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
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
they were come but to Mount Sina which gendred unto bondage but those that were come unto the Faith of the Gospel were come unto Mount Sion Now the Law of Moses was Mount Sina and the faith of the Gospel of Jesus was Mount Sion and this Gospel of Jesus which was committed to his Apostles was the Commission of the blood and this Commission of the blood did know more then the Commission of the Law of Moses and the Prophets did so likewise this Commission of the Spirit doth know more then either of them both for Moses and the Prophets had no Scriptures for to interpret or expound but their own prophesies therefore the Apostles must needs know more then the Prophets did because they were the only interpreters of the Law and the Prophets and of their own signs so therefore their knowledge in the Gospel must needs be greater then that of the Law so likewise we the Witnesses of the Spirit must needs know more then either Prophet or Apostle because none can interpret the Scriptures but we the Witnesses of the Spirit and this Commission of the Spirit did God force and lay upon us against our wills and withal he hath given us understanding of his minde in the Scriptures above all the men in the world which words of Gods I finde to prove true for I do certainly know that I have more spiritual knowledge then all the men in the World nay I am sure that I do know more in spiritual things then ever Prophet or Apostle did since the beginning of the World then of necessity it will follow that I do know more then any shall do to the end of the World because I am one of the two last Witnesses and Prophets that God will ever send therefore my knowledge and judgement and sentence must needs be above all that is gone before me or that shall come after me to the end of the world yet I am no ways lifted up with pride and presumption because of this knowledge and authority that God hath given me above all men since the beginning of the world to the latter end I know what I say to be truth for true knowledge is never puffed up with pride neither am I whatsoever the seed of the serpent may judge of me for I do neither bless any out of affections for any by ends but according as I do discern their Faith in the thing neither do I curse any thorough envy or malice but either it is because they have sinned against the holy Spirit a sin that is not to be pardoned or else I do know them to be of that reprobate seed and so I know my judgement is true and according to the tennor of my Commission so that I am neither lifted up with pride nor cast down or troubled with sorrow but am very well satisfied in those that go on the right hand though they are but few as I am with those that go on the left hand though they be many for I see it must be so for God hath so decreed it and he hath been pleased to make it known unto me and hath made me the onely Judge of the two seeds now in this last days which is a thing I never did desire 4. There is little of your matter in this particular but rehearsing of my words onely you say that I under the pretence of the Commission of the spirit that I do presume to exclude all true Witnesses of the Spirit and also all true Ministers Messengers and Ambassadors of Christ from the work of the Ministry both now in this age and whilest the world doth indure to the end and intent that I might set up my self alone in their places and stead Answer That my Commission of the Spirit is no pretended thing but as true as God is Truth neither is there any true Messenger Minister or Ambassador of God in this world at this day but my self neither shall there be any sent of God after me to the worlds end for there can be no true Minister except he be sent of God by voice of words to the hearing of the ear or else by him that is so authorized which I know no speakers in the world hath neither the Priests of the nation which are ordained by man nor no other Sect which by their natural wit from the letter of the Scriptures doth think because they can play upon the letter of the Scriptures as upon a Harp that they are very good Ministers of Christ but he sent them not and as for you Quakers which thinkes the light of Christ within you is sufficient to make you Messengers and Ministers of Christ you are much mistaken for you do but run into the Ministry before you were sent for the light of Christ within a man did never authorize any man to be a Minister of Christ except he be ordained and authorized from a God without him or from a man without him which you Quakers do abhor to think that there should be any other authority besides the light of Christ within you but you will finde that the authority of a God without you will be too hard for the light of Christ within you For little do you Quakers know what that Son of Man is which John in Revelation 1.13 speaketh of so in the 16 verse There went out of his mouth a sharp two-eged Sword Now this Son of Man which John speaketh of was no other but Christ himself and this Christ is the very God and he is that Alpha and Omega the first and the last he that was dead and behold he is alive for evermore and this two-edged sword that came out of his mouth he hath put into my mouth and that was when he said I have put the two-edged Sword of my Spirit into thy mouth to pronounce blessing and cursing to eternity now God having put the two-edged Sword of his Spirit which came out of his mouth and hath put it into mine how will you Quakers or any others do to deliver your selves from it for it is a two-edged Sword it cuts down the seed of faith as the wheat in love and makes it obedient unto the Commission of the Spirit and so they are gathered as Gods wheat into his barn which barn is the Commission of the Spirit for every Commission is a shelter or as a barn to keep the wind storms and rain off from the wheat but on the contrary the other edge of this Sword which is put into my mouth it cuts down the tares the tares is the Seed of Reason which are bound in bundles and cast into the fire for this edge of the Sword which is the sentence of condemnation it cuts down many bundles of the seed of reason for the fire of hel to one sheaf of the seed of faith which is gathered into Gods barn that is to believe the Commission of the Spirit Now the Quakers and all other Sects the speakers of them
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
according to Scriptures the Man Christ Jesus who shall judge the world in righteousness whom God hath ordained and we own that according to the flesh he was of Abraham and the same that suffered rose and ascended into heaven and remains in the heavens until the restitution of all things and we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus who is the express image and substance of his Fathers person and we own the Holy Ghost and we own the Father and knows them And as touching Christs flesh we are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh and we have the minde of Christ and so thou lyer let thy mouth be stopt Thirdly Thou sayest If we should own Christ to be a person then that light of Christ which we so much talk of would vanish like smoke and come to nothing Answer To this we answer That thou hast manifested thy darkness and ignorance not knowing Christ not knowing the Holy Ghost not knowing the Father not knowing Christs flesh his blood and bone nor Christ and the Apostles doctrine nor the Law for first The Law is light saith Solomon and the law is in the heart and with the light they saw Christ yea his flesh Secondly John he bare witness to the Light that enlighteneth every man that comes into the world which is Christ And Christ saith I am the Light and believe in the light while ye have the light that ye may be children so there is no becoming children but by the light of Christ And the Apostle saith God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the â—ight of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus and that was the treasure in earthen vessels So first thou art ignorant of this treasure and both thee and thy doctrine and thy principle flies away like that smoke thou speaks of and the light remains which is thy condemnation the witness in thy conscience shall answer it which thou in thy uncleanness hast long rebelled against Secondly thou that so rebels against the light of Christ we speak of knows not Christ his flesh nor bone nor the Father nor the Holy Ghost As first thus the light that shines in the heart gives the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ and so without this light they have no knowledge of him and this we say to thee and all upon the earth that none knows the Father none knows the Son none knows the Holy Ghost none knows the Flesh and Blood and Bone of Christ but by the light of Christ for that reveals him and not Flesh and Blood for thou art like to the Jews who stop'd their Ears and closed their Eyes to that of God within them and therefore heard not saw not so was not converted and such professed a Christ was to come but persecuted him when he was come as thou doest now where he is made manifest in his light Fifthly Thou sayest That we will have no person at all Answer This is false though thou hast layed it down general for Christ is the express Image of the Fathers person we say as in Hebrews But thou art the man who wilt have no person at all that denies the light for they that was in darkness could not see God nor Christ nor the Holy Ghost that hated the light and the Apostle said he in the person of Christ which many doth witness now Glory to the Lord for ever for if thou doest profess them in thy words yet again in thy words thou that denies the light denies them and so Babylon and blasphemously terms it to smoak and for thy work the Lord will reward thee Sixthly Thou sayest A great part of us are of those wicked Ranters that hath been given over to blood-shed with a sword of Steel or else to all manner of lusts of the Flesh and now thou sayest we think by a more precise and exactness of Life to recover our peace with God and yet deny the very person of God without us Answer Here again thou adds lie unto lie but who is the father is known by us the children of the Most High and what doth the Devil rage in thee because some that hath been Ranters and used outward weapons formerly now they are turned from these things to God and Christ the express Image of the Fathers person and comes to live in Christ and serve him in a new life therefore doest thou rage they do not own their former principles that comes amongst us but doth judge them and deny them and all the lusts of the flesh and doth their exactness of life and good conversation judge thine that makes thee so fret and chase thy self and scoff and calls it precise and to this thou addes a lie and saith we deny the very person of God without us but to this we say God fills Heaven and Earth and Christ the express Image of the Fathers person is manifest within us and thou who railes at this doth manifest thy self a reprobate one in whom God and Christ is not and an Antichrist and a false witness and a lying spirit for Christ saith he would dwell in the Saints and God would dwell in them and walk in them and hath the devil made thee so blind and ignorant of the letter of the Scripture who art given up to believe lies and who makes lies thy refuge and hast thou no other refuge but lies who by this manifests thy self to all sober people what thou art and from whence thou comes and is not repentance hid from thy eyes it is manifest by thy spirit yet we must say this to thee thou art in the unclean flesh and hath an unclean body thy flesh burns with thy heat of thy lusts and therefore thou hast uttered forth thy ruine nevertheless here is some queries for thee to answer in writing else for ever stop thy mouth 1. Is there any such thing as sin and what is sin in it self and whether thou canst act any sin and express what is a sin to thee 2. If thou doest acknowledge sinne then shall a man while he is upon Earth be made free from sinne and come into the state that Adam and Eve was in before they fell while they be upon the earth and come to Christ a state that shall never fall while he be upon earth 3. For what end did Christ come doth Christ enlighten every man that comes into the world with a saving light and a condemning light yea or nay Is there any true Prophecy Knowledge Revelations or Witness seen or known but by the light of Jesus Christ 4. What is the Soul is it mortal or immortal What is Conscience and where is it seated in man What are the Angels and the worshippers of Angels What is the worship of the Beast and the Dragon And what is the Whore that sits upon the Beast which all nations drink her Cup and
the Prophets gave witness as hereafter appears L. M. Here the Reader may see how simply he proves that I have no Commission from Christ and that I am no chosen Witness of Christ R. F. 1. He tells me that there were chosen Witnesses of Christ to whom all the Prophets gave witness this he proves out of the Acts of the Apostles in divers places 2. That they had a Commission from Christ to whom all the Prophets gave witness or that he commanded them to preach to the people This he proves likewise out of the Acts of the Apostles 3. They who were chosen Witnesses of Christ whom God the Father anointed sealed and sent and had a Commission from the Spirit and Power of Christ to whom all the Prophets gave witness in testifying on the behalf of Christ their testimony stands as an evidence against as you say my pretended Commission and the doctrine thereof L. M. Reply Let any man that knows what belongs to a temporal Commission judge whether these places of Scripture which you have named doth prove me a false witness and my Commission to be a pretended thing or no for I do own and believe that the Prophets under the Law were true witnesses of Christ that is they did witness and testifie unto the people of the Jews that Christ the Savior of mankinde was to come and to be born of a Virgin this I do faithfully believe Also I do own and believe that the Prophets and Apostles were true Witnesses and Ambassadors of Christ and that the Apostles were chosen Witnesses of Christ to testifie and witness that Christ the Savior was now born in their time when they did thus witness as the Scriptures doth abundantly relate Also I do own and believe that Christ is ordained to be the Judge of the quick and the dead Also I do own and believe that the Scriptures were spoken as Holy men were inspired and so they may be called and are owned by me to be the Word or Words of God Yet this I say by the way that no man upon the earth at this day doth know the Scriptures truly nor can interpret them truly but us the Witnesses of the Spirit because all men in these days are ignorant of the form and nature of the true God and the right Devil as I have shewed in those Letters to Samuel Hooton and W. S. and to Edward Bournes and to your self Those Letters do open it more at large Again Do you blinde Quakers think that the repeating of Scripture-texts which were other mens Commissions and words that it will prove me a false witness and my Commission to be a pretended thing then I say those Jews which were under the Law of Moses might as truly have said as you do by me that the Apostles Commission wat but a pretended thing and their witness which they bore to Christ was a false witness and so they did therefore they persecuted them for it as you would do me if it lay in your power as it did in theirs 4. R. F. By their Commission they were to preach to the people and the same Commission and the doctrine thereof they were to testifie to them that Christ was ordained of God to be the Judge both of quick and dead but thou art not Christ to whom all the Prophets gave witness therefore it is evident that thou art not chief Judge ordained of God though thou presume to say that after death they shall never see any other God or Judge but the remembrance of that Sentence which you the pretended Witnesses of the Spirit did pass upon them in this life because thou falsly saith no man knows the Scriptures but thy self and that no man can truly interpret the Scriptures but thy self and that no man ought to officiate the Office of a Minister Messenger or Ambassador of Christ but such as are appointed by John Reeve and thy self Which Assertions or Doctrines of thine are false and not true for this I say that the onely knowledge and right of interpreting Scriptures belongs not to thy self but to the Lord Jesus and his blessed Spirit who is the true Judge and hath power to open mens understandings and can give them the true knowledge and right understanding of Scriptures Luke 24.32 Lodowick Muggleton 's Reply The Reader may see the gross darkness of the Quakers here he proves my Commission as he doth think to be false and a pretended thing from the letter of the Scripture as if the Prophets and Apostles Commission being repeated over so many hundred years since would make my Commission false and to be but a pretended thing when as I do declare that I do not take up my Commission from the letter of the Scriptures as other men do for that is a pretended Commission which doth counterfeit and pretend to do the same things as they did which had their Commissions signed and sealed by the voyce of God himself as Moses and Paul the Prophets and Apostles these I do own that they had a Commission from God but what is this to any Quaker or any other man doth this prove that the reading of other mens Commissions will make a man a Minister Messenger or Ambassador of Christ surely no neither will the reading of the Scriptures prove my Commission to be false and a pretended thing as you say it is for I said in those Letters to the Quakers that my Commission is as true as the Prophets and Apostles Commissions were and of a more higher nature then theirs were this I own to be true for my Commission was given by voyce of words from God as theirs were therefore it is that I certainly know that God did give a Commission to Moses and the Prophets and unto his Apostles Also as Moses and Aaron were the two first that God did chuse and give a Commission unto to act forth the Law which did signifie the water so likewise God hath chosen John Reeve and Lodowick Muggelton to be his two last Witnesses and Prophets of the Spirit so that the repeating of the true Prophets and Apostles Commissions over again now will never prove me a false witness nor my Commission to be a pretended thing for the Jews which were under the Law of Moses might and did as well say as you do by me that the Apostles Commission was false and a pretended thing by their repeating of the Law and the Prophets but the repeating of other mens Commissions will not make void that which is given by voice of words from God for that will stand for ever and that you and many more shall know to your eternal pain and shame let your pretences be what they will Also I do own that the Prophets and Apostles of Christ did witness and testifie that Christ was ordained of God to be the Judge both of the quick and the dead I also do own and believe the same thing my self but what doth this prove therefore that I have
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
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