Deut. 10. So that it is plain man is sometimes called Soul and sometimes is called a body or person or Soul Body and Spirit and yet man is but one living essence or substance However the learned of thy seed pretend they know much of this when indeed they know the least of all as to separate a mortal soul from a mortal body or to unite an immortal Soul to a mortal body which is as possible to make light and darkness God and Devil one Reason This is strange that none but thou shouldst know or dâ—scerâ— the Soul immortal when
are born of women there hath not risen a greater then John the Baptist and yet thou and thy â—eachers will not believe unless present vengeance fall upon thee But know this though the Pharisees desired a sign from Christ and Mat. 12. 38. none would be given them but the sign of the Prophet Jonas yet know this he was Christ the Eternal God for all that and though Christ rebuked James and John in the saying Luke 9. â—4 Lord wilt thou that we command fire from Heaven and consume them even as Elias did yet they were not for the future freed from the Eternal fire in their souls So let me tell thee and yet not I but the Revelation of the Holy Spirit within me though not presently yet it shall flame within thee as fire from Heaven and that without end till it consume all thy hopes of salvation and thou shalt know and finde that this sentence of thine shall shut the Heavens and it shall rain no more showers of mercy or comfort in thy soul so that I say though thou finde it not presently thou shalt as surely feel it after death as Christ is God the Eternal Father And what if miracles did belong to our Commission as they do not in that ours is the Commission of the Spirit so our sentence spiritual thou wouldst no more believe then thou dost now but rather call us Conjureâ—s unless the tenor of our Commission was as the two former to execute present vengeance and if it were executed once or twice and not upon every occasion thou wouldst be as much seared up in unbelief as thou art now Reason If thy Commission were as real truth as Moses and the Apostles and such a power did attend thine as was in theirs then I should as truly believe in yours as now I do in them Faith Ah blinde Soul thou dost not know what is truth and what not for if thou didst thou wouldst as really believe in me as in them But from my Seedspring I tell thee That thou nor none of thy Seed do really believe that the Scripture is a true Record of the Transactions of Christ thou mayest talk of it and preach from it but if thou wert really perswaded in thy own soul of the truth therein contained then thou wouldst believe in us for the Apostles writ of us as Moses and the Prophets writ of Christ to come and therefore if thou didst believe in them that have nothing but a dead letter to prove them Commissioners surely then thou wouldst believe in us that are living and know this if the Roman Authority had not established Moses and the Apostles Writings for Scripture then it had been believed no more then ours for thy Fathers in the days of their lives notwithstanding their miracles did no more believe in them then thou dost in us and know this the same power that attended them upon externals doth belong to our Commission in spirituals and therefore as the Apostle had power in his Commission to curse either Angel or man that did preach any other Doctrine so we have the same power in ours Reason What then doth not their Commission belong to us in these days successively as it did to them what then is the meaning of those Scriptures where it is writ The Scriptures aforetime are written for our learning and again it is writ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded Mat. 28. 20. you and loe I am with you always unto the end of the world Faith From the Lord of Glory I tell thee That neither of those Commissions do belong to thee or any of thy Seed either by succession or otherwise for from my Seed of Faith I declare That the Scripture was never written for the learning of any of thy Seed though none living now present do make it a more Idol for their own gain then thy Seed doth Though I have sufficiently proved this point in the Quakers Downfal yet from my well-spring within me I tell thee That as the Scripture was written by the revelation or inspiration of Faith so I know it was writ for the use of none but the Believers of that Faith which neither thou nor none of thy Seed are partakers of For as Paul the great Commissioner was the Penman of those sayings so that Scripture that he spake of was the writings of the first Commission viz. Moses and the Prophets which were written before his time and so for the learning of him and all that believed in his Doctrine for our learning that are of the Seed of Faith and for none of the Seed of Reason whatsoever but for our learning The word Plural includes all the Seed of Faith with him were the Scriptures written so the Commissions of Moses and the Apostles were not written for the use of any of the seven Churches but our Commission alone for as none understood the Commission of Moses and the Prophets but the Apostles so none now living understand either of the two former Commissions but this our spiritual Commission now in being and therefore from my Seedspring I tell thee We onely are the Judges of the Scripture whatsoever Reason thy cursed Seed pretend to the contrary as now thou shalt hear an infallible Exposition of the other Scripture which thou hast quoted which all besides our Commission gives a false definition thereof Go ye therefore and teach all Mâ—t 23. â—0 Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and loe I am with you always even unto the end of the world Now from hence all the seven Churches of thy Seed viz. Papist Episcopal Presbyterian Independent Baptist Ranter and Quaker do suppose that the extent of these words are in force to the end of this world and therefore the Baptists have assumed the Apostles Commission as their own when as if ye were not stone blinde you may read as ye run that this Commission was given to the twelve then living and not to Kiffin and Patience or any other Teacher of the Baptists whatsoever for ye were not born many hundred years after when this command was expressed And loe I am with you always even unto the end of the world with you my beloved Disciples and none other Reason I cannot conceive from this Scripture but there was to be a continuance of the Apostles Commission to the end of this World and though there was none of the Commissioners left to give or invest the same power by imposition of hands yet we having the same Spirit of God in us although not in the same measure yet may we not lawfully follow them as our patern and as the Apostle exhorts Brethren be followers Phil. 3. 17. together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample othervvise vvhat should all the World have done to have knovvn God or
pierce through her secrets as thou sayest in a moment and yet not be seen by any nor she stand amazed yea trembling in fear at so sudden appearance and dissolution of this svvift motional substance into her body for my part I cannot understand it neither vvill Scripture prove it so cannot believe it Faith Well may his dissolution into the vvomb cause admiration vvhen at his birth vvhich vvas no strange thing there should be such a multitude of Heavenly Host rejoicing vvith such Heavenly Harmonies that the Shepherd vvere amazed vvith fear yea a vvonder it vvas to them that heard of it far and near vvhich if there had not been a conception more than ordinary the birth of that conception had not caused such astonishment round about but novv God vvas become a Child yea Eternity become time and for a season to dvvell among his Creation and therefore if thou knevv that the body of God vâ—â—s of a bright glorious Chrystal soft thin transparent substance swifter than thought who at his Divine pleasure can transmute himself as high or as low and into as a straight a passage as can be thought on then thou wouldst cease reasoning and believe what I speak to thee that the body of God consisting of such Divine Spiritual and Heavenly matter as aforesaid could without the sight of any descend from Heaven to Mary And why or wherefore should she be amazed when she had tidings of what should be before Neither was his dissolution any prejudice at all to her but raptures of joy springing up in her Soul to her Eternal comfort Reason What then was all the God that created Heaven and Earth in the womb of Mary and was that the very God that was born in a Manger that was swadled suckled and dandled upon the knees and carried up and down the Countrey in the Armes of his Mother was this God the Father that created all things that now hath life in them that once could not go nor feed himself but be led and fed by its creature As unto this answer me plainly and really what is thy thought on this great mysterious Mystery Faith From the Spirit of Revelation I tell thee that was the very God that the Wise Men went to worship and that Herod did seek to kill was the very Godhead Spirit or Life of that Christ Jesus so that Pauls Revelation told him The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christs body and God Col. 2. 9. was in Christ reconciling the world with many such places and therefore the words that Christ spake was Spirit and Joh 8. 24. Life and again saith Christ Exept ye believe that I am he ye shall dye in your sins So that if the Eternal Godhead had not sprung up this Revelation he could not have uttered those sayings as his own Reason However thou hast quoted some certain places that confirm what thou sayest yet I cannot find but all along as I read God and Christ is two and not one so that there was a God in Heaven when Christ was upon earth and me thinks it is contrary to reason that God which created all Creatures should walk talk eat and drink with them and be affronted by them and as it were have his livelyhood by them that he created Faith Well Friend think of it what thou pleasest yet this I 'le assure thee that God and Christ is not two but one For what necessity was there for God to have a Son Surely if it were as thou sayest either God was in process of time to dye and so make his Son Heir or else he wanted a Companion to keep him Company if not so then the world was too great and so got a Son to assist him yet however I tell thee there never was but one God And surely then he that died for us must save us and if Christ be our Saviour then he must be our Creator and yet what striving here is for two Gods when in the beginning of Moses and the Prophets we read but of One as it is written Isaiah 4. 10 11. Before me there was no God formed neither shall there be after I even I am the Lord and besides me there is no Saviour and then confirms it saying Neither is there Salvation in â—8s 4. 12. any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must saved and yet what a flutter thy seed makes about God and Christ so two Gods as though one God should Create and the other God should Save O for shame leave off these things and be silent in thy ignorance for thy seed is so various that some of you will have God a Spirit and Christ the Son a Person and others of you will have three persons and one God and the rest will have no Person at all but an infinite formless Spirit so that from my Revelation I tell thee and all thy seed with thee as by the Prophet Isaiah is proved there never was no God formed before Christ nor never shall be atfer him yet this I know there is three titles but one person which person ever was is and shall be Christ Jesus alone for Christ had the title of God the Father in the Law and the title of God the Son in the Gospel and now God the holy Ghost in this our last commission to which is onely revealed that Christ Jesus is the onely God Reason Then tell me what was that which died in Christ when he was crucified and said now it is finished and gave up the Ghost Faith That was he gave up his Soul to death which Soul was the Eternal Spirit or Godhead Father and therefore it is written He poured out his Soul to death and was offered Heb. 9 14. through the Eternal Spirit So died in mortality and was buried in the grave which Soul Spirit or Godhead in the twinkling of an eye quickned to immortality or spiritual form again Reason If the Creator of Heaven and Earth was that which died in Christ so that the God of all life being then become death How came he or by what means could he be quickned or raised to glory again Faith Yea it was the Soul Spirit that died and was perfectly dead that gave life to all and that life that died in a moment did quicken it self by its ever living Word of Faith spoken before his death that raised him to life saying Joh. 10. 18 I have power to lay down my life and I have power to take it again there being no let or doubt in Faith that could hinder it what it had purpose to do Reason Was all the Power that created Heaven and Earth dead and buried at the very same moment and no power left without Christ to quicken that which was dead within the body of Christ Jesus Faith No more than is in a grain of Wheat and yet that dies and in season quickens again so that there
was no God Spirit Power or Father vvithout the body of Christ to quicken that vvhich vvas vvithin the body of Christ but lay in its pure Seed onely Reason And did that pure Seed vvithout the help of any other povverful life vvithout quicken it self again Faith Yea vvithout the assistance of any without at all for let me tell thee there vvas no such povverful life vvithout the body of Christ as vvas dead vvithin the body of Christ therefore impossible that vvhich received life from Christ should quicken the life of Christ that created it no I say the povver of dying and living again lay in its ovvn nature only so that there vvas neither any infinite Spirit God or Father besides Christ that did quicken the Seed of Christ from death to life in the grave but his ever living Word of Faith spoken before his death I say that pure Heavenly Faith is death in life and life in death and this vvas that vvhich redeemed his Soul from the povver of the grave as it is vvritten O death I will be thy death O grave I will be thy destruction this Povver vvas dead and raised it self from Hos 13. 14 mortality vvith a spiritual body vvithout the help of any other to immortality again Reason Did he raise that same body that he vvas crucified in and buried vvith If not What became of that body and vvith vvhat body did he rise Faith I say Christ did rise vvith the very same body that he vvas Crucified in that same body vvas raised and no other Faith Hovv came it then from a moatal body to an immortal body seeing it was the same body which was capable to dye Hovv could that same body be made capable to live again a life Eternal Faith If the immortal body of God the Father had not died in the vvomb of Mary to a mortal Son of flesh blood and bone he had not been capable to live in this vvorld among his creatures and upon the Cross have died again as a mortal Son he had not been capable to live in that immortal glory from vvhence he came so that Christ as he vvas God tvvice passed through death viz from immortality to mortality and from mortality to immortality again Now to Ansvver hovv that body vvhich vvas made capable to dye vvas made capable to live in glory was thus That which was mortal viz. Water Earth and Air being dead I say that spark of Faith did kindle it self throughout the same form so raised the same body vvithout any of the gross Elements aforesaid so that novv it vvas a body without blood onely the same flesh and bone purified yea refined into a soft thin bright spiritual form swifter then thought so that now having raised it self to the same it was when it descended from Heaven to the womb of Mary now it was able to appear among his disciples as it did in the womb of a woman their windows and doors being shut yea able to ascend to his kingdom of glory from whence he came and so sate on the right hand of his Father or the right hand of the Majesty on high where now he will remain to all eternity CHAP. 3. Shewing Christ is the onely God and Father yea the Creator of heaven and earth now it is to be revealed what God and Father that was and where he was that Christ so often called upon when he was upon earth Reason FRom thy last Answer thou hast raised more objections which I would desire thou wouldest be free to answer and that is if thou canst reveal unto me what God or Father that was and where he was that forbid Joseph in a dream not to turn away his Wife saying That which was conceived in her womb was by the Holy Ghost and when Christ was born who it was that sent the angel with the whole host of heaven singing and praysing of God And when the wise men went to worship Christ that fore-warned them to go into their own countrey another way and told Joseph that he should take the childe with his mother and flee into Egypt and when Herod was dead commanded him to return back again And another time This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased these with many others I could relate which I desire thou wouldest answer seeing thou affirmest Christ was God the Father Faith Though I tell thee yet thou canst not believe me so that I may leave thee excuseless I am made free to speak unto thee and let thee know where it is written that Christ uttered a parable which was to this effect viz. There was a Mark 13. 34. certain man took his journy into a far countrey and set his house in order and gave authority to his servants and bid the Porter watch so that I affirm this parable was concerning his hard and sad journy he was then undertaking now the servants he intrusted with his divine Authority was Moses and Elias they were his porters that were to watch over Christ Jesus the Creator of heaven and earth for it is written before Christ became mortal flesh that there was Angels which Psalm â—1 11. should have charge concerning him which Angels were Moses and Elias and therefore it is written God buried Moses and took up Elias in a fiery chariot which none of the Prophets Exod. 20. 19 1 Kings 17. 2. 2 Kings cap. 1. was so suddenly transmuted into glory as they were and therfore it was for some great design more then ordinary otherwise there had been no necessity of raising them more then any other of the Prophets And then again thou mayest read there was none so much represented the Royal Prerogative Power of a God above as they did here below as at thy leisure read those Scriptures quoted in the Margent Reason Why could not God make use of some of the Angels then in glory to be as thou sayest his Steward or Deputy-father and to watch over his person the time he was upon earth they knowing him and was always obedient to him might as well officiate the place of trust and represented that authority as well as Moses and Elâ—as Faith Why or wherefore God was necessitated to take up Moses and Elias was as in these ensuing particulars will appear First because Elias was the Seed of Gods own nature and so are none of the Angels therefore not safe for God to trust a contrary Seed they being but pure reason when as the nature of Moses and Elias was Faith so that God knew it was impossible they should falsifie their trust committed to them Secondly if God had left the Angels to take care over him then had Christ in his infancy perished by the hands of Herod in that the Angels are not able to subsist one day without the revelation of the person of Christ therefore he being here below they would have brought all to confusion above as also Christ had not been preserved his
created them of that dust without or above this visible heaven yea I say by his word speaking unto that spiritual dust aforesaid there came forth an innumerable Angelical Host in persons or forms like men and not bodiless spirits as thy seed vainly affirm and the nature of their Angelical Spirits are pure reason onely Reason And was the fallen Angel created of the same matter as the other were and had that Angel the same form and nature as the rest of the Angels had if so why did not he sâ—and with the rest or the whole host of the Angels fall with him Faith I affirm that Serpent-Angel was created of the same matter and had the same form and nature yet was more wise or God-like in his creation than all the elect Angels of glory I say why he could not stand with the rest was the Creator fore-knowing that his Prerogative Royal would compel or move him to create this Angelical Reprobate in reference to his divine justice so that for the manifestation of his most glorious power unto elect men and angels his wisdom saw it most fit to endue this angel with more piercing rational wisdom and brightness of person than all his Angelical companions and that because he was decreed to the greatest shame and pain and not onely so but because the elect Angels should admire their Creators wisdom and power when they should see the out-cast condition of the highest created glory and themselves be filled with new declarations of honor praise and glory unto the Divine Majesty for his free electing love towards them through which they were ensured eternally to reign in their created purity This and no other was the cause why this Angel should fall from the rest Reason I have read as it is thus written That God spared not the 2 Pet. 2. 4. Angels but cast them down into hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgement so that I believe there was more then one in that the Scripture speaks in the plural and not the singular viz. Angels and not Angel Faith I infallibly affirm there was but onely one Reprobate Angel created at first for know this as there was but one man Adam cast out of his heavenly Paradise of created purity in soul and body as also all his seed or generation were cast out of their spiritual peace with him so likewise there was but one angelical Serpent cast from his rational created purity and that was the Serpent-devil which deceived Eve Now the Angels which were cast out with him were of his seed or generation through his union with the intrals of Eve where he had this world prepared for him and his generation Reason And was there no other way to manifest the greatness of his glory but by creating a seed or generation against himself and his seed that so he might damn one and save the other or what prejudice had it been for his Divine Majesty to have formed all in nature like himself as well as in form so that all might have enjoyed eternal happiness Faith I say there was no other way to manifest his divine excellencies unto angel or man but what he hath done if there had I am confident he would never have created any thing on purpose for eternal sufferings and that the more thou mayest think the wise Creator would never have suffered any creature to become rebellious against himself for the occasioning of such strange transactions in this world and suffering both of himself angel and man I say if he could have possessed his infinite glory in creating of every thing unto eternal pleasure Reason Why who was besides himself that should let or hinder what he had a mind to do but he might form all of the nature of himself as aforesaid Faith It is true though there was none besides himself yet I say that the Creators Royal Will and Pleasure was that glorious wheel that moved him to create or form any creature at all and sure I am it was unpossible for God to create the spirits of angels and men to be both of the nature of his own spirit or either of them to be of his divine nature then would the variety of his wisdom power and glory been all lost for want of distinction Moreover if angels and men had been both of Gods divine nature in their creation then in stead of their being capable to be transmuted into a higher or lower condition at the divine pleasure of the Creator would they not rather have been unchangable Creators then changable creatures therefore that God might impede all that might prevent his divine purpose he created the bodies of the angels spiritual and their spirits rational and he made the body of the man Adam natural and his soul spiritual and the cause was this that if their spirits and bodies had both been of the divine nature then it had been unpossible for them to change or commit any evil no more then the Creator himself where then had been all the wonderful transactions of his glorious Majesty or what had been formed in stead of creatures but Creators onely Reason How or which way came the angels forth living creatures if that life that brought forth their forms had not been in God so came forth from God infused into them as it was into Adam Faith Though the angels came forth living bodies in the forms of men yet that life was not in God nor of the nature of God but onely a created light of sensible life of divine joys proceeding from the eternal spirit by vertue of a word speaking through his heavenly mouth unto those elements aforesaid for I say that the uncreated essence or Godhead-spirit of an infinite Majesty was utterly uncapable to be conveyed unto finite created being for infiniteness is onely capable of its own glorious center and after the angels were formed into living bodies the divine Majesty and those created beings were become distinct in their essences for everlasting also the angels by apparant sight of their Creators face might know themselves to be but creatures yea subject to the divine pleasure of God that made them Reason I all along judged Gods nature to be pure reason and the angels nature the same and if not of the nature of God how or by what means came they obedient to the commands of God Faith Whatever thou hast judged of Gods nature thou art altogether mistaken for the nature of God is all-divine heavenly Faith and therefore the nature of the angels was and are of a contrary seed subject to mutability for the angels spirits are pure reason onely And what is the purest reason is it any thing else but all pure desires and what is the original of the most purest and perfects desire is it not a want of something that is desired or a kinde of unsatisfaction until its desire be satisfied from something that is not inherent in it self
and therefore from the Lord of everliving faith I say it is thy ignorance that undervalues him nay it is unpossible that there should be the least motion of the purest desire in that nature which is all fulness of divine satisfaction in it self or how is it possible that spirit which hath desire in its nature should enjoy fulness of content in its self therefore though God created that Angelical Reason of all pure desires I say no spiritual man will call it the Divine Nature of God because there can be no kinde of desire in that Nature of the immortal God that is variety of all glorious satisfaction in it self but this I know from the eternal Light of life that the Creator by his infinite wisdom and power from a word speaking unto that dust aforesaid could create yea did make divers living creatures and yet not one motion of those created beings was inherent in his Heavenly Spirit so that I say the Spirits of the Elect Angels are not in the least of any part of the glorious Nature of his Spirit but onely a created rational Spirit of all pure desires so that I affirm the uncreated Godhead it self is unto the created being of Angels or men either a Law of perfect Faith and pure burning love in them towards God unto life Eternal or else a fiery Law of unbelieving burning envy in them against Gods Elect men and Angels unto Eternal death and therefore from the Lord of all Light and Life I affirm all the Angels were equally created under one Law the which mortal Law was written in their Angelical Natures motioning in them that all obedience was properly due unto their Creator which had made them such marvellous creatures Reason But then how or which way came this about that this Angels nature was pure Reason and that as thou sayest in a more greater measure than the Elect Angels Now if their standing or falling lay in none of them How came it then this Angel could not keep his standing as well as the rest Faith I know that though their spirits were created perfectly pure in their kind and measure yet if they were not continually supplied with inspiration from that Divine glory which gave them their beings instead of continuing in their Angelical brightness their spirits would become nothing else but a bottomless pit of imaginary confused darkness of aspiring wisdom above the Creator for the Elect Angels spirits being pure Reason the very nature of them is to desire after the knowledge of that incomprehensible glory which gave them their beings and I say it is the variety of his Divine Excellencies flowing to their desiring natures is that heavenly food that is prepared for their eternal preservation therefore I say the continuance of the reprobate Angels being expired the Creator onely withheld the inspirations of Divine glory from him and immediately for want of that spiritual meat to satisfie that desiring nature his God like purity became nothing else but imaginary impurities of secret aspiring desires above the Creator so that his former pure Reason was become nothing but a loathsome sink of unclean reasoning concerning the true knowledge of the Creator whether he were the Creator or no and instead of honouring the Creator for his unsearchable wisdom of forming out of a little dead dust such an innumerable Host of Elect Angels for his personal Society I say this Angel at the blind barr of his lying imaginations he secretly arrains the wisdom of the infinite God in creation and condemned it as weakness it self in comparison of his imaginary vvisdom this Angel being lifted up with the wisdom of his spirit and glory of his person he beheld the Wisdom and Persons of all the Elect Angels as simple uncomely creatures in comparison of him and his wisdom and then beholding himself with the Creator he imagines his personal wisdom more capable of a Divine Throne than he that sate thereon also he began to imagine a new creation of his own supposing as if he had been the Creator he could have formed more glorious creatures than the Angels without dust or any other matter or if he must have matter to form things wiâ—hall he imagined by his word speaking or thinking he could have created as many spirits without bodies as he saw fit or if he saw good he could have transformed their spiritual bodies into any other nature or form after he had created them and not to continue in one nature and form alwayes for he thought it want of wisdom and power in the Creator that the bodies of the Angels might not be transmuted into any condition at the pleasure of him that formed them therefore in the midst of these and such like his irrational wisdom of imaginary impossibilities so elevated his out-cast spirit that secretly he utterly abhorred that the Creator or any other creatures should remain in being unless he onely might bear rule over them all So that when the secret pride and envy of the Angelical reprobate was at height of unthroning the Creator or else a dissolution of all then the glorious Creator revealed his spiritual cruelties unto his holy Angels and answerable to that he would have done for a Creators glory in the visible sight of his Angels God condemned him to be cast out of his personal presence and Heavenly Throne or Kingdom for everlasting and immediately like unto lightning he was thrown down into this perishing world where his desired Kingdom of God-like Government was prepared for him and his lineal Angels where they are reserved in everlasting chains of darkness and unbelief until the Judgement of the great day Reason What advantage did the downfal of this reprobate Angel produce to the rest of the Angels and wherein did any glory redound unto God and whether was that Angel thrown and what became of him after his fall Faith As unto the Elect Angels there was great advantage for thereby they were all filled with variety of new Heavenly praises in their mouths of Honour Power Praise Glory Majesty Wisdom Mercy Meekness Justice Righteousness or any other Divine Excellencies that could be named to their glorious Creator for his electing free love unto them eternally to abide in their created purity to behold his glorious face and for his wonderful wisdom in creating such Angelical perfection in them from an everlasting rejection of desperate burning envy in utter shame and from this it was great glory did attend the personal Majesty of God and the place he was thrown unto was this earth prepared for his kingdom where here he was in his spiritual form onely the nature of his spirit was changed as aforesaid CHAP. 5. Shewing whether this world was before the Angels or no and whether the world was made of something or nothing and how it came into this form and being and whether it shall for ever thus remain Reason SEeing thou hast thus far revealed thy knowledge of these secrets let me
hear thy thoughts whether this world was in being before the Angels because thou sayest the Angel was thrown into this world Faith Thou hast raised that which neither thou nor any of thy Seed can answer in that this and other that shall be revealed is onely to the Seed of Faith therefore for thy conviction and the satisfaction of the Seed of the Woman I against Angel and man declare and infallibly affirm that the substances of earth and water in this world and that glorious World above were from all Eternity in the Creators presence uncreated senseless dark dead matter like unto water and dust that had no kinde of life light or vertue in them in the least so that I say this world upon the account aforesaid was before the Angels creation Reason By the learning of this world we have understood that those substances of earth and water was not Eternal onely the Creator speaking the word so they came in being also it is written In the beginning God created the Gen. 1. Heaven and the Earth so that I understand there was no earth nor water till it was created Faith As I have said before so I say again this doth not belong to thy seed to know it for it is written Through Faith we understand the worlds were framed by the Word of God Heb. 11. 3. So that by Faith I say that earth and vvater vvas Eternal and the vvord frame or create is to make formlesâ— dead vvater into sensible living forms for thou maist read That earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep c. So that there vvas an earth and vvater though dead and dark so vvithout form Novv the vvord creating or framing vvas to give life and light to those substances of death and darkness and therefore it is vvritten The Spirit of God moved upon the waters and said Gen. 1. 2. let there be light and there was light So that against Angel or man I positively affirm that the earth and the deep vvater vvere essentially one Chaos of confused vvater distinct from the Creator and vvhereas it is said In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth is thus to be understood that of the matter of vvater and earth that vvas formless and void God by a vvord speaking did create a formable vvorld as a place of convenient residence for such mortals as thou and I to inhabit in Reason Though it be consented that the earth and vvater in the beginning vvas dead and dark yet I cannot see but they vvere created so not eternal for it is vvritten I create light and I create darkness so that it vvill follovv God Isaiah 45. 7. created them vvithout form and void Faith In ansvver to this it is vvritten That God is light and in him is no darkness at all yet it is vvritten Darkness was upon the deep So that I knovv from eternity the Divine 1 John 1. 5. Nature of the Creators Spirit vvas nothing but immortal fiery glory of Life and Light so vvithout Controversie the dead earth and dark deep vvater never proceeded all Life and Light out of his glorious mouth and vvhereas thou sayest God created darkness is not intented as thou supposest but the meaning is that he created those Souls that vvere naturally dark into a marvellous light as these Scriptures vvill plainly manifest The light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not and again I will open their John 1. 5. eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God vvith many such places but not one Scripture that God created or gave any being or beginning unto dead dark senseless earth and water aforesaid Reason I cannot yet understand but that God created that confused Chaos of water and earth and so of nothing by his word speaking this world was made Faith Though thou be the Seed of Reason yet in this thou art unreasonable to think that ever those dark dead Elements of earth and water should have their Original from his glorious Spirit I say their natures being so contrary it is impossible they should proceed the one from the other For alas What is death or darkness is it not through the absence of life and light and is not life being overcome by death absolutely become death or darkness or utter silence for a moment and if light and darkness life and death meet together is there any peace between them until one hath swallowed up the other If this be so as it is so then without Controversie earth and water were uncreated substances eternally distinct from the God of Life Light and Glory and that the more it is written And darkness covered the face of the deep therefore I say it is but a dream and a lye to say that God created all things of nothing or that God created that confused Chaos of water and earth it is all one as if thou shouldst say there was no Creator at all but earth and water and such like dead stuff as they are Reason It is written God made a Firmament and divided the waters that were under the Firmament from the waters which were above the Firmament Now was this Firmament Eternal as the rest Faith I say the Firmament that is visible was Eternal though it was of that dead dark matter as the other was Now the word making is the same creating which is no other then as aforesaid to make that which was dead and dark to be lively light and therefore God made Sun Moon and Stars and set them in the Firmament to give light upon this earth so that the Sun is the life of the earth the Moon the life of the waters Reason What then is the Nature of the Water and the Earth above this visible Firmament the same with this water and earth in this world Faith No in nature they are not the same for that above the Firmament is immortal spiritual when as this is mortal natural And therefore the Angels and all the creatures therein being created of that matter are spiritual immortal bodies when as man and all creatures herein are natural mortal bodies and therefore it is written There are Heavenly Bodies and earthly bodies celestiaal and terrestial the one above durable this below perishing that above sutable for such a glorious personal Majesty as the Creator is CHAP. 6. Shewing of what matter Adams body was created and what was his Nature Soul or Spirit and by what means Adam came to lose his state he was created in Reason THen tell me of which of the two substances was the body of Adam created of that above or this below Faith There is no Dispute to the contrary but that Adam was created of this earth below in that he is numbred among this visible creation as in Genesis is related And that Adam was to be Lord and rule over them and the Scripture tells thee what
almost the whole world believes the Soul was never generated but the breathings of the Spirit of God which are immortal and cannot dye Faith From the Revelation of Faith I say those conceited wise men which through the ambition of Tongues and Languages have studied beyond all sober sense or reason to make all the world senseless sots as to think when the Seed is conceived in the womb that then God must come and give it a Soul be it a Bastard or Free-born the child can have no Soul till God give it so that thou makest God not onely a partner but a perfecter of mans basâ— lust in that filthy act But however thy thoughts are unseal'd concerning God yet this I know that all Souls since the fall of Adam are but mortal natural and must dye in the body being generated to live together must dye together in that they are both guilty of sin cannot ascend but rot in the grave together as it is written The Soul of man shall be cut off from the Land of the Living and the Soul that sins shall dye and that the pure Soul of Christ was poured forth unto death and the Lord hath said that Adam and Eve were but dust and to dust they should return again also it is written That David is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us this day for David is not ascended into the Heavens Acts 2. c. Now what should ascend if not Davids Soul For it is written Not this body but such a body as pleaseth God to give it So not the body but the Soul thou sayest must ascend then know this Soul was in the dust and not ascended for David is not ascended as much as if it had been said Davids Soul is not ascended nor no Soul without a body can ascend and there can be no ascension till the Soul hath past through death it can never ascend to Eternal life Reason If the Soul at the hour of death did not ascend to glory or descend to misery how comes it then that John writes I sâ—w under the Altar the Souls of them that were slain for the Rev. 6. 10. Word of God and for the Testimony which they held and they cryed with a loud voice saying How lâ—ng O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth So that surely John saw many Souls in Heaven cying unto the Lord to avenge their blood on their enemies otherwise he had not declared it Faith Thy ignorance hath been great as now it is in this as for thee to imagine that John saw Souls in Heaven without bodies and their spirits without face mouth and tongue should cry How long holy and true c. When a Soul without a face and tongue cannot be seen nor speak therefore I tell thee there is a greater Mystery in those words then thou art aware of for from my Seed spring I say it is no more then the blood of Abels which cryed unto the Lord from the ground and so doth all the blood of the Saints From the blood â—f Righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias and so to the end of our Commission Do cry O Lord holy and true why dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth This John saw by Revelation as Steven and Paul in another case did see the Heavens opened And so John saw a wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed Rev. 12. â— with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and the 12 Stars upon her head Now when John saw this great wonder he was not in Heaven neither was this wonder done in Heaven but upon the earth so it was the blood of the Righteous Souls that were murthered in their bodies that John saw not in glory but upon this earth Now whereas thou art almost confident that at the hour of death the Souls go out of the body if so deal plainly with thy self and tell me whâ—â—â—t is like for surely the Soul must have some form â—â— sâ—ape and so cannot get out but it would be seen by some thâ—â— stâ—â—ds by for if a â—oul were of that form and fashion as White in his Chamber at Whithall shewed me the picture of a soul â—â— a Book a dark soul and a light soul in â—â—rm like a â—copeâ—ilâ— I say if the soul were as such wisâ— Head-pieces reports how comes it that it cannot be seen to gâ— out of the diseased For my part I have been at the death of some and yet could not discern any thing come frâ—m them but groans and flegm so that if thou with all thâ— seed were noâ— stone blinde thou wouldst clearly see the soul dyeth within the body for want of evaquation with the body Reason If iâ— be as thou sayest that all souls are dead in the dust and so become dust How or which way shall these souls be found out or raised at the last day Faith From the Lord of glory I speak it there is not any of thy seed that doth in the least understand how to answer this Argument therefore that Faith may be known to be Lord over thee and thy seed I declare that Christ Jesus being a quicâ—ning Spirit not onely as in relation to himself but all man kind as it is written The first man Adam was made a living Soul and the second man Adam was made a quickning Spirit I say his Soul being perfectly dead and buried in the grave yet in death he quickned himself to life without the help of any as in the second Chapter is clear so as it is written Your lâ—fe is hid in Christ with God so that when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear Col. 3. 3. 4. with him in glory therefore as he was able to qâ—icken his own Soul so at the general account he is far more able by the word of his mouth to quicken the Seed of Faith that now are dust to eternal glory also to quicken the seed of Reason to eternal misery yea and that from the first soul called Adam to the last soul dying he can and will in the twinkling of an eye raise all the Seed of Faith that hath layn so long in the dust to meet him in the Air with bodies sutable to their natures yea the very appearance of Christ who is all life will quicken that which is dead in the grave to hear his voice and immediately to come forth and meet him in the Air as it is written The hour is coming John 5. 28 in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice Reason That I understand is the raising of another body and not the soul for it is written it is sown a natural body and is raised a spiritual body so that I conceive it is not the soul but that body raised another that will be the work of the Lord at the day of Judgement
is the Holy Ghost the Father uncreate the Son uncreate and the Holy Ghost uncreate the Father incomprehensible the Son incomprehensible and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible the Father eternal the Son eternal and the Holy Ghost eternal and yet they are not three eternals but one eternal c. so the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and yet they are not three Gods but one God c. and so we are to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord without which no man can be saved Faith Before thou proceed any further let me give answer to what thou hast already declared and the remarkablest confusion therein contained I shall pitch my discourse upon which is Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance for thou sayest there are three Persons and but one God their glory equal their majestie co-eternal all uncreate all incomprehensible all eternal and yet not three but one eternal Now let the wisest head-peice of thy Seed answer me from these words Whether thou intends the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God as in relation to their Persons or their Natures for let me tell thee if thou believe them as touching their persons then know thou hast divided the Substance as for instance the potter of one substance matter or earth makes three vessels now though these three be of one and the self same substance yet they are divided so not one but really three distinct in each form the one from the other As thus here is three ⊙ ⊙ ⊙ distinct in themselves yet one like another not onely in form but nature also in that they are all of one matter so cannot disagree though three yet let thy Reason work which way it will thou canst not make of these three one ⊙ in which single face or person that intire nature that is unity in trinity must be comprehended and contained in one single person alone onely bearing the name of three titles viz. Father in the Creation the Son in Redemption and the Holy Ghost in Justification Without the true knowledge of what I have said from my Revelation I tell thee thy faith shall perish eternally Reason I acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord and yet I say there are not three Gods and three Lords as thus the Father is made of none neither created nor begotten the Son is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten the Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son neither made nor created nor begotten but proceeding c. and in this Trinity none is afore nor after another none is greater nor less then another but the whole three Persons be co eternal together and co equal So thus the Vnity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped he therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity Faith O senseless Sot as were thy Teachers so art thou as to imagine that one God should have three Persons which is as unpossible as for a mortal King to have three persons and but one King for this I know though a King by generation may bâ—get a son yet that childe is not a father but a son so not one but two neither is the son equal with the father though the next heir to the Crown But however this by Faith I know the Son was the Father neither made created nor begotten as in the second Chapter is proved at large for this know if Christ was begotten then he was created so made and if begotten tell me who begot him and where and by what means Christ was begotten Reason I know no otherwise but as in the Creed I believe Christ Jesus to be the onely Son of God begotten of his Father before all Worlds God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made for us and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified under Pontius Pilate be suffered and was buried and the third day rose again and ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father and I believe as in the other Creed Christ was God of the Substance of the Father begotten before the Worlds and man of the Substance of his mother â—â—rn in the world perfect God and perfect man of a reasonable soul and humane flesh subsisting equal with the Father as touching his Godhead and inferiour to his Father as touching his Manhood one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of person for as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ who shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead which Kingdom shall have no end And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life which proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets c. Faith What a knotty gouty thred hath thy Seed spun insomuch that therewith they have woven a web of linsey-woolsey stuff sufficient to cloath the Devil as have but patience and thou shalt hear what confused blasphemy there is in these Creeds held forth to be the Faith of the Church of England without which thou sayest no flesh can be saved That thou mayest for the future take notice of thy ignorance I shall reduce them into three heads and so answer them directly as I shall quote them in their order 1. First Thou believest as thou hast expressed That Christ was God of the substance of the Father begotten before the Worlds and Man of the substance of his mother born in this World If this by thee were rightly understood I should not need Answ to expound them any other then verbatim as they lie but in that I know thou intends the Father as he was a Person got his Son a Person also therefore from the Authority of our Commission I say Thou knowest not how the Father came in being to be God much less then how this Son was begot by the Father for the word Begotten doth imply first the Father begetting 2. The matter conceived 3. The formation of this conception into a person like his Father for this I know no childe can be begotten without a dissolution of seed which seed must first dye before it can quicken to a new life which life will produce a form like its seed now this could not be in the Father didst thou but with me know what the Nature and Person of the Father was before the World That as the Godhead was offered unto death through Heb. 9. 14 the Eternal Spirit So from my Revelation of Faith I say The Eternal Spirit according to its own word and pleasure cloathed it self with a
there is no creature believing God a reasonable soul that shall have true peace here or glory hereafter as is confirmed in these Scriptures Being justified by faith we have Rom. 5 1. Hebr. 10 22. Heb. 11. 6. peace in God and again Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith and without faith it is unpossible to please God I say if God had but a reasonable soul vvhat matter for faith for by reason vve may have peace in God and in reasons belief thou mayest please God But alas poor blinde souls for vvant of this precious seed of faith thou canst not knovv God in form and nature so not believe him as he is 2. Secondly as there is no satisfaction so there is no povver in reason as there is in faith as it is vvritten I say unto you Maâ— 17. 20. if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this Mountaâ—n Remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be unpossible to you By faith God framed the Worlds by faith Abels sacrifice was accepâ—ed with God by faith Noah was warned of God by faith Sarah belâ—eved by faith Abrâ—ham Hâ—b 11. offered up his son Isaac by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh by faith fire was quenchâ—d the Lyons mouthes stopped the prison doors opened So by faith I knoâ— that Christ is the Everlasting Father by faith I knovv the soul of Christ is all faith and no reason by faith I knovv it vvas his pure Soul or Godhead Father in Christ that dyed and by his own power quickned himself again by faith I know that God in this our last Commission spake to John â—eeve as he spake to Moses and Paul O what a powerful Seed is faith that kills sin kills the Devil yea kills death nay what a high gloss doth the Lord of glory stamp upon faith and not so much as taking notice of reason at all and yet blinde reason the Devil will have God a reasonable soul O if not for fear yet for shame desist thy damned belief and from me observe the Soul of Christ is all Divine Heavenly faith which none shall know what God in his Form and Nature is but he whose faith is Lord over reason in this life Reason If the Soul or Nature of God be not pure reason how comes it then that God saith Come now let us reason together Isa 1. 18. saith the Lord c. which if his Nature as thou saith were all Divine Heavenly faith and not reason I conceive God could not have reasoned the case with them Faith O the gross darkness of reason that cannot understand that it was not the Lord from his own mouth that reasoned the case with them but the Prophet Isaiah for this by faith I know that God never reasoned with any but the Commissionate Prophets whose Seed is of his own Nature and in the vertue of that Commission are Ambassadors in Gods stead to reason the case with them for this I know that faith can take up the words of faith though faith speaks powerfully and infallibly when as reason speaks but dubiously and doubtfully Reason Is it not strange that reason should be the Governour of this World as thou hast formerly expressed and hath by its wisdom erected things in such a glorious form and order as now they are and yet should not be a Seed satisfactory in it self How comes it then that the Governours thereof taketh so much delight and pleasure in this World if man were not satisfied in the affairs of his life surely I cannot see but there is as much satisfaction in reason as in faith for I conceive men endued with reason have more content then men endued with faith Faith Now thou hast raised an Objection that thy experience may silence thee in the various transactions of this bloody World that the mutability thereof floweth from the nature of that Seed reason as instance the grand mutations of thy Kingdom When you had a King before you were not therewith satisfied but cryed out no Bishop no King and through much bloodshed you attained reasons desire for know this faith will shed no blood and therefore observe it is the Seed of reason divided against it self and then reason hunted the King like a Patridge till you had your desire accomplished and when you got victory over the Kings Army then the Bells rung and Bonfires made yea days of thanksgiving kept for joy and now you are unsatisfied for a King again and reason improved all its subtilty to attain its desire and then for joy of that which formerly it killed the bells rung the fire flamed oathes were sworn and healths were drunk till you could not stand to the destruction of your own souls and therefore I say there is no satisfaction in reason let it be never so rich or great in this its Kingdom that it is cloathed with crowns of Gold and deckt with Pearls and Diamonds and attendee with variety of Servants yet in all this reason is not satisfied but sometimes it would enjoy more honour and joys of this World and then it is afraid it shall lose all its honour pleasure and delight that it formerly enjoyed So that I say there is not from the King upon his Throne to the Beggar in the straw whose reason is Lord over faith that hath any true satisfaction at all For alas Solomon tâ—e greatest of all found no real content but cryed out all that he had enjoyed was vanity So that reason in the purest sense is compared to the bottomless pit that hath no end of its imagination and yet such Devils as thee will have God a reasonable Soul when in my Revelâ—tion thou hast heard there is no durable satisfaction at all in reason but faith alone for faith hath a foundation and can limit it self to a small compass yet be really contented without the glory of this World at all knowing this is but mortal and must perish in the desire thereof and therefore faith is satisfied in that it lays holds on that which is Immortal Eternal and shal never perish no more then God himself so that for all thy Kingdom with the glory here below my faith will have nothing to do with thy powers thy trading thy great joy and delight in that they must all vanish as the smoak in the ayre for the delight of my soul is in that glory and riches on the other side of death which is eternal and shall never perish world without end which neither thou nor none of thy Seed shall never see nor in the least measure enjoy But then 3. Thirdly Thou believest in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life which proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified c. As unto this I know thou hast no ground in Scripture to Answ prove the
was surrendred into the Person of Christ alone so that after that all the gifts or influence of the Holy Ghost came from Christ as it is written when Christ was ascended to glory then he fills the Apostles full of the Holâ— Ghost which then appeared in the form of a Cloven Tongue and not in the form of a Dove So that it is clear though the Holy Ghost be one intire Divine invisible life in Christ yet take notice the gifts thereof are divers so that the gifts of the Holy Ghost hah various forms though the Holy â—host hath no form but man and that Christ alonâ— And therefore minde the gross darkness of all thy Seed in their Creeds as though the Holy â—host had a Person of its own so the Lord and giver of life when it is written in divers places That Christ is the way the truth and the life I am that bread of life he that believeth on me hath everlasting John 4. life and in his saying to the woman of Samaria But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life So that the Holy Ghost must needs be in Christ in that Christ is the giver of life and yet such blinde reason as thee will have the Holy Ghost in a Person distinct from Christ the Lord and giver of life when to thy shame thou heareâ—t that Christ alone John 11. 25. is the Resurrection and the Life insomuch that he that believeth in Christ though he were dead yet shall he live So thus much in confutation to the authors and believers of of those Creeds Yea from the Revelation of my Faith I infallibly against Angels and all thy Seed of Reason conclude â—hat so many of them so living and so dying in the belief thereof shall with thee perish eternally Yea in the Vertue of our Commission I say there is no God that can or will deliver thee or them to all Eternity A DIVINE PROSPECT FOr the Elect of the Lord that after our departure shall come to the belief of this our last Commission though ye knew us not in our life time yet you have the Revelation of faith left upon record by which you will be supported in believing John Reeve and Lodowick Mugglton the last Commissioners that ever shall appear in Reasons Kingdom as also that I am the onely Bishop or Messenger in Revelation bearing witness against all Gain sayers to the truth of this Spiritual Commission now in being and so to remain till time be no more on this side of death then and at which day it shall be made manifest that we and onely we were the last Messengers of Jesus Christ who at the day of Resurrection shall ascend to glory in the publique view of our Enemies as also all other believers who credited our report not weighing their lives unto death Which when we and all that knew us are in silent dust then I say our Revelation will be in great esteem bâ— the next generation of faith succeeding And therefore that there may be no division among you from the Lord of Glory I reminde you of these enâ—uing Propositions they being a breviate of all the chief heads that my Revelation hath reduced from the Commission 1. You are to believe There was to be three Commissions before the end of this world thus recorded The Spirit Water and Blood and these are the three that beareth witness upon earth 1 John 5. 8. 2. It is to be believed That a Commission is given forth by laudible voyce of words to the hearing of the ear from the mouth of the Lord Jesus in the highest Heavens 3. It is to be believed That who ever pretends a Commission not being one of these are real whimsies notions yea lies and no truth 4. It is to be believed That though a Commission consist of few words without encrease yet their Revelations are various and encreaseth daily 5. It is to be observed That the two last Commissions are not to offend or defend in point of Externals but either active or passive to yield due obedience to King Governor or any other Magistrate whatsoever 6. It is to be believed That no Commission ought to be obedient to any formal Dispensation but in their time or place hath power to curse either Angel or man that in opposition thereof shall hold forth other Doctrine 7. It is to be believed That neither of the two former Commissions was to understand what God in his Form and Nature was in the Creation as this our Commission doth 8. It is to be believed That our Commission alone doth understand how this God and Father after intelligence given to Mary by the Angel descended from heaven as swift as thought into the womb of Mary and there dissolved his immortal body into seed and from thence quickned himself into a mortal body of flesh blood and bone so called a Son 9. It is to be believed That the Eternal Father now become a Son had the Supreme power within him that quickned his Godhead being perfectly dead in the grave to life again without the help of either Father God or Spirit without him whatsoever 10. It is to be believed That the Prophet Elias in his transmutation that nature of faith in him became a chariot of fire so struck out the gross Elements viz. Water Earth and Aire and in that fiery faith of his own ascended to glory to represent the Person of God while he took his journey in the flesh 11. Also it is to be believed That our Commission alone in the Revelation thereof hath the true knowledge of these things as also what the form and nature of the Angels are of what they were created and wherefore created and what was the cause of the Angelical fall above the rest and why and wherefore he was cast into this world in the presence of Adam and Eve 12. It is to be believed that never any but our Commission knew that it was that said Angel that in his whole form entred the womb of Eve and there dissolved into Seed and conceived into flesh blood and bone by which Eve was deceived so called a Beast Serpent Tree of Knowledge of good and evil that so none of that Seed might understand what it was and how it was Eve was deceived 13. It is to be understood That none but our Commission knows that this dissolution of the Angel in the womb of Eve became Cain the first Devil and Father of all the damned 14. It is to be believed That there never was is or shall be any other Devil but men and women and that for the most part he is the comeliest of all other of that form 15. It is to be believed That none but our Commission knows that the souls of both Faith and Reason are mortal ever since the fall of Adam and shall dye and rot in the grave till the day of Resurrection and that
though dead five thousand three hundred years ago yet at the day of our glorious Gods appearance each seed or soul shall arise with bodies suitable to their natures that soul or seed of faith that believed in our Commission shall ascend to meet its Saviour in the ayre and that soul or seed of Reason that despised our Commission shall arise a spiritual body upon this earth tormented to all Eternity 16. It is to be believed That the Kingdom of glory where Christ the onely God his Elect Saints and Angel doth and shall inhabit to all eternity is non-globical where God and his mighty Angels can at their pleasure with their bodies fly as swift as thought ten thousand miles in a moment and when he pleaseth God can stand sit lie in as narrow a compass as my self for none but our Revelation knows that there is an immortal Earth Sea Fish Fouls Beasts Hearbs Trees yea all things immortal glorious there as they are mortal deformed here and all this for the contemplation of God his Elect Saints and Angels to whom let all ye that have or shall have belief in our Commission so living and so dying in the truth of our Revelation sing praise glory and honour that ye shall see and enjoy what now ye do believe as touching our Commission 17. It is to be believed that certain men and women have and will seeingly come to the belief of our Commission insomuch that they have rejoyced in it contended for it yea have said they desired to depart this life in the belief of it and yet being according to birth the seed of Reason and not the seed of Faith in time of persecution riches glory and honour of this world fell away to their eternal perdition as I could name some but wo wo for as sure as Christ is God they shall never see that glorious Kingdom aforesaid 18. And lastly it is seriously by you to be observed That by believing the truth of what I write you will finde great satisfaction when I am taken from you that as this is the last Commission so the the the truth yea the onely truth that shall remain to the end of this bloody unbelieving world to reminde you of this one thing that it is not to be expected many to come to believe a Commission as to a notional dispensation for in the two former Commissions they cryed out Two of a Tribe one of a City so few in their Commissions that the Prophet Elâ—jah said I even I onely am left and they seek my life to take it aâ—ay and then saith Isaiah Who hath belâ—eved â—ur report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed So few that in the time of Christ at his sayings they were so hard to be understood that there fell away 70 at one time nay none stuck to him but the Apostles and a few more And then in the second Commission there was so few that really believed that sometimes Paul had but two or three stood by him in the faith And now in this our last they are so few that they are not worth the numbering among the multitude of notional Churches and therefore forget not that saying of Christ Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it But herein comfort your selves that those few of you that really enters in shall feel yea see and behold your God face to face yea sing out triumphing voyces of joy with eternal harmonies of divine musick for ever yea for ever in that glorious Kingdom aforesaid prepared for Christ your God and you his Elect Saints with the Elected Angels world without end so that ye shall sit stand lie walk go flie at your pleasure having nothing to say but glory here is the height of glory in the presence of our Saviour yea an endless glory without end These twenty particulars underneath asserted in the Quakers Downfal by Scripture proved and in that Revelation infallibly confirmed that Law Claxton the onely Bishop and true Messenger of our last Commission doth in the death of his soul seal them a real truth in confutation to the Quakers blinde Reasons imagination which are as followeth 1. That faith shall dye in the heel and reason in the head 2. That the Angel did descend into the womb of Eve 3. That a spirit cannot live without a body p 28. 4. That we and our God are cursed to all eternity p. 28. 5. That Christ or God is above the Stars with a body of flesh and bones 6. That God that Christ said was a spirit the meaning of his Revelation was that his invisible soul was that God or spirit abiding onely in his person p. â—9 7. Thaâ—â—eason is the seed of the Serpent 8. That by faith reason shall be kept in eternal death 9. That God gave Faith â—easâ—n and Sense but onâ—e 10. And that Faith Reason and Sense have in all generated in its kinde form and nature as in p 40. 11 That the Devâ—ls Kingdom and Reasons Kingdom are one 12. That God doth damn as well as save and that not for any evil thing done as he hath asserted in p. 58. 13. That we acknowledge no other God but what was within us 14. And that we conceive this God was an infinite nothing and so made all things of nothing 15. That the light in us is darkness 16. That an Infinite Spirit without a body is nothing 17. That we say God hath no form 18. That all the time Paul was cloathed with a corrupt persecuting spirit he was a vessel of honour in the account of God 19. That God is all Faith and no Reason and that Reason is of the Nature of the Devil p. 31. 20. That it was the wisdom of the flesh that made a chief Magistrate as in p. 36. In the next place I return as the Majestie of Christ the onely God in condemnation of your Diabolical perjâ—red lies against the holy Spirit of the nature of the most high God now revealed in us his last powerful infallible Prophets and Messengers of his eternal Majestie in the highest Heavens brought upon record in our Revelation as in your Reasons libel verbatim are asserted by that son of perdition J. Harwood 1. L. C. said He would prove God to be a man flesh and bones as we are Now ye the Believers of our Commission take notice that of which of these twelve particulars before quoted you by my pen finde silence we own as eternal truth but the rest that I set my pen against was not our words but Reason the Devil-lying imagination by those aforesaid Quakers as do but observe and thou mayest discern how I binde them hand and foot from their supposed light yet real darkness as seriously minde the first forged lie 3. L. C. said He had nothing of God in him and many other places nought of God in him Answ That you the blessed of the Lord may know