it is finished bringeth forth death Novv Jam. 1. 15. vvhile thy lust is a tempting there comes a good motion and frustrates that temptation by vvhich means that thou hadst intended is not conceived so no sin indeed lust vvas burning in thy heart but in that it came not to perfection the lavv hath quenched the flame for vvhat hath the Lavv to do vvith a heart-adultery no no it is no thought but an act that breaks the Law and what comes not within the bounds of the Lavv be it adultery nay be it murther if it lie onely in the heart and be not acted there can no Lavv condemn thee Reason What is thy thoughts as touching the fourth Commandment as being changed from Saturday to Sunday and vvhat is the reason why this Command vvas changed above all the rest and vvhetheâ— this Sabbath called The first day of the week is not according to the judgement of the Assembly of Divines to continue to the end of the World vvithout any alteration thereof Faith It matters not me vvhat grounds or principles of Religion your Assembly of Divines holds forth as a Catechiâ—m to thy Seed for this by Faith I knovv and against men and Angels affirm That as the Commission of Moses ended in the Commission of the Apostles so the Jevvish Sabbath vvith the rites thereof ended in the Sabbath or first day of the vveek of the Apostles then knovv as the Commission of the Apostles ends in ours so vve have povver as the Apostles to erect you a Sabbath suitable to our Commission for knovv this that one Commission is not tied in point of Revelation to observe the former but each Commission according to its title and place hath power in it self to direct you what manner of Sabbath you are to keep therefore observe the Sabbath of Moses Commission was in this nature as followeth viz. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man servant nor thy maid servant nor thy cattel nor thy stranger that is within thy gate for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it Now this Sabbath thou wilt not own but the First day or Sabbath of the Apostles which hath no such form in it as the Sabbath of the Jews hath And why the Sabbath of the Jews was altered I tell thee in that Christ the onely God by his own power that day had quickned death into life as it is written In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards Mat. 28. 1 2. the first day of the week came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre and behold there was an earthquake for the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sate upon it So this being the first day of Christs Resurrection was a day of joy and gladness to the Apostles in that it brought peace and rest to their souls confirmed in their faith that he was Christ the Son of God Whereupon the Revelation of their faith led them forth to keep the first day of their Saviours Triumph over sin hell and death to be a day set apart to assemble together and contribute their benevolence for the refreshment of the poor members of that faith as it is written And upon the first day of the week when the Disciples Act. 20. 7. came together to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight also Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you 1 Cor. 16. 2. lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering when I come Now this Command being a day set apart in point of Worship therefore as the Commission changed so the Worship changed and so of necessity it will follow that the day must be changed Therefore take notice as this Commission was not to hold to the end of the World no more ought that First day for as I said before every Commission hath power in it self in the vertue of its Revelation to change its Worship suitable to its Commission so a Commission hath power to change a day for that Worship Now our Commission being spiritual doth hold forth no manner or forms of Worship but the worshipping of God in Spirit and truth Therefore I say not onely the Jews Sabbath but also the Apostles First day in our Commission are void and of no effect as it is written He spake on a câ—rtain place of Heb. 4. 4. the seventh day on this wise and God did rest the seventh day from all his works So the blessed of the Lord believing Christ to be God the Father Creator of Heaven and earth are entered into the perfect liberty of faith which frees them from the lusts of the flesh and so entered into peace and rest by which not onely the Jews Sabbath nor the Apostles First day but every day is a Sabbath to the Elect of the Lord Now Mat. 12. 1 10. in that the Priests of this World do know that if the first should be as another day then they would lose their hearers and so in conclusion lose their tythes therefore as Christ and the Apostles by the Jews were accused for breaking their Sabbath so the Pharisaical Teachers of thy Seed will condemn us for repealing the First day of the Week But however in the Authority of our Commission I declare That every soul which knoweth Christ in his Form and Nature the Devil in his Form and Nature hath entered unto his eternal Sabbath of perfect rest without end Reason Let me but hear thy judgement as touching that saying of the Lawyer to Christ Master which is the great Commandment in the Law Now Christs answer was That thou shouldst Mat. 22. 36 37 38. love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy minde this is the first and great Commandment Faith And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self on these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets Now what manner of love is this with which if we love the Lord and our Neighbour as our self we keep the whole Law but for my part I know not the man that can love his neighbour as himself and so none can truly love God My judgement is That all the ten Commandments are according to the sequel of these words reduced into two heads and these two are comprehended yea fulfilled in this word Love as it is written Owe no man any thing but to Rom. 13. 8 love one another
King without a person whose person being enthroned in his Crown and Dignity with all things suitable to his Majestie is that which fills his Court and Kingdom with renowned glory not that the Kings person is in every place but onely in his Court yet the hearts of his subjects over all his Dominions is filled with the report of his great power and glory so that the sound thereof as Solomons doth ring of the glory and greatness of his person so it is not the person of God but his powerful nature flowing in the hearts of his people that supports all things created by him neither is his person in any other place but his Kingdom of glory onely Reason If God admit of a form then God is not infinite but finite and so is not in every creature he hath made And if so how will this stand with those sayings In him we live move Acts 17. 28. and have our being Now from hence I conceive God is in every creature by his Spirit and hath no form of his own but lives in all forms that he hath made Faith Did I not know thee I should admire at thy ignorance but however I shall exactly answer thy Question that God was in the form of man before he became flesh in the same image and likness as now he is though then he was not flesh and bone as now he is yet as he is now so he was then a flame of bright burning glory that no Chrystal or Sun can stand before him yea his body is softer then down and swifter then thought and with that body so glorious can ascend or descend in his Kingdom of glory that he can be infinite as he pleaseth and yet when he vvill can consine his Godhead glorious Majestical Person to as narrovv a compass as any man vvhich if as thou saith God had no body but a Spirit and that Spirit in every creature then God vvere finite and limitted indeed that the Creator of Heaven and earth should be imprisoned in thy mortal corrupt sinful body nay not onely so but God vvas in Horses Hoggs Dogs Toads Snakes Spiders and all other creatures vvhich if it vvere as thou saith God vvere the vvorst of all creatures that he made Nay if it vvere so then frommy Seed-Spring I This is no Scripture of faith Acts 17. 28. But a Poets judgement in reason 2 Cor. 13. 5. say God is no Creator but a deformrd sick vveary sinful creature like thy self And as for those sayings In him we live move and have our being is thus to be understood that a true believer as Paul vvas that spake it doth by faith live move and have their being from the first vvord of faith that created Adam and not from any in-dvvelling of God in him as it is vvritten Christ in you the hope of glory and Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates is not thereby intended that God or Christ as he is a person is in you but as Paul saith Christ dwells in our hearts by faith It is faith vvhich is the nature of God of vvhich I am partaker of and by vvhich it evidenceth in my soul vvhere God is and vvhat God is both in form and nature Reason Thou saith God hath both form and nature if so his form and nature must be one and if one cannot be divided so he that hath one must have both therefore it vvill follovv vvhere the nature of God is there God must be himself for I conceive they cannot be separated in that it is vvritten That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee John 17. 21. Gen. 28. 16. that they also may be one in us c. and again it is vvritten Jacob said Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not so that I conclude God is in all creatutes Faith Though the nature be in the form yet it is not the form and therefore it is vvritten That by these you might be pertakers 2 Pet. 1. 4. of the Divine Nature though not the form As instance the Sun shines upon the just and unjust yet the body is in the firmament vve feel the vertue or nature of the body of the Sun by its heat and light yet vve have not the Sun so in my Soul I have the nature of God but not the form or body of God and therefore it is vvritten I am John 15. the vine and ye are the branches that is I am the vine and body of faith and ye have the branch or nature of faith so by my nature ye abide stedfast in me and I in you As the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me by that nature flowing from me and therefore it is written Christ dwelleth verse 4. in my heart by faith by which Christ is in me the hope of glory and if I know not that Christ is thus in me I were a reprâ—bate not in me by his body but by his faiâ—h God or Christ is in me Reason What then is God in his person in heaven above the stars and his nature in thee here below then to me it is clear God and his nature is parted and so God looseth part of himself which to me is contrary to reason so not to be believed Faith However it is so to thee yet I know that God is in his glory and nature here below in mortals so really parted and yet no damage to God at all no more then a Fountain to cast out a Flood-gate of streams and yet retain its fulness in its self so the eternal Godhead fountain of all endless glory can stream yea hath streamed into all the seed of his own body such a Well-spring of eternal Assurance that all that are partakers thereof have perfect peace and belief in God the fountain of endless Glory and yet God all fulness in himself as David saith With thee is the Fountain of Life and Col. 2. 9. Christ said to the woman of Samaria Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be a Well of water springing up to everlasting life For in him dwelleth all the fulness of John 4. the Godhead bodily yea Christ is all in all So that I affirm it is no more loss to God to distribute his eternal Light into his creature then for the Sun to give light to the face of the earth and yet retain its essential light in its own body for as Jacob in his Vision saw a Ladder upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the Angels of God ascending and descending and behold the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord it is no more but what Stephen and Paul saw by reve 〈…〉 on of their Faith as several times I
and ways of the Lord are past finding out then thou wouldst forbear reasoning against the Creators prerogative power and yield thy self to be damned at his pleasure CHAP. 8. Shewing whether Cain was not the first devil and who are his seed or children and what devils those were that are so frequently spoken of in Scripture Reason WHat then dost thou say that Cain was the first devil and was there no evil spirit before Cain and if so prove that Cain is called a devil Faith From the divine spirit of the Lord of glory I affirm as before is proved that the angels were the first sensible living formes that ever were created and that reprobate angel as I have said dissolved into seed in the womb of Eve and there conceived into flesh blood and bone her first-born Cain yea the first devil and father of the damned so that against thee and all thy seed I say there was no other devil before Cain and that thou mayest know Cain is called a devil read these Scriptures Not as Cain which was of that wicked one and slew his brother Again it is written He that soweth the good seed is the son of man and the field is the world and the good seed are the children of the kingdom and the tares are the children of the wicked one and the enemy that soweth them is the devil Again Ye are of your father the devil John â— 44 and the lusts of your father ye will do he hath been a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there was no truth in him when he speaketh a lye he speaketh of his own for he is a lyar and the father thereof Now then what sayest thou was not Cain the first murthering lying man that ever was born of a woman Reason I have read in Scripture that there are evil angels or devils living in the Ayr and a devil amongst them called Beelzebub the prince of devils now I judge the devil is of such an invisible spirit that he is here there and every where and so can infuse evil thoughts into man and man cannot see the devils that tempts him Faith If this be as thou sayest what need any man trouble himself with the least fear of eternal death whatsoever wickedness is committed by him For I say if any man be tempted to evil by any devil but what is in his own nature onely that devil or evil spirit is to be eternally damned and the man to be set free and if sin issued not from mans uncleane reason or lyng imagination within him how is it possible that any man should be so tormented as thy seed are with inward burnings through a secret fear of eternal sufferings rising in them from the guilt of former evils committed against the light of conscience Now if it were possible for thee to know that the subtility of the prince of the ayr that rules in the hearts of children of disobedience was thy own imaginary reason or evil spirit that is the prince of all airy disputes concerning God devil angels heaven hell eternal glory or shame to come then thou wouldest see the truth of what I speak Reason What then dost thou say there never was is nor shall be no other devil but men and women and if so from whence comes that devilish nature in man and whether all have not the devilish nature in them and if so how shall any man escape damnation Faith As unto this thy Question I answer as aforesaid There never was no devil till the angel became a man-child of flesh blood and bone and that evil nature ever since hath generated in all the sons and daughters of Adam since his fall both reason and faith lay hid in that seed that conceived in the womb So that I say as Adam and Eve the womb of all living had both reason and faith in them so of necessity it must follow that all that are begotten or generated by them must needs partake of both natures so that I affirm that all the righteous as the wicked have the devils nature in them and yet the seed of the woman shall escape damnation Reason What then dost thou say that the devils have faith in them and yet shall be damned and the true believers have reason in them and yet shall be saved Now there being both seeds in one as the other how comes it that all are not either damned or saved certainly faith being as thou sayest of the nature of God then that faith in the devils must return to God again Faith I say Gain the father of all devils had faith in him as all his children have at this day as it is written touching the four seeds speaking of them that hath the seed sown on a Luke 8 13 rock when they hear they receive the word with joy and these having no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away And it is written the devils believe and tremble Jam. 2 19 so that if thou were not stone-blind thou mightest see that there is no other devil but men and women and that faith in them doth cause many secret feares of damnation and yet that faith in them shall never return to God nor they themselves saved for this I know that faith that is in the seed of the serpent shall die with them and rise with them for the devils shall rise all reason and no faith or shall not be capable to ascend to glory when on the contrary the blessed of the Lord all their Faith in their life time out-topped reason by which he came to the knowledge of God so that at his death his reason shall dye with him insomuch that at the Resurrection he shall rise all Faith and no Reason so shall be able to ascend to glory Reason What then shall become of natural fools and children that understand neither Faith nor Reason shall they all be damned if they be of the Serpents seed Faith From an unerring Spirit I speak it there is neither child nor fool that dies uncapable of the breach of the Law that shall be damned so that herein the Justice and Mercy of God appears that as he will damn whom he will so he will damn none unjustly therefore I say let them be children or fools though the seed of the Serpent yet they shall be raised to the glory their father had before his fall viz. the estate of the Angels Reason If there be no other Devil but Cain and his generation of men and women What Devils were then those from these Maâ— 4. 1. Scriptures where it is written Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil which Devil taketh him up into the holy City c. again it is Mark 5. 2. written Satan entered into Judas c. and it is written Out of Mary Magdelen Christ cast out seven Devils with many hundred
examples more onely one more I shall quote which is more remarkable then those before and then let me heat thy answer and that is touching the man that lived in the land of the Gadarenes which man had Devils Luk. 8. 27 a long time and wore no cloaths neither abode in any house but in the tombes and no man could bind him no not with chains Mark 5. 4. neither could any man tame him and alwayes night and day he was in the mâ—untains and in the tombes crying and cutting himself with stones and all the Devils in him besought Christ that they might go into the Herd of Swine which they had no sooner entered but the man was well in his right minde and the whole Herd of Swine ran violently down a sâ—eep place into the Sea Now if thou canst make it apparent that these were no Devils besides Cain and his Seed then I shall with thee believe that there is no other Devil but man and woman Faith From Christ the onely Lord of Glory in the Revelation of his Eternal Spirit I affirm that those Devils so tituled from the first of Matthew to the last of the Revelation were onely the Seed of Reason and the violent distempers of the imagination thereof as first mind that the Devil that tempted Christ was one of the ablest Disputants whether a Pharisee or Sadducee I cannot by Faith finde yet by permissions I judge him rather a Sadducee they being the wisest and subtilest Devil of the two I say the Pharisees and Sadducees commissionate this man which by experience they found were best versed in Scripture to see if he could tempt the Lord Jesus to Baptize them with the holy Ghost and fire so that I say this Devil was a man of the same seed of those where it is written Ye shall not tempt the Lord Deut. 6. 6. your God as ye tempted him in Massah again it is written When your Fathers tempted me proved me and saw my Heb. 3. 9. works 40 years as at large thou may read in a Book of mine entituled Look about you for the Devil that you fear is in you so that I say these tempters of the Lord were the people of Israel men and women and no other form or Spirit whatsoever and again it is written That Jam. 1. 14. man is tempted when he â—s drawn away of his own lusts and enticed so that I affirm there is no other Devil but thy lustful Soul within thee that doth tempt thee to commit any wickedness acted by thee so that I say the meaning of that Satan entered Judas was onely this being by Christ Jesus discovered that he was the man that should betray him then forthwith nature in him entered into a resolution to betray the Lord of Life being then sealed up to a reprobate minde went out to his Brethren the Pharasaical Devils and sold him for thirty pieces so that I say there was no other Devil entered him but what was in him no more then would enter thee if thou wert now damned by me onely a spirit of tormenting envy would as it did in Judas so flame and burn that if possible thou wouldst destroy me as Judas did Christ Reason Notwithstanding what thou hast said as touching a Devil tempting or entering seems to have some colour of truth in it But then what wilt thou say of those Devils that were cast out of Mary and many others but especially of those legion that was cast out into the Herd of Swine For it is expressed when the Devils were cast out of the man they went into the Herd of Swine so that surely this was something more than Reason otherwise if Reason be the Devil and Reason cast out then the man had not been cloathed in his right minde but been altogether unreasonable Faith Let me speak never so plainly thou canst not understand me yet however this I shall tell thee that those Devils which by the powerful Word of Christ Jesus were cast out of Mary Magdalen or out of that man or any other creature spoke of in holy writ were onely all manner of filthy diseases or violent fiery distempers that hurried that man about such desperate wickedness oftentimes encreasing so powerfully that it did not onely occasion to rend his own body and break Iron chains but also ready to tear any one in pieces as many of thy seed at this day are possessed with Devils by such as thou are believed to be Devils and therefore it is that learned of thy seed have attempted by Conjuring Physical Medicaments to chain up that distemper or cast out by Vomit or Purgation and such like deceitful means which if thou wert not stone blind mightest see that these supposed Devils yet real distempers were no other but such as thou calls Lunatick frenzy Madness Convulsions or falling-sickness such like proceeding from melancholy is Colerick corrupt humors of the blood that by these Devilish distempers many of thy seed are chained up Prisoners in Bedlum all the dayes of their life which if they could be cast out by Faith being Lord over those Colerick and Melancholy distempers of the minde then they vvould by the Divine knovvledge of the true God be cloathed in their right mindes Reason If this vvere as thou sayest onely violent distempers in that man and so in Mâ—ry vvhat then vvas that vvhich came out of the man and entered into the Hâ—rd of â—vvine and if they vvere onely that vve call diseases vvhy then are they called Devils Faith From life of that Divine light in my Soul I declare they vvere no other but violent diâ—â—empers aforesaid vvhich said diseases by the povverful Godhead in Christ vvas commanded at the request of the man to enter the Herd of the Svvine vvhich vvhen the Svvine vvere pâ—ssessed vvith the same distemper they vvere as mad as the man tearing and tumbling themselves into the Sea by reason of that violent distemper or affliction that the svvine became giddy in their heads not able to preserve themselves through the violence of the said distraction Now why the said distempers are called Devils are because none should know the true Devil but the Heirs of glory for thou mayest read the whole transaction of Christ were revealed in Parables and the mystery of Truth only revealed to the true Believers of the Lord of Glory And if thou supposest they were Devils what then dost thou apprehend them to be and how got they into the Herd of Swine and not seen Reason I conceive the Devils are invisible spirits that tormented the man and so could convey themselves into the Swine without the sight of any even as the Soul or Spirit of man at the hour of death do go forth of his body to Heaven or Hell Faith Oh! thou senseless sottish Reason now thou discovers thy ignorance in his as hath been in the rest as though the Devil were an invisible spirit and so cannot be seen
by the man how the Devil got into him nor how this Devil or Devils went out of him and got into the Herd of Swine nor what become of those Devils in the Sea whether drowned in the Sea or no but however so as I have said before so I say again that there is no Devil without a body that can torment another neither can that Devil if he were not generated in man either come in or go out of man but he must be seen otherwise he is no Devil at all as for instance the distemper of man cannot be cast out but it may be seen and felt in the foul and stinking body that poysoned and distempered the minde of man And how dost thou know that the Soul of man leaveth or goeth out of the body at the hour of death CHAP. 9. Shewing what the Soul is and what it is that dieth how that the Soul which is the life of the body can dye and nothing else but life that dieth Reason VVHY I believe the Soul cannot dye because I conceive it a thing impossible the Soul being an Eternal Spirit cannot be capable of death and besides Solomon saith Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it So that it is my believe the Soul cannot dye Faith Though this Principle be fully cleared in the Prophets Book called joyful news from Heaven yet I shall reveal the truth of it upon another account that the Soul is mortal so capable to dye otherwise it could not live Eternal for as nothing but life can dye and that life being dead shall be made capable to live a life Eternal Reason Before thou proceed any further let me but hear how that nothing but life can dye which it is conceived by all knowing men that life which thou callest the Soul is immortal and cannot dye Now that natural life that runs in the blood may dye and therefore it is confessed when a man is murthered or hanged his breath is stifled and so the natural mortal dies yet all this while as Salomon saith The Soul goeth to God that gave it Faith Having in our former writings made it appear that Solomon was the highest pitch of Reason that ever was so what he spake was onely knowledge in nature and not by the Revelation of Faith therefore no Scripture For Reason imagineth things that are not and things that cannot be understood by any sober man much less by a man in Revelation as to think that an immortal Soul or Spirit should be limited to a mortal body which is as possible as light and darkness to dwell together as an immortal Soul to live in a mortal body therefore I say that the Soul and body of man are one distinct living and dying essence for the Soul or Spirit in the womb by degrees congeals together into a rational fire of blood and water and so in due time become a compleat body of flesh blood and bone so that the life that is in man is not Divine but natural onely Reason This is strange that the Soul or Spirit of a child should conceive in the womb that being a breath or gift of God and not generated in or by the seed for I read that God breathed into Adam and he became a living Soul so his Soul was not immortal but mortal and so is all man-kind Faith However it is strange to thee yet I know it is a real truth to me that the Word by which God first created life in man that Word or Breath was immortal which by his fall became mortal as at large is cleared in the seventh Chapter and this know God never created but male and female and gave life but once and since every life in its kinde hath generated bearing seed in its self so that from my Revelation I say that the rational Soul or Spirit of man lyes secretely hid in his seed like unto a spark of fire which spark doth quicken it self into a living form like unto his nature and so having cloathed it self with flesh his Soul or Spirit runs invisibly through the whole body and so is one entire substance being both conceived into life in the womb togegether and both living together upon the earth their appointed time and being both polluted together with sin is it not requisite that they should dye together and turn to the dâ—st and nâ—n-being again until the general bodily Resurrection of all man-kind Reason I know no other but that every man hath in him a good Spirit and a bad spirit as it is written The spirit lusteth Gal. 5. 17. after the flesh and the flesh agaâ—nst the Spirit and these are contrary So that by the learned it is believed that there is a natural life and an Eternal life in one man otherwise the body and Soul are both one which in Scripture I never read that these were both one bâ—t two one fleshly and the other spiritual Faith Didst thou know the truth of what thou hast said then wouldst thou know as followeth that every man in his fallen spirit hath remaining a little light or motion in him to justifie all the righteous proceedings of the Creator in his Conscience at the last day yet mind what I say he hath but one Soul or Spirit in him for that which the Apostle calls spirit in this place was a Divine light of life received unto the dark understanding by vertue of a word speaking from the eternal Spirit of the Lord of glory and not the essence of the holy Spirit for I know that those who do expect a glory to come in the invisible Heavens do confess that the spirit of the Divine Majesty is inâ—â—nite unchangeable immortal eternal therefore how thinkest thou it possible for men or Angels to be capable of the indwelling of the 〈…〉 nce of his Eternal Spirit and that which the Apostle calls flesh was mans own Spirit which consists of nothing but confused lying imagination or cursed carnal reasoning against the Heavenly light aforesaid Now that I may answer the last clause of thy demand that the Soul and body is one it is written All the Souls that came with Jacob into Egypt which came Gen. 46. out of his loins were threescore and six â—ouls again it is written Thy Fathers went dowâ— into Egypt with seventy persons Deut. 10. So that it is plain man is sometimes called Soul and sometimes is called a body or person or Soul Body and Spirit and yet man is but one living essence or substance However the learned of thy seed pretend they know much of this when indeed they know the least of all as to separate a mortal soul from a mortal body or to unite an immortal Soul to a mortal body which is as possible to make light and darkness God and Devil one Reason This is strange that none but thou shouldst know or dâ—scerâ— the Soul immortal when
almost the whole world believes the Soul was never generated but the breathings of the Spirit of God which are immortal and cannot dye Faith From the Revelation of Faith I say those conceited wise men which through the ambition of Tongues and Languages have studied beyond all sober sense or reason to make all the world senseless sots as to think when the Seed is conceived in the womb that then God must come and give it a Soul be it a Bastard or Free-born the child can have no Soul till God give it so that thou makest God not onely a partner but a perfecter of mans basâ— lust in that filthy act But however thy thoughts are unseal'd concerning God yet this I know that all Souls since the fall of Adam are but mortal natural and must dye in the body being generated to live together must dye together in that they are both guilty of sin cannot ascend but rot in the grave together as it is written The Soul of man shall be cut off from the Land of the Living and the Soul that sins shall dye and that the pure Soul of Christ was poured forth unto death and the Lord hath said that Adam and Eve were but dust and to dust they should return again also it is written That David is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us this day for David is not ascended into the Heavens Acts 2. c. Now what should ascend if not Davids Soul For it is written Not this body but such a body as pleaseth God to give it So not the body but the Soul thou sayest must ascend then know this Soul was in the dust and not ascended for David is not ascended as much as if it had been said Davids Soul is not ascended nor no Soul without a body can ascend and there can be no ascension till the Soul hath past through death it can never ascend to Eternal life Reason If the Soul at the hour of death did not ascend to glory or descend to misery how comes it then that John writes I sâ—w under the Altar the Souls of them that were slain for the Rev. 6. 10. Word of God and for the Testimony which they held and they cryed with a loud voice saying How lâ—ng O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth So that surely John saw many Souls in Heaven cying unto the Lord to avenge their blood on their enemies otherwise he had not declared it Faith Thy ignorance hath been great as now it is in this as for thee to imagine that John saw Souls in Heaven without bodies and their spirits without face mouth and tongue should cry How long holy and true c. When a Soul without a face and tongue cannot be seen nor speak therefore I tell thee there is a greater Mystery in those words then thou art aware of for from my Seed spring I say it is no more then the blood of Abels which cryed unto the Lord from the ground and so doth all the blood of the Saints From the blood â—f Righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias and so to the end of our Commission Do cry O Lord holy and true why dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth This John saw by Revelation as Steven and Paul in another case did see the Heavens opened And so John saw a wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed Rev. 12. â— with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and the 12 Stars upon her head Now when John saw this great wonder he was not in Heaven neither was this wonder done in Heaven but upon the earth so it was the blood of the Righteous Souls that were murthered in their bodies that John saw not in glory but upon this earth Now whereas thou art almost confident that at the hour of death the Souls go out of the body if so deal plainly with thy self and tell me whâ—â—â—t is like for surely the Soul must have some form â—â— sâ—ape and so cannot get out but it would be seen by some thâ—â— stâ—â—ds by for if a â—oul were of that form and fashion as White in his Chamber at Whithall shewed me the picture of a soul â—â— a Book a dark soul and a light soul in â—â—rm like a â—copeâ—ilâ— I say if the soul were as such wisâ— Head-pieces reports how comes it that it cannot be seen to gâ— out of the diseased For my part I have been at the death of some and yet could not discern any thing come frâ—m them but groans and flegm so that if thou with all thâ— seed were noâ— stone blinde thou wouldst clearly see the soul dyeth within the body for want of evaquation with the body Reason If iâ— be as thou sayest that all souls are dead in the dust and so become dust How or which way shall these souls be found out or raised at the last day Faith From the Lord of glory I speak it there is not any of thy seed that doth in the least understand how to answer this Argument therefore that Faith may be known to be Lord over thee and thy seed I declare that Christ Jesus being a quicâ—ning Spirit not onely as in relation to himself but all man kind as it is written The first man Adam was made a living Soul and the second man Adam was made a quickning Spirit I say his Soul being perfectly dead and buried in the grave yet in death he quickned himself to life without the help of any as in the second Chapter is clear so as it is written Your lâ—fe is hid in Christ with God so that when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear Col. 3. 3. 4. with him in glory therefore as he was able to qâ—icken his own Soul so at the general account he is far more able by the word of his mouth to quicken the Seed of Faith that now are dust to eternal glory also to quicken the seed of Reason to eternal misery yea and that from the first soul called Adam to the last soul dying he can and will in the twinkling of an eye raise all the Seed of Faith that hath layn so long in the dust to meet him in the Air with bodies sutable to their natures yea the very appearance of Christ who is all life will quicken that which is dead in the grave to hear his voice and immediately to come forth and meet him in the Air as it is written The hour is coming John 5. 28 in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice Reason That I understand is the raising of another body and not the soul for it is written it is sown a natural body and is raised a spiritual body so that I conceive it is not the soul but that body raised another that will be the work of the Lord at the day of Judgement
that there is all manner of other creatures in Heaven besides Angels and Saints as there is here below in the same forms and shapes as they are here in this world If so How are they supported and by what means do they live Faith From my Seed-spring within me I affirm that in the third and highest Heavens the Kingdom of glory there is a perfect earth and that is the Lords foot-stool which earth is immortal glorious upon which there is all manner of Trees Herbs Plants and all manner of four-footed beasts all manner of Fowls also I say there is chrystall Sea in which are all manner of Fishes nay to be short there is nothing here but what is there though this is to be understood as these are mortal those are immortal fiery glorious of a bright shining nature sutable for such a Majesty to solace himself withall as also his Saints and Angels also there is Thrones varieties of Glory with such Heavenly glorious Trumpetting voices from the Divine mouth of Saints and Angels that the Glory of Eternity doth ring again with such a sweet Divine Harmony that the enjoyment thereof is unutterable and the more they daily encrease with new joyes of ravishing praises and delights after all their tedious sufferings and that without end Oh! the Eternity the Eternity is that which makes it incomparable delightful otherwise the Kingdom of Glory above would little transcend the glory here were it not Eternal and full of variety of Divine pleasures but in that it is so as I know and believe therefore I cannot but say as touching the third and highest Heavens Oh! the Glory the top of Glory yea ravishing glories without end Reason How dost thou know this and where by Scripture canst thou prove this that there is such variety of immortal creatures there as there are mortal creatures here Faith Although this by Scripture could not be proved yet by Faith it ought to be believed for it is written Faith is the Heb. 11. 1 2. substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen for through Faith we understand the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear Now if thou couldst understand the truth herein contained then thou wouldst with me conclude that all things that are here seen with thy natural eye were brought forth after the same plat-form of things above which do not here appear so that from my Seed-spring I affirm there is not the variety of things here but there is the same above in the same likeness there in glory as here in shame so that there is all day and no night and that because the fiery glorious person of God being the light thereof in which Kingdom the glorified of the Lord may stand walk talk sit lye flye yea recreate themselveâ— in whatsoever their Divine Souls moves them to and that without the least motion of either pain sorrow or weariness in whatever it is intended to do and that because there is no end of new springing delights and that noâ— fancies of the eye but substantial realities that may be felt and embraced so that I esteem the hardship of this present world not once to be compared to that glory that shall be revealed in my soul and that Eternal without end so as it is written We look not at things which are seen here by the eye of Reason 2 Cor. 4. 17. but at things which cannot be seen but by the eye of Faith In that things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal therefore Our affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of Eternal Glory CHAP. 11. Shewing what Hell is where it is with the Form and Nature of its torment Reason VVHat is that place called Hell and where is it that the unbelieving souls shall go to at the day of Resurrection Faith Having at large treated about this Particular in a Book of mine entituled Look about you for the Devil that you fear is in you as touching the place of torment as also what Hell is and where it is yet now I shall give thee a discovery of it upon a clearer and higher account that Hell is the body of man and the life spirit or soul therein is the Devil Reason How can Hell be in man When it is written after both Dives and Lazarus was dead and buried the which man being in Hell he lift up his eyes in his torment and seeth Luk. 16. 20. Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom and he cryed and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame so â—hat from hence I judge no man is in Hell till after death Faith In the first place thou must know this was a parabolical speech of the Lord of Glory in which the nature of two Seeds viz. Faith and Reason are discovered that is to say Faith representing the poor man Lazarus and Reason representing the person of the rich man Dives not that the rich man was in any Hell without him no more then thou art at this time yet this I know it is a true description of the state and condition of Reason being tormented in a burning flame with the sting of their own Conscience and that not onely as in relation to the various doubts and fears that attends themselves but on the contrary the assurance that believers enjoyes in this his present being for this I know that those who are true heirs of Abraham according to Faith are in his bosom that is in the same peace and perfect assurance as Abraham was for this I know that Abrahams Soul is rotted with his body in the grave and can neither see hear speak move or go no more the rich Devils of this world can till the day of Resurrection from my Seed-spring I declare that the Souls of Righteous or Wicked goes neither to Heaven nor Hell but both lyes uncapable of either joy or sorrow in silent dust as at large is handled in the ninth Chapter And whereas thou sayest there is none in hell till after death I say thou believes thou knows not what for there is not onely thou but many of thy Seed are now in Hell tormented that they cry unto the Seed of Abraham to know what shall become of them in this their flame crying out they are damned they are damned wishing Oh! that I had but one drop of that ever-living water to quench my flame that runs as a Well-spring in the Souls of the Seed of Faith by which they are freed from this unspeakable torment that notwithstanding all thy riches and wisdom thy seed or generation are pluâ—ged in Reason However thou would perswade me that there is no hell without man what then dost thou
was surrendred into the Person of Christ alone so that after that all the gifts or influence of the Holy Ghost came from Christ as it is written when Christ was ascended to glory then he fills the Apostles full of the Holâ— Ghost which then appeared in the form of a Cloven Tongue and not in the form of a Dove So that it is clear though the Holy Ghost be one intire Divine invisible life in Christ yet take notice the gifts thereof are divers so that the gifts of the Holy Ghost hah various forms though the Holy â—host hath no form but man and that Christ alonâ— And therefore minde the gross darkness of all thy Seed in their Creeds as though the Holy â—host had a Person of its own so the Lord and giver of life when it is written in divers places That Christ is the way the truth and the life I am that bread of life he that believeth on me hath everlasting John 4. life and in his saying to the woman of Samaria But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life So that the Holy Ghost must needs be in Christ in that Christ is the giver of life and yet such blinde reason as thee will have the Holy Ghost in a Person distinct from Christ the Lord and giver of life when to thy shame thou heareâ—t that Christ alone John 11. 25. is the Resurrection and the Life insomuch that he that believeth in Christ though he were dead yet shall he live So thus much in confutation to the authors and believers of of those Creeds Yea from the Revelation of my Faith I infallibly against Angels and all thy Seed of Reason conclude â—hat so many of them so living and so dying in the belief thereof shall with thee perish eternally Yea in the Vertue of our Commission I say there is no God that can or will deliver thee or them to all Eternity A DIVINE PROSPECT FOr the Elect of the Lord that after our departure shall come to the belief of this our last Commission though ye knew us not in our life time yet you have the Revelation of faith left upon record by which you will be supported in believing John Reeve and Lodowick Mugglton the last Commissioners that ever shall appear in Reasons Kingdom as also that I am the onely Bishop or Messenger in Revelation bearing witness against all Gain sayers to the truth of this Spiritual Commission now in being and so to remain till time be no more on this side of death then and at which day it shall be made manifest that we and onely we were the last Messengers of Jesus Christ who at the day of Resurrection shall ascend to glory in the publique view of our Enemies as also all other believers who credited our report not weighing their lives unto death Which when we and all that knew us are in silent dust then I say our Revelation will be in great esteem bâ— the next generation of faith succeeding And therefore that there may be no division among you from the Lord of Glory I reminde you of these enâ—uing Propositions they being a breviate of all the chief heads that my Revelation hath reduced from the Commission 1. You are to believe There was to be three Commissions before the end of this world thus recorded The Spirit Water and Blood and these are the three that beareth witness upon earth 1 John 5. 8. 2. It is to be believed That a Commission is given forth by laudible voyce of words to the hearing of the ear from the mouth of the Lord Jesus in the highest Heavens 3. It is to be believed That who ever pretends a Commission not being one of these are real whimsies notions yea lies and no truth 4. It is to be believed That though a Commission consist of few words without encrease yet their Revelations are various and encreaseth daily 5. It is to be observed That the two last Commissions are not to offend or defend in point of Externals but either active or passive to yield due obedience to King Governor or any other Magistrate whatsoever 6. It is to be believed That no Commission ought to be obedient to any formal Dispensation but in their time or place hath power to curse either Angel or man that in opposition thereof shall hold forth other Doctrine 7. It is to be believed That neither of the two former Commissions was to understand what God in his Form and Nature was in the Creation as this our Commission doth 8. It is to be believed That our Commission alone doth understand how this God and Father after intelligence given to Mary by the Angel descended from heaven as swift as thought into the womb of Mary and there dissolved his immortal body into seed and from thence quickned himself into a mortal body of flesh blood and bone so called a Son 9. It is to be believed That the Eternal Father now become a Son had the Supreme power within him that quickned his Godhead being perfectly dead in the grave to life again without the help of either Father God or Spirit without him whatsoever 10. It is to be believed That the Prophet Elias in his transmutation that nature of faith in him became a chariot of fire so struck out the gross Elements viz. Water Earth and Aire and in that fiery faith of his own ascended to glory to represent the Person of God while he took his journey in the flesh 11. Also it is to be believed That our Commission alone in the Revelation thereof hath the true knowledge of these things as also what the form and nature of the Angels are of what they were created and wherefore created and what was the cause of the Angelical fall above the rest and why and wherefore he was cast into this world in the presence of Adam and Eve 12. It is to be believed that never any but our Commission knew that it was that said Angel that in his whole form entred the womb of Eve and there dissolved into Seed and conceived into flesh blood and bone by which Eve was deceived so called a Beast Serpent Tree of Knowledge of good and evil that so none of that Seed might understand what it was and how it was Eve was deceived 13. It is to be understood That none but our Commission knows that this dissolution of the Angel in the womb of Eve became Cain the first Devil and Father of all the damned 14. It is to be believed That there never was is or shall be any other Devil but men and women and that for the most part he is the comeliest of all other of that form 15. It is to be believed That none but our Commission knows that the souls of both Faith and Reason are mortal ever since the fall of Adam and shall dye and rot in the grave till the day of Resurrection and that
though dead five thousand three hundred years ago yet at the day of our glorious Gods appearance each seed or soul shall arise with bodies suitable to their natures that soul or seed of faith that believed in our Commission shall ascend to meet its Saviour in the ayre and that soul or seed of Reason that despised our Commission shall arise a spiritual body upon this earth tormented to all Eternity 16. It is to be believed That the Kingdom of glory where Christ the onely God his Elect Saints and Angel doth and shall inhabit to all eternity is non-globical where God and his mighty Angels can at their pleasure with their bodies fly as swift as thought ten thousand miles in a moment and when he pleaseth God can stand sit lie in as narrow a compass as my self for none but our Revelation knows that there is an immortal Earth Sea Fish Fouls Beasts Hearbs Trees yea all things immortal glorious there as they are mortal deformed here and all this for the contemplation of God his Elect Saints and Angels to whom let all ye that have or shall have belief in our Commission so living and so dying in the truth of our Revelation sing praise glory and honour that ye shall see and enjoy what now ye do believe as touching our Commission 17. It is to be believed that certain men and women have and will seeingly come to the belief of our Commission insomuch that they have rejoyced in it contended for it yea have said they desired to depart this life in the belief of it and yet being according to birth the seed of Reason and not the seed of Faith in time of persecution riches glory and honour of this world fell away to their eternal perdition as I could name some but wo wo for as sure as Christ is God they shall never see that glorious Kingdom aforesaid 18. And lastly it is seriously by you to be observed That by believing the truth of what I write you will finde great satisfaction when I am taken from you that as this is the last Commission so the the the truth yea the onely truth that shall remain to the end of this bloody unbelieving world to reminde you of this one thing that it is not to be expected many to come to believe a Commission as to a notional dispensation for in the two former Commissions they cryed out Two of a Tribe one of a City so few in their Commissions that the Prophet Elâ—jah said I even I onely am left and they seek my life to take it aâ—ay and then saith Isaiah Who hath belâ—eved â—ur report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed So few that in the time of Christ at his sayings they were so hard to be understood that there fell away 70 at one time nay none stuck to him but the Apostles and a few more And then in the second Commission there was so few that really believed that sometimes Paul had but two or three stood by him in the faith And now in this our last they are so few that they are not worth the numbering among the multitude of notional Churches and therefore forget not that saying of Christ Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it But herein comfort your selves that those few of you that really enters in shall feel yea see and behold your God face to face yea sing out triumphing voyces of joy with eternal harmonies of divine musick for ever yea for ever in that glorious Kingdom aforesaid prepared for Christ your God and you his Elect Saints with the Elected Angels world without end so that ye shall sit stand lie walk go flie at your pleasure having nothing to say but glory here is the height of glory in the presence of our Saviour yea an endless glory without end These twenty particulars underneath asserted in the Quakers Downfal by Scripture proved and in that Revelation infallibly confirmed that Law Claxton the onely Bishop and true Messenger of our last Commission doth in the death of his soul seal them a real truth in confutation to the Quakers blinde Reasons imagination which are as followeth 1. That faith shall dye in the heel and reason in the head 2. That the Angel did descend into the womb of Eve 3. That a spirit cannot live without a body p 28. 4. That we and our God are cursed to all eternity p. 28. 5. That Christ or God is above the Stars with a body of flesh and bones 6. That God that Christ said was a spirit the meaning of his Revelation was that his invisible soul was that God or spirit abiding onely in his person p. â—9 7. Thaâ—â—eason is the seed of the Serpent 8. That by faith reason shall be kept in eternal death 9. That God gave Faith â—easâ—n and Sense but onâ—e 10. And that Faith Reason and Sense have in all generated in its kinde form and nature as in p 40. 11 That the Devâ—ls Kingdom and Reasons Kingdom are one 12. That God doth damn as well as save and that not for any evil thing done as he hath asserted in p. 58. 13. That we acknowledge no other God but what was within us 14. And that we conceive this God was an infinite nothing and so made all things of nothing 15. That the light in us is darkness 16. That an Infinite Spirit without a body is nothing 17. That we say God hath no form 18. That all the time Paul was cloathed with a corrupt persecuting spirit he was a vessel of honour in the account of God 19. That God is all Faith and no Reason and that Reason is of the Nature of the Devil p. 31. 20. That it was the wisdom of the flesh that made a chief Magistrate as in p. 36. In the next place I return as the Majestie of Christ the onely God in condemnation of your Diabolical perjâ—red lies against the holy Spirit of the nature of the most high God now revealed in us his last powerful infallible Prophets and Messengers of his eternal Majestie in the highest Heavens brought upon record in our Revelation as in your Reasons libel verbatim are asserted by that son of perdition J. Harwood 1. L. C. said He would prove God to be a man flesh and bones as we are Now ye the Believers of our Commission take notice that of which of these twelve particulars before quoted you by my pen finde silence we own as eternal truth but the rest that I set my pen against was not our words but Reason the Devil-lying imagination by those aforesaid Quakers as do but observe and thou mayest discern how I binde them hand and foot from their supposed light yet real darkness as seriously minde the first forged lie 3. L. C. said He had nothing of God in him and many other places nought of God in him Answ That you the blessed of the Lord may know
this was forged by their own lying imagination do but read the third affirmation in p. 37. of the Quakers Downfal and there you shall read the nature of God in all men more or less c. 5. L. C. said The Devil was the author of this light in the world Answ Now the words that was then said were That Reason the Devil was the light within them but in the Quakers Downfal you shall finde all along that Christ as he was Creator of Heaven and earth by his word of Faith created this light now in being 8 L. C. said He had damned the Lord Mayor seven or eight years ago and a thousand within this eight years and that he had justâ—fied forty or fifty Ans Now ye of the seed of Faith may discern of what seed or spirit these men are of when it is not unknown to you it is not above two years and a half since I first heard of this Commission Now indeed Lodowick Mugleton said some of those words that the Lord Mayor with Recorder Steel and the whole Jury with thousands more had by them been damned 9. He pronounced damnation to George Fox junior and to John Harwood and said several times he would speak no more to them yet after did and said he would answer no question but after did Ans Had but any discerning soul been there he might have beheld the spirit of Cain in them so cruel so tempting that they pull'd us by the Coats and with diabolical speech said they would ensnare us so that I could not but tell them I did not think there had been such a violent spirit in them c. Now after their condemnation charging them with their blasphemy and witchcraft carriage this they esteemed an error or weakness in us 12. One of them said That a spirit hath flesh blood and bones contrary to Christs words Answ Now do but read their first particular and compare it with this last and then judge of what a dark formal hypocritical Rabsheca nature the chief heads of these Quakers are of insomuch that I say were it not that I know ye are all the seed of the Serpent so in darkness I might admire ye should say this or that is blasphemy when as we have told you we onely are the Judge of the Scripture and what we judge is blasphemy heresie or a lye is so and no other For this I infallibly say the first Commission was onely understood by the second Commission and the first and second Commissions are onely understood by our Commission so that the notional Churches have nothing to do with Scripture much less to say the two first Commissions were truth and the last Commission a lye From the Lord of Gloâ—y I say that as theirs were truth in their time and place so now is ours the onely commissionate truth now in being and therefore let me but tell you this once that your Pharisaical preaching and praying with your moderate civill walking aâ—e all but as diâ—t or the dunghil yea as a menstrous cloth not knowing the true God So that from the seed of Gods own body I say ye had better been generated a Snake or a Toad then a rational understanding man as in the day of an account when it is too late you will acknowledge but then in vain FINIS ERRATA PAge 106. line 25. for that faith can take up the words of faith read that faith can take up the words of reason as reason can 〈◊〉 up the words of faith
Faith Oh! senseless sot that I should thus spend my time with thee when thou neither believes Scripture nor can rightly interpret any Scripture when thou mayest read in the 36th and 37th verses these words Thou fool that which 1 Cor. 15. 36. thou sowest is not quickned except it dye and that which thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain it may chance of wheat or of some other grain Now consider is not the life of the wheat grain in the body of the wheat corn when it is sowed and doth it not in its season dissolve its body with its life into dust and there dye yea perfectly dead till such time as refreshing showres and the heat of the Sun beams which is the life of the earth quicken that life which then lay dead to a new life by which vertue it cloaths it self noâ— with that old body but a new body and so abides not alone but brings forth a new encrease of sixty seventy or an hundred fold Now let me speak freely to thee as it is with the grain of wheat so it is with the soul of man for that is buried with the body in the earth were both soul and body is corrupted to dust and there lyeth as the wheat grain perfectly dead till such time that quickning Spirit the Lord of all life do appear and quicken that mortal soul which then was become dust to an immortal soul which after shall become an immortal life by which quickning it is clothed with a spiritual immortal body all glorious like God himself so now having a body sutable to its nature a spiritual powerful swift body like unto its Soul is now able to ascend to meet his Redeemer in the Air and so return with him into glory so that from the Lord of all power I say if the soul were immortal in a mortal body and could not dye but ascend to glory then I say there would be no need of Resurrection in that this body shall not rise though the Grave and the Sea at that day shall give up their dead is not intended their dead bodies but their dead souls that hath been many years drowned or buried that shall arise whether out of water or earth their souls shall arise every seed his own body but this I say if the soul were in glory already without a body as it cannot be then it were in vain to raise a body out of the earth to meet a spiritual Soul in Heaven in that no body can be raised without its soul nor a soul be any thing without its body so that if thou wert not stone blind thou wouldst say with me that to believe thy soul should go to Heaven without its body neither God nor Angels could see it or take notice of it nor the soul it self know what or where it is and so in conclusion never be capable of glory at all CHAP. 10. Shewing what Heaven is and how many there are with the nature and form thereof Reason WHat Heaven is that or where is it that these believing souls shall go to at the last day of Resurrection Faith First I shall tell thee from an unerring Spirit how many Heavens there are and which of those three this Heaven is that all believing souls shall inherit eternal glory in the personal enjoyment of their God face to face I find but a threefold Heaven spoken of in Seripture whatever thy seed vainly imagine to the contrary The first that I shall infallibly speak of is the visible Firmamental I. Heaven which is adorned with maty majestical lights above us and a fixed earth beneath us beautiful in its season with variety of delights which is natures onely desired Heaven through the secret Decree of the most wise God to manifest the variety of his most infinite wisdom unto Elect men and Angels in creating such natural glory to perish with the Angelical merciless Rulers thereof after they have enjoyed their momentary glory as it is written Thou Lord in the beginning hast established the earth the Heavens are the works of thy hands they shall perish but thou dost remain they shall wax old as doth a garment this is that visible Heaven with the glory thereof Reason Which is then the next Heaven by Scripture proved that so if possible I may come to know that Heaven which is Eternal and shall never perish Faith As I do not set forth these Heavens in order so I say thou canst noâ— nor none of thy sed have any Faith in what I have or shall say but however the next Heaven I shall treat upon is that within the bodies of men or the first man Adam as it is written The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and Christ in you the hope of glory and know you not that Christ is in you except yâ—u be Reprobates Now this Heaven is that spiritual creation in natural bodies and within this perishing Globe that through its union with changable nature it might enter into mortality that so after a moments tasting of silent death as God himself did it might quicken again through death it self spiritual bodies full of Divine glories by which all the Elect as swift as thought ascend to meet their Lord in the Air and with his Divine person of bright burning glory enter into that prepared Throne of Eternal pleasures by which such a soul hath perfect peace with assurance here that it shall enjoy what it in this world believed Reason How is it possible any creature should give a description of the Kingdom of glory Which I perceive thou wilt say is the third and highest Heaven seeing it is a place that can by mortals cannot be seen therefore not known I conceive no mortal flesh is able to speak of it according to its form and nature Faith From the Lord of glory I say what is impossible to Reason is possible to Faith for by the Revelation of this Faith I can see and do know that the third Heaven is invisible yet visible ravishing glories which are Eternal this is that vast Kingdom where the persons of the mighty Angels and glorified bodies of Moses and Elias do now inhabit beholding the Face of that most Excellent Majesty whose Divine nature is Crowns of unuttâ—rable excellencies this is that habitation third Heaven Throne or Kingdom that the Pen of man is not able to write or his Tongue to speak However what by Revelation I have seen I shall here declare that the form of it is non-Globical insomuch that there is no end of the height of it nor circumference thereof insomuch that God his Saints and Angels may ascend ten thousand times ten thousand and yet no Globe to hinder so excellent glorious swift personal Majesty as God is and as for the nature of this Heaven it is so infinite that there is all manner of creatures for the contemplation of God his elected Saints and Angels Reason What dost thou believe