for it of God and there is never a one that I have cursed that shall escape that curse which I have denounced upon them neither will any God deliver them from it for I do curse none but the seed of the Serpent who had his curse denounced upon him and his seed at the beginning by God himself Now in this last age God hath given me power and discerning to determine and give judgement upon men and women according as I do discern by their words and I thereby also know what nature and seed they are of and accordingly I give judgement upon them for I do go by as certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do when they give true Judgement according to the Law For God hath ordained me the chief Judge in the world at this day to give sentence upon men and womens spiritual and eternal estate what will become of them after death Full of this cursing I confess my mouth is and I do rejoyce in it too I know that God is well pleased in the damnation of those that I have cursed and I am wonderous well satisfied in giving judgement upon them according to the tenor of my Commission and this is that which you call swelling words You would have called the Prophet Eliahs words swelling words if you had been of those four hundred priests of Baal which he commanded to be slain by the power of his word which power of the Commission of the Spirit is of a more high nature then that of Eliah's was for his was but the sentence of death natural but this is the sentence of death eternal but because it is not immediately executed as his was you think that there is nothing in it but it will be found suddenly enough both to you and to many that are entred into the second death already for there is no time to the dead but after death to judgement which judgement they have in themselves which is the remembrance of that sentence that we who are Witnesses of the Spirit did pass upon them in this life for they shall never see any other God or Judge but that sentence that we have passed upon them You are much mistaken if you think to deal with a Prophet that hath a Commission from God as you deal with the Priests of the nation Because you Quakers have baffled the Priests of the nation by that light within you because you are faln to a more precise exactness of life then they though your doctrine is worse then theirs you must not think to do so by a Commissionated Prophet This Commission of the Spirit shall break the Neck of the Quakers as it hath done divers others for this take you notice that after the Sentence is passed upon the Speakers of the Quakers they shall never grow more to any great experience neither shall they have those Visions Apparitions and Revelations from that light within them as they had before but shall rather wither This experience hath been known by Quakers and others as John Robins John Taney John Harwood Fox the elder Fox the younger Edward Burrowes Francis Mowgil with many others with hundreds of all Sects besides which shall not escape what hath been decla ed by us the Witnesses of the Spirit As for that saying which you quote out of Christs words to his disciples before they had their Commission where he said unto them Bless and curse not that concerns not me nor any other man in the world at this day Peter and the rest of the Apostles had power both to bless and curse after they had received their Commission which was after Christs Ascension as you may read in the second of the Acts then was that saying of Christ fulfilled which he had said unto Peter I have given thee the Keys of Heaven and of Hell that what thou bindest upon earth shall be bound in heaven and what thou loosest on earth shall be loosed in heaven Or thus What sins thou remittest shall be remitted and whose sins thou retains shall be retained That is thou shalt have power to give Sentence of Blessedness to those that believe thee and Sentence of Cursedness to those that despise thy Declaration This was the remitting of sins and the retaining of them so that Peter and the rest of the Apostles were not tyed after they had received their Commission to those words of Christ which he spake unto them when they were private Believers Neither am I tyed to those words of Christ which he spake unto his disciples at that time for he hath given me power and authority to be Judge of the Scriptures he hath given me understanding of his minde in the Scriptures above all men in the world at this day nay if I should say than all the men since the beginning of the world I should not lye for I being the chosen Witness of the Spirit and the last man that shall ever speak to this bloody unbelieving world by Commission from God for he will never chuse any more after me so long as the World endureth Neither doth any man know the Scriptures neither can any man interpret the Scriptures truly but my self for God hath given the Scriptures into my hands even as he gave the Priests Office into the hands of Aaron none ought to officiate the Office of the Priesthood but Aaron and those that were appointed by Moses and him So it is now none ought to officiate the Office of a Minister Messenger or Ambassador of Christ but those that are approved of by John Reeve and my self For by reading the letter of the Scriptures or the light within a man is not sufficient to make a man a Minister Messenger or Ambassador of Christ therefore those words which Christ said to his disciples bless and curse not is nothing to me for he hath given me power since that to the contrary He hath put the Two-edged Sword of his Spirit into my mouth that whosoever I pronounce cursed through my mouth is cursed to eternity And my power is as great and rather greater than the Apostles was that you speak of which is called a cursed childe The Apostles curse was but a weak curse to that power which God hath given to me For the Apostle saith if an Angel from heaven should preach any other Doctrine than what he and the rest of the Apostles had taught let him be accursed I do not onely say let him be accursed but if an Angel from heaven should come and say I have spoken false or lyed in the Doctrine that we have declared and in those things which I have said concerning the Quakers I have power not onely to say let him be cursed but to curse Angel or man to eternity As for your judgement from the letter of the Scriptures or from the light within you it is not worth a straw but the curse that I pronounce upon men and women it is not from the light of the Scriptures
saith that I do condemn and give judgement at my will and pleasure contrary to truth And he further saith that I do not go in so doing by so certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do Secondly He saith that I go not by so certain a rule when I pass the Sentence of death and damnation upon the souls and bodies of men as the Judges of the Land doth for which purpose he doth quote Judge Cook upon the confirmation of the Charters of the Liberties of England who sayeth this cause is worthy to be written in Letters of gold now what that clause is would be too tedious to write but the sum of all is that the Judges of the Land have certain outward known Laws as a rule of direction to guide and lead them to judgement when they give it according to Law but saith he thou Lodowick hast no certain outward known Laws either of God or the land as rule of direction and so forth Likewise he quoted many places of Scriptures and some out of the civil Law some out of Edw. third and Cooks Inst and with the Proverbs of Solomon he hath paid me with Solomons words and so bids me take notice of that which I do take great notice for I see by that that the Proverbs of Solomon is as good Scripture to the Quakers as any and how well the Quakers knows the Scriptures I am never a whit deceived in them people for they seem to have the greatest light but are the darkest people of all in the knowledge of the Scriptures and in the interpretation of Scriptures according to the common sense the Priests of the Nation doth go far beyond them for the Quakers are so choaked up with hearkening to the light of Christ within them that they despise the body or person of Christ without them but I have discovered their Antâ—christ spirit more large in other Letters unto them so that I shall say the less here L. M. Reply The great thing to be known is how I will do to prove my selfe to be the chief Judge in spiritual matters and that I do go by as certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do when as they give Judgement according to Law seeing he hath brought so many places of Scripture and the Proverbs of Solomon and Acts of Edw. 3. and Judge Cooks Judgement of the Law all to prove me a false Judge and that I do not go in my sentence by any known Law either of God nor the Land so that if this be answered most part of his Pamphlet will be answered For it doth consist most part of it upon this thing therefore I shall give answer to it that others may be the better informed in themselves thâ—ugh I am satisfied in it as to my self yet this I do ingeniously confess that I never did pretend the knowledge of the Civil Laws of the Land neither do I. Now all the knowledge that I profess to know of them is to yeild obedience unto them in doing of them or else to suffer the penalty or punishment of them this is the greatest knowledge I have of them for if my innocency nor mony will not deliver me I must and will suffer under it but since God hath chosen John Reeve and my self to be his last Witnesses of the Spirit I know the better true power of a Judge For as Moses and Aaron were the two first chosen Witnesses of God so likewise John Reeve and my self are the two last that God will ever chuse by voice of words to the hearing of the ear and as Aaron was given to be Moses mouth so Lodowick Muggelton was given to be John Reeve mouth these things cannot be known but by faith neither can any man tell that God chose Moses and Aaron but by faith But if it be objected that Moses did miracles To that I answer that there is as much need of faith to believe that as the other for what cannot be seen must be believed So believing that God spake to John Reeve and that God gave unto John Reeve a Commission by voice from Heaven by verbal words to the hearing of the ear three mornings together and that I was given to be his mouth and by his voice did I receive my Commission whereby I am impowered to be a Messenger and Ambassador for the great God the Man Christ Jesus which is both God and Man who hath chosen me to be at this day chief Judge and hath given me a Commiâ—sion so to be as Paul said in his time meaning himself and the rest of his Apostles We saith he are Ambassadors in Christs stead beseeching you to be reconciled and the like So say I that I am an Ambassador in Christs stead to bless them that are reconcil'd unto the true faith in Christ and to curse and damn those that despiseth and speaketh evil of them whom God hath sent So that God hath made me chief Judge now to give sentence upon men and womens spiritual and eternal estate so that I shall unfold as short as I can how I may be said to be the chief Judge and that I do go by as certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do when they give Judgement according to Law These two things I shall unfold a little more clear then in those Letters aforesaid First that I am chief Judge in spiritual matters I prove thus Because I do believe and certainly know by the revelation of Faith that God did speak to John Reeve three mornings together distinct words and sentences to the hearing of the ear in the year 1651. February the third fourth and fift and gave him a Commission as he did Moses And Aaron was given to be Moses his mouth so was Lodowick Muggelton given to be John Reeve mouth so that John Reeve being the chief while he was living but since the burthen or Commission of the Lord hath been laid upon me and as Elisha had a double portion of Eliahs Spirit so have I had a double portion of Revelation of the Spirit in opening the Scriptures since John Reeve departed this life Also God said that he had chosen John Reeve his last Messenger and that he had given him Lodowick Muggelton to be his mouth and the next words following that he had put the two edged-sword of his Spirit into his mouth to pronounce Blessing and Cursing to eternity with many other words which are in publike therefore I shall say no more of them here so that John Reeve being dead I must needs be chief Judge in these dayes neither will God Commissionate any more after me to the worlds end because he did say that he had chosen us his last Now I being his last chosen Messenger I must needs be chief Judge of spiritual matters concerning men and womens eternal estate and what will become of them after death if these things cannot be believed by you Quakers and others I cannot help that neither
doth this power which God hath given me any ways dishonor or disthrone Christ of his Office of being the Judge of the Quick and the Dead for God doth do much like unto an Earthly King for though a King be the chief Judge of those Kingdoms which he is King of yet he doth Commissionate some particular man to be chief Judge to be in his stead though the King doth Commissionate many more Judges yet there is but one particular in every Kingdom which is called Lord Chief Justice of England Scotland or Ireland these being three distinct Kingdoms they have three distinct particular persons which are called Chief Judges and they are so by Commission from the King besides all other Judges yet you see that the King though he be Chief Judge of all his Kingdoms yet he seldom or never acts in Judgement himself but doth leave it to those which he hath Commissionated for that purpose So is it with the God of Heaven though Christ which is God and Man be King of heaven and chief Judge both in Heaven and in Earth in spiritual and eternal matters yet he by Commission doth chose some particular person to be chief judge in spiritual things as Moses was chosen chief Judge and Samuel and Elijah and Elisha and divers other Prophets which did govern Israel that were chief Judges in the worship of God at that time as there must also be one particular man that must be High-priest so likewise Peter was the chief Apostle and so chief Judge so that some particular man must be chief in all places of trust whether it be under a earthly King or under the King of Heaven yet no dishonor nor dis-throning either of them both so the God and King of heaven having chosen John Reeve and my self he hath Commissionated me to be his Messenger Minister or Ambassador in his stead to set life and death before men even as Moses did to the people of Israel and as men and women do receive it they shall have life eternal abiding in them and some can witness it at this day and as men and women doth despise the Doctrine of Truth declared by us the Witnesses of the Spirit they have the sentence and seal of eternal death abiding in them and many can witness that in themselves but that they will not yet some few to my knowledge hath been forc'd to do it thorough the terror of soul but however it is not the fewness of them that do receive it nor the multitude of them that despise it doth make me question e're the more the truth of my Commission and though Christ be the King of heaven and the Judge of the quick and the dead at the last day and so he is the chief Judge in that he can raise men and women again and give the possession both of eternal happiness and eternal misery according to that sentence which the Prophets and Apostles and we the Witnesses of the Spirit did pass upon them in this life so that we see that God hath made chief Jugdes in spiritual matters we do no ways dis-throne Christ of his Office no more then the chief Judge of England doth dis-throne the King in that his Commission from the King will bear him out he judging according to the tenor of his Commission so is it with me God having made me chief judge of mens spiritual and eternal estate what will become of them after death and I going and judging according to the tennor of my Commission I do no ways dishonor my King but honor him in that I am faithful to that trust which God hath intrusted me with and I am very well satisfied in the performance of it yet this I would have the reader to know though I do own my self the chief judge in spiritual matters yet this I say that every true believer of this Commission is a judge as well as I my self and may upon occasions when they meet with despising spirits curse them to eternity if their saith be strong enough to bear them up so that they do not doubt For if any shall pass the sentence upon another and doubt the influence of that sentence will return back again to themselves this I have seen in some believers of this Commission of the Spirit some again of the believers have been so strong in their faith that the sentence which they have passed upon despising spirits it hath had as great effect upon them it was passed upon as mine hath and rather greater so that every believer of this Commission whose faith is strong is a judge as well as I though not chief judge but if peoples faith be weak and not strong enough to bear them out in it I do not tie them to any such thing but I could wish they were all so strong that the devils might be met with every where where the knowledge of this Commission of the Spirit is known and believed And as the King of earth hath many Judges in his Kingdom yet but one chief Judge in l ke manner is it with God the King of Heaven he hath many Judges of despising spirits in spiritual and eternal things yet but one chief judge and as the Apostles were chief Judges in their time yet the believers of them were saints and so judges therefore it is said that the saints should judge the earth nay saith Paul know you not that we shall judge Angels What is that That is you that are believers of our Gospel you shall be made by the power of faith to judge wise and prudent Angel-like men in the wisdom of reason which came from the fallen angels seed and nature indued with piercing rational God-like wisdom therefore called Angels these are those Angels which the Saints in Pauls time should judge so is it now with me I being chief judge in these last days I have judged many wise Luciferian Angel-like spirits within this twelve years and so hath some of the believers in this time judged many of these Angels they may be called Angels because they are of the serpent Angels seed and hath the highest wisdom of Reason in them which their fallen estate will afford but the weak and simple seed of faith must be their judges so that it may be clear to the reader that understands that all true believers of this Commission of the Spirit are judges of men and womens spiritual and eternal estate what shal become of them after death yet none to be chief judge but my self 2. The second thing is to shew that I do go by as certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do when as they give judgement according to Law To this I say that the Judges of the Land they have a Commission first from the King to be Judges 2. They have the Book of the Law to be their guides 3. They must be men supposed to know the Law 4. According to the known Law the Judge giveth sentence and
judgement either to acquit or condemn by the Law So is it with me First God hath given me a Commission to be chief judge 2. He hath given me the Book of the Law 3. He hath given me to know the Law 4. According to the known law I do give sentence and judgement of blessing or cursing to eternity 1. That I have a Commission from God to be chief judge that I have proved before if it cannot be believed I cannot help that 2. That God hath given the Book of the Law which is the Scriptures into my hand is as certainly true also for the Scriptures are given into my hands as the Priests office was given unto the hands of Aaron yet every man that read the Scriptures doth think to finde eternal life in them as Christ said to the Jews and as you Quakers and others doth now a days but thinking will not serve turn for all most all the world hath no other assurance of eternal life but thinking but it is knowledge and faith in the true God that gives certain assurance of eternal life which I know no Quaker hath or can have in that estate and principle which they hold for they deny that flesh and bone of Christ which suffered death to be now living above the Stars in that Heaven but I have opened that more large in those Letters to the Quakers 3. God hath given me to know the Law that is to know the Book of the Scriptures and that he hath given me more knowledge in the Scriptures than all the men in the world at this day this I know to be truth and some others can witness it neither can any man interpret the Scriptures truly but my self and those that have it from me because no man doth know the true foundations which the Book of the Scriptures doth stand upon namely the true God and the right Devil 4. And according to the known Law of the Scriptures I do give Sentence and judgement of blessing and cursing to eternity Thus far I do proceed like unto the Judges of the Land but now as for Juries and witnesses and accusers the Judges of the Civil Law and I shall differ something but not much because Juries and Judges are so bound together by the Civil Laws of the Land that one in many cases can do nothing without the other so that many times there is a great deal of hurt done as well as good because the power lyeth in them both for many times when Judges would do right according to Law yet the Iury doth prevent him and so tyeth his hands likewise sometimes the Iury is willing to shew mercy and do right and the Judge will not having some prejudice against that party and doth over-power the Jury with his authority and knowledge in the Law so that Judgement is turned backward sometimes because the Law lyeth between two the Judge and the Jury which if it did lye always in one then there would be always either true Justice done or injustice alwayes done these things some can experience which have been accustomed to the Law 2. The Judges of the Civil Law can do nothing except there be Witnesses or Accusers face to face the cause of that is because the Laws of the Land are grounded upon Reason and the Judges of the Land are the interpreters of the Law of reason so that Reasons kingdom being in this visible world it must proceed in the way of reason by the Law of reason which is the Law of the Land for the Law of the Land can lay hold of nothing but what is a visible breach of the Law therefore the Judge must have a visible Witness or Accuser face to face else be can give no Judgement upon the matter yet there is some cases in Law that men are sued at the Law and condemned by the Law at a distance the party sued not being face to face nor knowes of it until that he be condemned this some can experience yet this I say the Judes of the Land doth go the best way in having Iuries and Witnesses that reason could find out and for my part I do approve of their way very well but whom God doth make judges they must go a neerer way to work for you may read that those judges which God did ordain in spiritual matters they did not call for Juries and Witnesses as the Judges of the Land do what Jury did Moses call for to plague the people of Israel for their Idolatry And what Jury did Elijah call for when he called for fire from Heaven to destroy those two Captains and their fifties What Jury did Elisha call for when he cursed those forty two children and caused them to be slain by two She-bears What Jury did Peter call for when he strake Annanias and Saphirah his wife dead with a word speaking with many more things which the Prophets and Apostles which were Judges of spiritual matters have done without any Juries or witnesses and yet they have gone by as certain a rule as the Iudges of the Land do when they give judgement according to Law so that I do know how to proceed in Iudgement according to the tenor of my Commission as the Prophets and Apostles did in theirs and as the Iudges of the Land do in their Commission of the Laws of the Land But to give little further satisfaction to the Reader I shall shew why I do condemn men and women at a distance and yet something agreeable to the way of the Law of the Land First those that are condemned by me at a distance there is some of this Faith that hath heard them speak wicked speeches against me and the doctrine declared by this Commission of the Spirit and have given me intelligence of it and so upon their witnessing the same I have sent the sentence unto them so that if the witness that informed me did not witness truth then that sentence which I have passed upon them shall be of no value which is better judgement in some kinde then the Judges of the Land doth give for if Witnesses be false and swear falsly the Judges of the Land do many times condemn the innocent meerly thorow false Witness therefore in that regard my judgement and sentence is more certain then the Judges of the Civil Law is in regard I never condemn the innocent thorow false witness for I seldom or never do send the sentence to any though their wicked speeches be witnessed unto me by one that is not in this faith though they may speak truth in that thing as well as others that are of the same faith with me 2. I never do pass sentence on any at a distance except I have some Writing from their own hands as I have had from you Quakers and your Hand-writing is as good a Jury and witness to me as the Iudges of the Land can have for what jury or witness can be required more then a mans own
false doctrine pride and presumption as is apparent Answer That my Commission is no pretended thing but as true as Moses and the Prophets and as the Apostles Commission was and John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton are ordained and chosen of God by voice of words and commissionated with power as realy and truly as ever Moses and Aaron was And as Moses and Aaron were the chosen Messengers and Commissioners of the Law so likewise are we the two chosen Witnesses and Commissioners of the Spirit And as Moses and Aaron were the two first which God chose to give forth the Law and to prescribe Rules of Worship for the people of Israel so likewise we two being the two last chosen Witnesses of the Spirit we have power and authority in this Commission of the Spirit for to declare what the true God is in his form and nature and what worship doth belong to the knowledge of the true God in these latter days which cannot be known but by this Commission of the Spirit onely And as for my taking of all pardoning power from God and Christ in this you shew that you have gone no further nor hardly so far as the Priests of the Nation for you have got a God and a Christ too and yet neither your God nor your Christ hath never a body and in this you are worse than any other Sect for though other Sects of Religion will have a God and a Christ yet they can finde but one body and that is the body of Christ but the Fathers body they cannot finde at all but you Quakers can finde never a body neither for God nor Christ but your own bodies for you have got your Christ and God all within you so that Christ hath never a body of his own but is forc'd to make use of every Quakers body for his Spirit to dwell in But from that Christ which suffered death in his own body and rose again in the same body and is now in Heaven in the same body according to the Scriptures from this Christ which is the onely God I say I have power over all other Gods or infinite Spirits whatsoever and from this Christ which is God-Man now above the stars have I this pardoning power and damning power neither did I take it of my self but it was put upon me by God himself for if I had not obeyed the voice of God when he spake to John Reeve then he was to pronounce me cursed to eternity and so by my yielding obedience unto the voice of God I was made partakers of that power to bless and curse to eternity and this is that power which you say I presumptuously have exalted my self neither will God give this power to any more after me neither can any man come to the assurance of the favor of God now in these days but in believing that God gave this power unto John Reeve and my self for there is no coming to know God nor see God but by the faith in this Commission of the Spirit for I having the Keys of Heaven and of Hell none can get into Heaven except the Witness of the Spirit doth open the gates and so the King of Glory may enter in that is the knowledge of the true God his form and nature may enter into your hearts by having faith in this Commission of the Spirit for God hath given me the same power now as he gave to Peter when he was upon earth and what power that was may easily be read where Christ said unto Peter Vpon this Rock will I build my Church Also he hid give unto Peter the Keys of Heaven and of Hell Also he should have power to binde and loose and whose sins he remitted should be remitted and whose sins he retained should be retained What is the remitting and retaining of sins but to forgive them their sins which received his Doctrine and to retain and binde their sins of unbelief more close upon their consciences for their despising of the Doctrine of Christ which he did teach And was this any less than blessing and cursing or opening the gates of Hell and of Heaven and yet you see that Christ gave this power unto man you would have said as much by Peter and others if you had been living in those days as you do by me you would have said that they did it out of the pride and presumption of their hearts though they had their Commission put upon them by God himself as I have now in this Commission of the Spirit and as Peter had power to bind and loose or to remit and to retain so likewise hath the same God given me power to bless and curse men and women to eternity and this is the keys of Heaven and of Hell for the blessing of a commissionated Prophet it opens the gate of heaven that is it opens the heart in love to that God that sent such a Messenger of glad tidings of Salvation So on the contrary the curse of a Prophet it opens the gates of Hell that is it opens the heart in envy malice and revenge nay sometimes when the gate of Hell is opened by the curse it hath caused revenge to increase so hot that it hath broken forth into a great flame the fire of Hell hath been so hot burning within them This I know by experience which I never did know until the Keys of Heaven and of Hell were put into my hands by God himself and by this I know what Peters and other Prophets power was for God hath given power for one creature to judge another and what that man doth which hath authority from God God himself cannot undo it for it is not the light of Christ within you Quakers nor the letter of the Scriptures nor God without you that shall deliver you Quakers and others that are under this Sentence from that curse which I have pronounced upon you though you call it error lying divination false doctrine pride and presumption but it will appear to be no other but the Curse of God himself though it be pronounced by a mortal man like your selves 3. And as for my being singular in doctrine knowledge judgement and Power above all men either Prophets or Apostles since the beginning of the world or that shall ever be hereafter whilst the world doth endure Answer This is as true a saying as ever was spoken for this being the Commission of the Spirit it hath more spiritual knowledge judgment and power above all men either Prophets or Apostles why because Moses and the Prophets did not know so much as the Apostles did because Moses Commission was that of the Law under the title of God the Father therefore the Apostle saith concerning those that were educated under the Law of Moses they were under a cloud and saw but darkly as in a Glass shewing the benefit which came to those that were under the Faith of the Gospel for those that were under the Law
hath given me but confirm and strengthen it the more in that I know that they had the like power in their time according to the nature of their Commission as I have And now I certainly know that they were true and what their their power was in that I know my self to be true and what my power is now so that I cannot be deceived as you Quakers are with other mens Commissions that are dead you not knowing the extent of their Commissions nor when they began nor when they did end and your ignorance of those things makes you fight with the dead letter against a living Spirit just as if a man should fight with the sheath against him that hath a two-edged Sword in his hand so do you Quakers with me And as for my fleeing from Chesterfield to Backwel for fear of a few stripes or a whipping when the same was but threatened against me this is utterly false for I did not know that any such thing was threatned against me neither was I ever at Backwel in my life to my knowledge neither did it lye in the power of the Magistrates in that Countrey to do any such thing in case they had catcht me at that time I say it was more than their Law would bear them out to do but however if I had fled for fear of the Devils malice I did no more then other Prophets and Apostles which were Ambassadors of Christ before me they did the same as Eliah fled from Jezabel and Paul fled for fear of persecution and Christ gave advice to his disciples that when they were persecuted in one City to flee into another so that would have been no new thing neither should I have been e're the more a false Witness or Ambassador of Christ if I had fled for fear of a whipping And whereas you say that I was threatned for my false Judgement and Doctrine as you call it saying it was reviling cursing and damning As for cursing and damning I do own that I did pass the Sentence of eternal damnation upon some Quakers and others that was but according to the tenor of my Commission from Christ and I am very well satisfied in so doing but as for my reviling of any man or woman I never did it was alwayes contrary to my natural temper before I knew what a Commission was to revile any man or woman much less now that I think the Priest of Chesterfield will witness that when I was catcht and brought before the Mayor thereof and examined by the Priest I gave him nor no other man there no reviling speeches but as I am a Prophet and a Witness of the Spirit discerning that the Priest was of the seed of the serpent and of a persecuting spirit which would have took away my life if it had layen in his power or in the power of the Laws of England he would have done it though I never had any prejudice nor no speech with the man in my life before yet his envy and malice was so great to me for which I did pass the Sentence of eternal damnation upon him but no ways reviling but did give him civil respect as a Priest of the Nation which I think he will witness notwithstanding his malice and envy was great to me which did him no wrong nor no man else in that town yet he caused me to be sent unto Derby Goal where I did remain until the Assizes so that the malice of men hath been exercised upon me as much as lieth in their power to do and it is onely upon this account they cannot endure that God should give power to a man like themselves to bless and curse to eternity Neither do I curse any until he judge me first much less revile any you may as well say that a Judge when he passeth Sentence upon a malefactor to be hanged for the breach of such a law that is capable of death you may as well say that this Judge doth revile curse and condemn the man that hath broke the law when as the Judge can do no otherwise but according to the tennor of his Commission which he is authorized by Commission from the King so that every Judge is made a savour of life and death for the one he condemns to die according to the law and the other he doth acquit and set free and is this any less then a temporal blessing and cursing and no reviling at all Even so it is with me I being one of Gods chosen Witnesses and Ambassadors by vertue of his Commisson given unto John Reeve and my self I am made Judge of men and womens spiritual and eternal estate what shall become of them after death yet this I would have the reader to understand that though a Judge of the Land be Judge of many Countries and Shires yet his power is seen most in those that he doth acquit or condemn so is it with me my power is most seen in those that receive and believe me and so are blessed to eternity and in those that despise and persecute me in that they are cursed and damned to eternity for I never bless none but those that truly believe it neither do I curse any but those that despise or persecute me upon that account but all that doth neither receive it nor despise it I let them alone and meddle not with them but leave them to stand or fall as the two seeds within them shall uphold them or let them fall And as for your saying that I have reviled cursed and damned the beloved people of God meaning you Quakers So that I say I never did curse any of them till such time as they did Judge or despise my Commission first for I never do judge first so that I am certain that most part of the Quakers are the seed of the serpent and not the beloved of God so that those Quakers which I have cursed shall not escape they being the seed of the serpent and have despised to be taught any other way but by the light within them But I have opened that more clear in those Letters to Samuel Hooton and W. S. and to Richard Farnsworth himself therefore I shall say no more in that point I shall pass by those ten particulars repeated by R. F. to prove me not a chosen Witness of the Spirit and shall come to that which is of more concernment for the reader to know that is that God hath chosen me now in these last days to be an Ambassador and Witness of the Spirit and so chief Judge in the world concerning the spiritual and eternal estate of men and women after death and that I do go by as certain a rule as the Judges of the Land do when they give Judgement according to Law as may be seen aforesaid in the Letters to the Quakers Here R.F. would seem to prove me a liar First because saith he thou art both judge accuser and witness thy self and
hand Writing Others again have blasphemed against the holy Spirit that sent me in my hearing so that there doth need no jury nor witnesses nor accusers but their own words for by them shall they be condemned or justified for you see that men are put to death for speaking treason against the King as well as for acting Treason so is it with God for words of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is a sin that God will never foâ—give neither in this world nor in the world to come yet we read in Scripture that all manner of other sins shall be forgiven unto men but not that sin and this I say there is more Quakers guilty of that sin then any other Sect whatsoever and for that very sin have I passed the sentence of eternal death upon so many of them for God hath gâ—ven me a discerning to know when a man doth commit that sin I being one of the Witnesses of the Spirit and so judge of them that I know doth commit it I do give judgement and sentence of eternal damnation upon them so that I am neither accuser nor witness in those that are condemned at a distance but their own writings or their own words shall be a witness and an accuser against them for I do accuse no man of sin but gives judgement upon them for their sin and if you call the sentence that I pass upon them to be an accusation and a witness against them then indeed in that sense I am both judge accuser and witness my self but these things afore-mentioned being considered will prove that I do go by as certain a rule when I pass sentence of eternal damnation upon the bodies and souls of men and women as the Iudges of the Land do when they give judgement according to Law and as the Charters and Liberties of England are worthy to be written in letters of gold as Judge Cock doth say because of the excellency and justness of them I say so too for I always loved legal justice among men so I say likewise that those Letters which I have sent to you Quakers are worthy to be written in Letters of gold also that they might indure in the memory of men and women to the worlds end for I am certain they will indure in your memory to eternity Yet in all this I do neither own my self a King nor God not Christ nor the Holy Ghost nor any of those titles do I take upon me but this I do own my self to be one of the two last Prophets and Witnesses of the Spirit or Messenger Minister or Ambassador of Christ this I do own my self to be and by the authority of the Commission I received from Christ I am made chief Judge in spiritual matters in all those that doth either receive my Doctrin or despise it But as for others that doth neither receive it nor despise it nor hear of it I Judge them not but leave them as God shall find them at the last day And whereas R. F. doth say that God hath reserved a pardoning power in the Eternal God-head and a punishing power to correct and punish me and such as I am also he saith wouldst thou make the Eternal Power and God-head inferior to the Kings of the Earth Doth not saith he the Kings of the Earth reserve a pardoning and punishing power in themselves besides what they give to their Judges by their Commission So in his conclusion of that matter he doth affirm that there is a punishing power reserved in the Eternal God-head and doth therewith remain to punish the rebellious and obstinate and presumptuous such saith he as I am or as may be read Heb. 10.26 with many more places of Scriptures which would be tedious to cite L. M. Reply That there is reserved a pardoning power and a punishing power in the Eternal God-head that I do own and believe but the pardoning power in the God-head doth not extend to those that are condemned by those which God hath made Iudges why because those Iudges that God doth make in spiritual and Eternal things they go by a certain rule those Iudges doth either discern men and women to be the absolute seed of the Serpent or else that they have sinned against the holy Ghost these two things are infallible rules for Gods Iudges to go by for will any one think that when Peter retained any mans sins that God would forgive that marâ—h's sins afterwards surely no so say I you Quakers and others that are condemned by us the Witnesses of the Spirit you will not be pardoned of God because most of you have sinned against the holy Ghost especially you that have written to me in calling the Doctrin and Declaration of us the Witnesses of the Spirit whom God hath chosen anointed and sealed to reveal the whole councel of God in that he became flesh which is the greatest misterie in that we the Witnesses of the Spirit are so far honoured of God as to be the finishers of it as John Revelation the 10 doth speak of I say you Quakers have despised it more then all other men by calling this Doctrin blasphemy error lies and deceit with many other wicked speeches which could not have been spoken but by the seed of the Serpent therefore I am no ways deceived in saying that those people called Quakers that the most part of them are of the seed of the Serpent and not the beloved of God as you say so that they and others that I have passed the sentence upon will not escapet though their be a pardoning power in the God-head yet none of those which I have pronounced sentence upon shall partake of it for those reasons aforesaid For though there be a power in the God-head to do what he will yet when he hath given his word he will not go back from it because he cannot ly So that it is not your repeating what power the Prophets and Apostles of old had nor the multitude of Scriptures which you have rehearsed that will stand you in any steed nor deliver you from that sentence which I have passed upon you yet in all this I do not make the Eternal God-head inferiour to the Kings of the earth I do also acknowledge that the Kings of the earth reserve a pardoning power in themselves besides what they give to their Iudges But this I must say to you that it is very seldom known that an earthly King hath any pardoning power in himself for such traitors that act treason against the Kings person this I suppose all mens experience will witness so that there is some crimes that earthly Kings have no pardoning power for in themselves so is it with you Quakers you have committed such a sin even against the Holy Ghost so that there is no pardon in God himself not for you no more then there is for Cain that slew Abel nor Judas that betrayed Christ if these be saved then you shall and remember
you were told so by the last true Prophet But if earthly Kings do pardon any traitor it is because some other persons in great power doth petition or intercede to the King for him and so perhaps the King for some ends best known to himself may save his life but keep him in prison all days of his life so that this can not properly be called a pardoning power except he freely forgive him and raise him up to the same honor which he had before but you Quakers have no such friend to intercede for you to the King of Heaven now you are condemned by his Messenger for Christ will not intercede for you for you have denyed him before men in that you deny that flesh and bone which he suffered death in and rose again in the same flesh and bone and ascended up into heaven and doth now remain there in that same body onely it is spiritualized and glorified body yet a body this I say you Quakers doth deny whatsoever you may prattle and talk of a Christ yet you own no Christ but what is within you this I know to be true else I should not be so j alous against those people more then others but for this very thing that Christ will never intercede for pardon for you Quakers that are condemned by me yet this I shall say if it will please you that if I be a false prophet and witness as you say I am then I say that curse which I have passed upon you and many others I say let it be all upon me and you shall all go free but if I be true as I know I am there is no possibility for you nor others to escape I can say no more in this thing but shall leave it to Christ the Judge of the quick and the dead to give me my reward according as I have been faithful in the Commission which he hath put upon me Againe it is not with earthly kings as it is with the King of Heaven for many times earthly kings have their pardoning power and their Condemning power which they have in themselves taken away from them and so doth stand in need of pardon themselves and so all those Iudges which had their Commissions from the king is worth nothing because another power hath overcome him and hath took it by the power of the sword so that earthly kings doth sometimes stand in need of pardon and mercy themselves for an earthly power doth stand no longer then till a stronger then he doth overcome him as may be read concerning the Kings of Israel and others which fought against them as Saul against King Agag and Jehu against the house of Ahab and divers others which might be named and so in Gâ—rmany and many places of Christendom and here in England hath not the pardoning and condemnidg power been rent out of the Kings hands and so all those Iudges which had their Commissions from him are put out of their places of power and so their Commission is made void and of none effect This experience in these our days hath shewed the truth of it but that Commission which is given of God the King of Heaven cannot be made void neither can that man which God hath made Iudge of spiritual and eternal matters I say that mans Commission cannot be taken away by any but by God himself and seeing that no power can conquer or overcome God the King of Heaven to dis-throne him because he is from everlasting to everlaing and look what those Iudges that God hath chosen anointed and sealed for that purpose their Sentence is for everlasting and to eternity as God himself is For as an earthly Kings power doth last no longer than his life and not always so long so God being for ever to eternity so will those his commissionated Iudges their Sentence be everlasting and eternal a so so that those Iudge which God hath commissionated even we the Witnesses of the Spirit do go by a more certain rule than the Iudges of the land do when they give Iudgement according to Law neither can that sentence which I have passed upon you Quakers and others be revoked not as the Iudges of the Lands sentence may through many tricks and quibbles in the Law but no trick nor quibble in the repeating of Scripture-texts as you have done shall deliver you because I know the Law of the Scriptures as well as the Iudges of the Land do the Civil Law and though they may through Iuries and false witnesses give wrong sentence sometimes it is not so with me for I do walk by a more infallible rule than they do when I pass sentence upon men and women for it is not Iuries nor false witnesses that can turn or make me give judgement contrary to truth because I received my power and authority from the God of Truth and let men rage revile persecute and do what they can they will not be delivered from that Judgement that I have passed upon them and if their persecution should extend unto death it will but make the fire of hell to burn the more hotter in their souls to eternity In the latter part of your Pamphlet you spake something concerning the two Witnesses for say you if John Reeve and thy self were Joint-Commissioners and had your pretended Commission not severally asunder but joint together hath not say you the death of John Reeve made void thy pretended Commission to all intents constructions and purposes whatsoever Or if John Reeve and thy self did pretend to be the two Witnesses spoken of Rev. 11.3 and to have power given to them Hath not saith he the death of John Reeve made it evident against you to be none of them and so he goeth on repeating most part of the 11 chapter of the Revelation as if it were to be fulfilled legally as it is set down in the Letter L. M. Reply That the death of John Reeve doth not make void my Commission no more then the death of Aaron did make void Moses Commission of the Law neither was the Commission of the Law made void when Moses himself was dead or taken out of this world but stood in full force and vertue after that that many hundred years and was never made void until John the Baptist and Christ did enter into the Ministery of the Gospel for John the Baptist was the last Prophet of the Law and in his death the Commission of the Law of Moses was made void and of none effect to those that did believe in Iesus Christ which brought in a better Covenant or a better Commission than that of the Law so likewise the worship of the Gospel of Jesus which was set up by his Apostles which was according to the faith which they had in Jesus Christ his being the onely begotten Son of God and Saviour of them that believed but this Commission of the Apostles did stand in full force and vertue but a matter of three
hundred yeares yet the Apostles which were the Commissioners did not live themselves above forty years after their Lord Christ was put to death must that Commission therefore be made void because the Commissioners were all dead surely no. And this I further do affirm that never since that three hundred years there hath not a man been commissionated from God to be a Messenger Minister or Ambassador of Christ to preach the everlasting Gospel of life and salvation until that God spake to John Reeve in the year 1651. for all men that have exercised the Office of a Minister Messenger or Ambassador of Christ since that three hundred years to the year 1651. have run before they were sent for God sent none of them by voice of words but they have preached only from the letter of the Scriptures or else from the light within as the Quakers do but have had no Commission from Christ without them though much good hath bin done by their preaching and a great deal of 〈◊〉 but let that pass because I have spoken of that more at large in the Interpretation of Rev. Chap. 11. So I say though John Reeve be dead and I were dead also yet will not this Commission of the Spirit be made void for this I say as long as there is faith and believers of this Commission it will not be void and lose its vertue which I know will be to the end of the world though perhaps I my self may be either put to to death or die naturally within few years yet the faith in this doctrine which we the Witnesses of the Spirit have declared concerning the true God his form nature before he became flesh and what he is now and the form and nature of the right Devil before he became flesh and what he is now with the place and nature of hell and of heaven the person and nature of Angels and the mortality of the soul These six points of doctrine with many more heavenly Secrets which hath been declared by Us I say that there will be faith in some men and women to believe and understand these things which we have written even to the worlds end so that my Commission will not be void reversed and undone though I were dead Also I being the last true Prophet and Witness that ever shall come which is more than any Apostle or Prophet could say therefore who ever shall truly believe these things may be the more comforted and revived that redemption is so near at hand when as all tears shall be wiped away from your eyes and not onely so but you shall enter into the joy of our good God and Savior in whom ye have believed even the Man Christ Jesus who is both God and Man clothed with flesh and bone who poured out his sould unto death whose blood was no less then the blood of God and this is that blood that who ever can believe it it will sprinkle their souls here and make them pure and clean so that nothing shall offend or cause any fear of eternal death but this natural death shall be but as a door of intrance into those eternal joys where we shall see our God face to face and if you Richard Farnsworth had but read that book of mine of the Interpretation of Revel chap. 10 you would never have repeated so much of it in your Pamphlet as you have to prove me a false Witness for there is every particular verse in that chapter opened and expounded besides many other places in the Revelation opened more then all the learned men in the world hath or could do but it is a vain thing to talk of any heavenly secrets to Quakers for they will not bestow a penny in any writings but their own let them cost ever so much pains the writing and charge the printing but if they can see them for nothing perhaps they will view it a little slâ—ghtly over but as to buy I hardly know any Quaker that doth surely they are afraid they should lose their believers if they should see my works now I am very free that any believer of this Commission should see their writings not fearing they will draw them away God hath sent a Commission into the world to knock them down into that bottomless-pit where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for evermore and do you rage and rail and slight and do what you can you shall not be delivered from that sentence and curse which I have pronounced upon you neither is the Doctrine of this Commission any deceit neither is it pride and presumption in me in what I have said concerning you but as true judgement as ever was past upon any man by any Prophet or Apostle or by any true Judge of the Land without envy or malice but in true discerning and knowledge of the spiritual Law of the Scriptures have I given Judgement upon you and others whereunto I shall set my hand and seal and if the Law can do it seal it with my Blood Lodowick Muggleton