filthy Canaanites which proceeded out of the spirit of cursed Cain that old serpent dragon-devil and father of all the damned in this world and not from the spirit of Abraham though they might proceed from his loins according to the flesh through mixtures of seeds in marriages the sons of God saw the daughters of men to be fair and they took of them to be their wives Again though the blessed Israelites and cursed Canaanites are mixed together by carnal copulation since the prince of devils became flesh yet you that are spiritual may know that the Lord Iesus that made them both knew how to separate them for all their close union and to call them by names answerable to their own natures As consider did not the glorious Creator and blessed Redeemer himself make a clear distinction between two worlds or generations when he said I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast given me out of the world can you therefore that are sober imagine or think that there is any spiritual salvation for these men or women which the Saviour of the world excludes in his petition Moreover it is written that the Apostles said We know that we are of God and the whole world lyeth in wickedness Behold ye redeemed ones of the most high God is iâ— not as clear as the light it self that there is two distinct whole worlds according to that saying Then all Israel shall be saved a redeemed world of eleâ—â— Israelites and an unredeemed world of reprobate Canaanites that were never truly lost in themselves and therefore never capable of being found in Christ accordding to that in the Epistle of Jude where it is thus written For there are certain men crept in which were of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men which turn the grace of God into wantonness and denying Christ the onely Lord we unto them for they have followed the way of Cain and are cast away by the deceit of Balaams wages and perish in the gainsaying of Core Thus is it not clear unto all such that have in them any faith in the truth of the Scripture that there is two distinct whole worlds to distinguish between the divine glory of Election and everlasting shame of Rejection a cursed Cain a blessed Abel a subtile serpent and a simple Saint a scoffing carnal Ishmael and a spiritual Isaac a bloody minded Esau and a merciful minded Jacob a persecuting Saul and a prophetical David a treacherous Judas and a gracious and glorious Jesus from the beginning of the world unto the end thereof yea and a blessed Seth born in the stead of righteous Abel to bring forth the generation of the just that the Lord of eternal glory might according to the flesh as well as the spirit spring from a spiritual line of his own light of life eternal and not from a rational or carnal line of eternal death in chains of utter darkness which if it had power according to its cursed desire it would destroy God elect men and angels heaven and earth and all in them and it self also rather then be subject to any or might not onely it self bear rule over all But now to the matter in hand and withal consider what you read for it highly concerns you to look about you that if there should be any evil angels or devils living in the air and a devil amongst them called Beelzebub the prince of devils then I say what need any man trouble himself with the least fear of eternal death what wickedness soever is committed by thee why because if a man is tempted by any devil but what is in his own nature onely that evil spirit is to be eternally damned and the man set free nay moreover if sin or evil issued not from mans unclean reason or lying imagination within him is it possible think you that any man should be tormented as some men are with an inward burning through a secret fear of eternal sufferings rising in them from the guilt of former evils committed against the light of their own consciences furthermore seeing all men which live after the flesh must die or perish and that mans own lust is that imaginary devil from whence proceeds all sin or evil Without controversie though men or angels should gainsay it there are no other evil spirits angels or devils but unmerciful men and women onely Again if envy pride covetousness hypocrisie lust and such like be the devil in man then are not men and women those devils that are under the power of those evils I would fain know from the learned men of this world whether there are any other evil angels or devils besides mankinde that lust after women or silver or honor or revenge or any kinde of evil whatsoever truly if those supposed wise men that talk so much of the sublilty of the prince of the air that rules in the children of disobedience could possibly know that their own imaginary Reason was that evill spirit or prince of all their airy disputes concerning God angels devils Heaven hell eternal glory or shame to come which they know not of according to truth then in stead of their reioycing in the approbation of many men in relation unto their natural gifts their own spirits would immediately become the principle of all those howling groaning serpent-devils spoken of in Holy Writ even in the sight of elect men and angels in this mortal life Again is it not against all spiritual or rational sense that any man angel or devil should suffer eternal damnation for the sin of another or for anothers tempting him to sin or evil Moreover doth it stand to very good sense that yea that creature that is left to himself to be tempted unto sin or evil and overcome thereby and remains under the power of it to their lives end its requisite at the great day he should suffer for his own sin and not for anothers iniquity wherefore judge you is it not one of the vainest things in the world for any man to think that there is any other evil spirit angel or devil that tempts him to any motion imagination thought desire word or action of rebellion against God or man but the proud lying envious devil living in his whole man as aforesaid Therefore let no man that professeth spiritual light or life in him for very shame say that God can be tempted or tempt any man unto sin or evil neither let him say that any evil spirit angel or devil in the air or earth or in the water or in the fire tempts him to commit any sin or evil but that airy watery fiery lustful fleshly devil dwelling in his own body I say let him know that yea that is the prince of the air which thorow the absenting vertue of the holy Spirit begets those legions of devils or lusts in the soul of man and it is the true light of the Lord Jesus Christ in all his new born babes
most high God even there will the righteous Judge execute his fury to take vengeance of all his bloody enemies in this world in this earth where thou committedst thy wickedness thou shalt receive thy sad and dreadful portion and that world without end and therefore deceive not thy self with the vain imaginations of thy spirit of reason that though it be as I affirm yet thou hopest it doth not belong to thee but what is the cause of thy hopes thou art neither satisfied in thy self nor doth it appear to any other onely thou hopest with the rest of thy seed but hast no assurance in the least and that because thou findest within thee that thou art guilty if not of publick yet of private filthiness so that mark what I say believe it whether thou wilt or no thou shalt by woful experience finde that this beautiful world wherein now thou hast thy pleasure shall at the day of Christs next appearance be as aforesaid burnt to ashes or dry sand where all the seed of Cain which in his qualification I have branched forth into four particulars shall not need to trouble themselves about Heaven and how they shall come to it for as sure as God is a chrystal glorious holy righteous personal God thou that desirest with Balaam to die the death of the righteous and not to live the life of the righteous thou with all thy pretended holiness and unrighteousness shalt be raised no higher then this earth that now thou treadest upon for as here thou hast taken thy pleasure so here shall be thy sorrow as here thou hast been a persecutor of God and his people so here thou shalt have the vengeance of God upon thee and in thee as here thou hast cheated and burned in thy filthy lust towards woman so here shall those lustful actions burn in thy soul and body for ever as here thou hast sworn and been drunk so here thou shalt have nothing to quench thy thirst but even here upon this earth where now thou walkest thou shalt howl burn fry to all eternity when then none shall pity thee 2. Having shewed thee the place where the seed of Cain shall be tormented now I shall shew thee the maner and nature of thy torment and therefore attend give ear That after our Redeemer hath called up the Seed of Faith which are but few in comparison of what shal be left behind yet I say after he hath taken that little Flock to himself then will our long looked for Christ Jesus the God of Glory immediately yea in a few hours burn all the riches beauty and bravery of this world to dry sand as aforesaid insomuch that there shall not be left the least appearance of a house herb tree or plant for the Stars Moon and Sun that gave light and motion to the fruits of the earth and moving of the sea shall become nothing yea be put forth as the snuff of a Candle and this world shall be as dark as the land of Egypt was for three days for if you read Exodus 10. 22 23. you shall finde there was a thick darkness in all the Land of Egypt three days they saw not one another neither rose any from his place for three days so that after all is burnt to ashes and that which gave life and motion to the earth and sea is put forth then shall the earth bring forth no more fruit nor the waters run no more but become a dark standing stinking pool as it was in the beginning and all the seed of Cain then both dead and living shall be left behinde with bodies as heavy as lead and as black as pitch which then their bodies shall be their hell and their spirits or souls shall be the devil shut up close prisoner together for ever and ever without end and that fire and brimstone that will burn shall be those wicked thoughts words and actions which in thy life time where now thou art thou committedst against the Seed of Faith yea with a great hand of pride acted against them shall be the fuel as wood and coal is fuel to the natural fire so thy wicked lustful actions shall be the onely fuel that shall burn yea flame more hotter then any natural fire in the hottest furnace whatsoever and yet it shall give no light at all but the flame thereof shall be of a durty scalding burning envious nature which shall smoak and fry through thy mouth thy nostrils thy eyes thy fundament insomuch that there shall not from the crown of the head to the sole of thy foot be one part free but tormented throughout thy whole soul and body And no sooner hath our God caught up his blessed Seed of Faith but this beautiful world becomes dark dust or sand as aforesaid but then yea even then begins thy kingdom of darkness wherein thou must continue either sitting lying kneeling or standing not being able to move one foot from the place where thou art raised but there being lockt up to all eternity never to see thy own dreadful face nor the frightful faces of others their wailing and lamenting for ever Considering First as in relation that thou hadst so many warnings by such poor despised ones as I that hath hazared our estates our liberty yea life and all by publishing such writings and declarations from the Lord that there was no other Devil but such as thou as now to thy eternal wo thou caust set to thy seal is too too true that if thou hadst not shut thy eyes and stopt thy ears thou mightest have foreseen what now thou feelest and not onely that but thy remembrance shall flame in that thou didst not onely slight scoff and scorn such testimonies of truth but thou persecutedst it to death this is one thing that shall burn and never be put out Secondly the remembrance how thou hast spent thy time in this perishing world shall quicken and rise afresh within thee as though they were but then in doing for from my seed-spring I speak it as there is no remembrance of any thing in the dust so there is no time to the dead in the grave for the death of Adam to his resurrection though it be thousands of years in respect to the living yet to the dead so long sleep shall be but as one nights rest I say when thou art awaked it shall be unto thee as no time at all for though thou hast lain in the grave a thousand years more or less yet then it shall appear unto thee as though it was but the last night and as thou in relation to thy thoughts words and actions died here so afresh they shall rise with thee either to thy condemnation or justification O then thou light ranting Devil that died in the living lust of thy soul to deceive the poor innocent virgin or virgin-wife and was never better then when thou hadst opportunities to deceive thy own soul in the undoing of others perswading thy self and others it was no sin but at this day thou shalt know it was a sin and that personal God which thou in thy life time despisedst will now leave thee to thy lustful dealing god within thee where thou shalt be damned to all eternity O then thou dark ranting Devil that died in the pride and ambition of thy heart spending thy time in all wanton wicked sports and pastimes thy eyes have stared with fatness of the earth thy belly swoln with drunken healths yea thy tongue blisterd with cursed oaths and yet thou knew it to be a sin but would not leave it till it was too late where now God hath left thee to be damned to all eternity O then thou coveteous worldly minded Devil that regarded no other God but thy bags of gold silver and so died in the love and delight of thy riches not in the least laying to heart how many thou hast beggered to enrich thy self how many thou hast murthered to make thy self great all this thy oppression by deceit and extortion shall rise afresh with thee yea flame as a hot fiery furnace and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire where nothing shall quench it and that world without end yea damned to all eternity O then thou moderate Saint-like Devil that carried thy self so holy and heaven-like under which pretence thou didst privately backbite yea bear false witness against thy neighbor through thy Pharasaical prayers and large supplications with reading and singing of Psalms yea sighing and groaning and lifting up thy hands and eye to heaven thou didst conzen cheat and defraud thy fellow creature thinking by thy hypocrisie to blind honest hearted simple souls and so with thy cloak of Religion thou didst privately and subtilly enrich thy self in this world and yet got a name for a good chapman and a great professor when all this while thou art ignorant of a true Church and that glorious personal God nay if thou be a Priest or a Ruler thou wilt persecute both God and his People that knows him as he is therefore then thou with thy seeming holiness shall be damned to all eternity So to conclude Let all the seed of Cain look about them and while it is called to day seriously lay to heart and that because as sure as he will come it will be very suddenly and that such an hour that thou knowest not therefore watch and be ready for such an hour as you think not for blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall finde well doing which none shall be thus found but onely the Seed of Faith for as I have told you all the seed of Cain shall be taken unawares yea committing one sin or another saying This day will not be in my time and therefore I will not leave the pleasure of this world not the lusts of my flesh but I will one year more refer it so that Christ will take thee in thy wickedness and give thee thy portion with the hypocrites on this earth clothed with darkness in which thy soul and body shall remain with thy sins kindling and flaming more and more of a dark envious nature through which it shall burn perpetually as aforesaid causing a howling with hideous doleful sighs and groans yea weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore crying Wo wo wo that ever I was born to see this black tormenting day of which there is no END
at a venture but then even then was I summoned to give an account of my Stewardship how I had spent my life this forty years and what I did think would become of my Soul and what would thy riches and glory here avail thee in the grave but especially at the great day of account Now friends I would have you understand that I was in a strait betwixt two so that out of hand the spirit of Faith pleaded thus in me That I had no Commission to preach and forthwith must cease though it was to the loss of my hundred pound a year then stept in the spirit of reason and pleaded How shall my self with five children subsist when as this Benefice would comfortably and honorably provide for us during life Then even then was death and life set before me and the spirit of Faith pleaded thus within me That whether I had rather injoy my Benefice and therein live honorably in this world and so be damned to all eternity in the world to come or whether I would hearken to that call within me to forsake my preaching with the benefit thereof and trust the Lord with my self and the children this lay hard upon me and so narrowly pursued me that for the space of three weeks I could not be at quiet sleeping nor waking going nor riding in which time I had no little conflict to disown the glory of this world for the glory of God supposing my condition to be safe and secure as any man or Parish Priest in the world whatsoever and for my doctrine I was not inferior to any but more able to declare the truth which I apprehended to be truth then the best of them Notwithstanding all this would do me no good nor in the least silence this combate within me but I must cease my trade of preaching lest a worse thing befall me and at that instant it came in my thoughts Remember me how here in this world where now thou livest I was a poor despised Saviour though now a rich immortal glorious God and therefore take no care I will provide for thee and thine so far as is requisite for such a one as thou art to be and withal remember when thou wast in thy wickedness not knowing me then I provided for thee How much more now shall I be mindful of thee so far as shall concern thy good Many of these refreshings did arise from my seed spring within me that I was made willing to disown all that not long before I had taken great pains to perfect and so in submitting to the true light darkness fled and the Lord freely forgave me all that was past present and to come and hath every week more and more enabled me to walk obedient and upright before him mortifying sin continually within me to the onely praise of my God be it spoken that my calling and election is so firm and sure that I vveigh not the censure of men nor Angels but as sure as Christ is the eternal God I shall at his appearance reign eternally vvith him in the heavens and though in my journey to my bed of sleep the grave instead of riches I shall meet with poverty instead of fulness want instead of honor dishonor instead of love hatred instead of a good name all maner of evil tearms instead of friends foes yea may be such as will persecute me to the graves mouth yet now all this I matter not in that sin is my servant and Christ is my Master whom my soul earnestly craves more knowledge of himself with assistance of his power to withstand the despisers of thy person so glorious in my eyes Now since the Lord in his own time hath in his free mercy called and chosen me according to his eternal purpose of old that I should redeem the time I have lost forty years and for the future the short time I have to stay in this present evil world my God I doubt not will enable me to walk holy and without blame before him till I be called to sleep or the day of his appearance change this my poor mortal to that immortal like himself either of which it shall please my God of mercy in his own time and pleasure to call me unto I had rather enjoy then now at this present mark what I say then now at this present enjoy all the riches and wisdom that ever God gave to Solomon so that I can boldly say Happy yea thrice happy am I that the seed of Cain that lying murthering devil who captivated my soul many years a servant to sin and all maner of evil is now disarmed and silent in me and in room thereof the seed of Abraham that blessed seed of Faith hath got the victory by which I am delivered from the power of the fruits of flesh and translated to the fruits of the spirit of Faith in the person of Christ the onely true and everliving God After this my remarkable change being at home silent and quiet in this my mortal tabernacle I was powerfully commanded yea my seed-spring hath certain times invited me to demonstrate to publike view that point concerning the Devil which very title or name Devil doth fright the Devil himself and the ground of this his fear doth arise from the non knowledge of his first rise the description of his form as also his education and qualification with the place and nature of his torment thy ignorance in these things hath produced matter sufficient for my Genius to recal thy thoughts as touching thy mistake of the right Devil and so according as the true onely wise God hath revealed in me I shall make known thâ—se in their order which hath not yet been branched forth as aforesaid CAP. I. The first descent and true Form of the right Devil discovered FIrst as touching the Devil his rise and original I shall infallibly make known unto thee and from inspiration shew that subtile beast or Serpent there spoken of was no horned beast or creeping Serpent as the Priests vainly teach neither was it any Pippin or Pearmain or any other sort of Apple that was so pleasant in Eves eye or delightful to her taste No no it was that reprobate glorious Angel that was far more pleasant and sweeter to Eves taste then the sweetest fruit whatsoever therefore I shall demand of the proudest of his seed now living what was or which now of all creatures or things in this world is most pleasant in thy eyes or most in thy soul desiring to taste Art thou a man then is not a woman beautified and richly atired most pleasant in thy eyes and sweetest to thy taste Art thou a woman what saith thou is not a man beautified and richly atired with subtile and sophistical expressions most pleasant in thy eyes and soonest deceived by him Even so that reprobate Angelical man was that subtile Serpent or beast of the field minde what you read that angelman was so pleasant
to her taste that she took it and did eat which is no more then this That proud beautiful glorious angelman did by his seeming divine wisdom and Angelical person bewitch Eves innocent soul to hearken unto him and her eyes to dote upon him that she admitted him enterance into her body in which and by which she found so much delight that after that she inticed her husband who had copulation with Eve as man with woman in these days so her innocent soul and body being defiled by that reprobate Dragon-angel after which her husband Adam going in unto her was also defiled as a sound woman should receive into her body a diseased man not onely her womb is defiled but she pollutes her husband also as the Pox or Gangreen doth eat throughout the whole man so Eves soul and body being defiled did putrifie the seed of Adam From hence it was there came two seeds the one pure the other impure the one righteous the other wicked Instance from the womb of Rebecca came two seeds at one travel blessed Jacob and cursed Esau thus in plainness of termes I have in short writ to plain sober-hearted men But now from the words of the Scripture I must speak to the seed of Faith that innocent soul-saved generation and that because the learned of this perishing world cannot believe though an Angel should speak from heaven as you the seed of the Lord shall hear that seed of this Serpent will hiss yea if possible sting from his venemous tongue this infallible interpretation of these ensuing words But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Now if you look into the third of Genes with an eye of Faith then you may clearly see what that Tree of Knowledge of good and evil did signifie The words are these And the Serpent said to the Woman ye shall not surely die for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil And when the Woman saw that the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a Tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband and he did eat Oh my spiritual brethren in that my soul desireth your perfection as my own therefore I would gladly have you possessed with an infallible understanding between Michael and his Angels and the Dragon and his Angels or between the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent Why because in the knowledge of these two distinct seeds sons or generations depends a general understanding of the spirit of the Scriptures therefore let thy ear wait on thy eye and thy heart on both for now I shall unlock that secret Cabinet that hath not been opened since the creation till this last Witness therefore attend and take notice that it is a general opinion amongst learned men that the Serpent which appeared unto Eve was one of the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made and that the devil was an invisible spirit which entred into the body of the Serpent and spake those subtile speeches through his mouth and so caused the woman to eat of the fruit of the natural Tree which the Lord God had forbidden and tempting her husband to eat of that fruit with her it operated that venomous evil in them and all mankinde Note Oh the gross darkness that possesseth the learned men of this perishing world you know that the Scriptures are generally expressed in natural terms for the manifestation of spiritual things to the weak comprehension of sinful mortals and yet notwithstanding the natural wisdom of this world would perswade men to understand them exactly in the letter because they measure the glorious things of eternity by their rational learning onely as aforesaid but to enlighten thy understanding minde Scripture-records how that Christ is called a Lyon a Lamb a Stone a Door a Way a Vine a green Tree and such like expressions in reference unto spiritual meanings also you may read evil-minded men are sometimes called by the names of Devils Dragons Vipers Serpents Dogs Swines fruitless Trees and such like according to that of John the Baptist when he said Now the ax is laid to the root of the Tree every Tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire So likewise you that are spiritual may know that yea that Angelical reprobate by whom Eve was deceived was called a Dragon an old Serpent the Devil and Satan a Deceiver or the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and such like names suteable unto his cursed nature so that the naked truth is this that Serpent that tempted Eve was that Angelical Dragon-devil beforesaid which the Lord God from the highest heavens cast down to the lowest earth where there as beforesaid he bewitched Eves innocent soul for if you know what you read you shall finde three prevalent arguments perswading her to consent unto the Serpents language 1. The Tree was good for meat 2. It was pleasant to the eyes 3. It was to be desired to make one wise But before I write of the three secrets hid in the Angelical temptation give me leave to speak a little of the dispensation of the secret wisdom of God to his chosen ones You that are of the seed of Faith and none but you doth know that in the Divine will of the infinite Majesty there is a twofold operation which is this minde what thou readest this is a great mystery When the wisdom of God seeth fit to reveal a Divine secret to his own seed then his holy Spirit is all active and when he seeth fit to obscure it from them then his Divine Spirit is all passive Why because for the manifestation of his infinite power and wisdom that he can create light out of darkness yea life out of death with a glorious advantage For understand this that if the glorious Creator for the tryal of his creature should leave the most experimental man that is to his own inspired light and suffer him to be tempted to that evil of murther or adultery overcome thereby he must of necessity lose that former joy and peace of the divine light or love of God in him and in the room thereof both see and feel nothing but spiritual darkness with a secret fear of eternal death until the light of life appears again with a new assurance of a glorious deliverance from that sinful darkness and fearful death as aforesaid truly whatever man shall imagine to the contrary as sure as there is a God this was the condition of both Adam and Eve when they were defiled with unlawful lust one towards another by that subtile temptation of that Serpents counsel called the Tree of knowledge
of good and evil Again though it is said It was a Tree to be desired to make one wise yet you may know that the soul of Eve was not of a desiring nature after wisdom in her creation because she was all divine satisfaction in her self therefore that desire of tasting of the fruit of a Tree to make her wise as Gods to know both good and evil proceeded onely from the rational nature of an unsatisfied spirit of the Angelical Serpent for this I would have you to understand that at that time when Eve was tempted to evil by the Serpent she was wholly left to her own strength it was the seeming glory of his Angelical language that over-topped her present light and begot that desire in her understanding through which her soul was moved with a powerful desire to make tryal of his Serpentine counsel and to taste of his spiritual meat so highly exalted by him Why because to her received new thoughts she had not heard so glorious a language before Also the Tree was pleasant for sight yet before that glittering Serpent appeared Eve wanted no satisfaction in beholding the man Adam but she looking a little too long upon the comliness of his form through his infused Witchcraft her soul was ravisht through his Angelical person Again it was a Tree whose fruit was to be desired to make one wise as Gods to know both good and evil Now minde the pretended meaning of the serpent in those words was this If she did but taste of the fruit of that Tree it was so full of divine vertue that she could not only be like unto God but she would be as a God to her self also to know all that was to be known whether good or evil within her own soul but the truth is the Serpents secret intent was this that when she had tasted of that forbidden fruit she should with him both know and feel in her own spirit the difference between light and darkness life and death love and envy peace and war good and evil or God and devil likewise observe since Eve the natural mother of all man-kinde was overcome by lust through the subtilty of the Serpent hath not many a poor innocent virgin or virgin-wife in like maner been deceived through the comeliness of mens persons and their Serpentine languages by perswading them that they loved them above their own lives and of giving them such content they know not of or if they deny them it will be their death yea telling them All men are but one man and all women are but one woman and therefore it is purity to be free unto all and that they are in the greatest bondage which are united unto one onely I say hath not these and such like cursed counsels occasioned many innocent soul to betray their virginity or virgin-bed unto their perpetual sorrow and shame afterwards Just thus was it with the virgin-wife Eve though it may seem strange at the first unto many that shall read this Epistle yet you know the Scripture saith That she seeing the Tree good for meat and pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise took of the fruit thereof and did eat that is When the innocent soul of Eve was over-powered with the Serpents subtile language as beforesaid her spirit did consent unto him to come in unto her and take full possession of her to be her God and guide in stead of her Creator Truly in this case the Virgin Eve's condition may fitly be compared unto the Virgin Mary for you know after the Angel had told her that without knowing of man she should be with childe through the power of the most High overshadowing of her how easily was she intreated not onely to have it so but also how exceedingly did her soul rejoyce with the very tidings thereof Again if men look with a spiritual eye between their Angelical salutations you may see more seeming glorious injoyments in the unclean angel greeting of Eve then in the holy Angels saluting of Mary Again though men or Angels should gainsay it from the spirit of truth it self I shall declare the very sense of this secret in plainness of speech which was this As soon as ever Eves innocent soul through the permissive power of God was overcome to consent to the Serpents cursed councel his Angelical person entered into her womb through her secret parts and being united to her soul and body his serpentine nature dissolved it self into her pure seed and defiled her throughout and so became essentially one with her through which naturally she conceived a Serpent Dragon devil into a man child of flesh blood and bone and brought forth her first begotten son of the Devil yea the very Dragon serpent devil himself and called his name according to his nature Cain or cursed though ignorantly she said she had received a man from the Lord So likewise on the contrary the womb of the Virgin-wife Mary was honored with the onely wise Angelical God himself through which her polluted nature was not onely cleansed whilst he was in her womb but also by vertue of the Divine power she was enabled to conceive his glorious majesty of her seed into a holy Babe of unspotted flesh blood and bone and in his season to bring forth her first begotten Son of God and call his name according to his nature Emmanuel Jesus or Blessed so that you which are truely and inwardly baptized with the true knowledge of the holy One of Israel may see in some measure what is meant by the two Scripture-seeds the Angelical devil first became a man-child and the Angelical God afterwards became a man-child thus the most holy God abased himself in the very womb of a woman that he might first or last destroy the power of that serpentine reason or lying imagination in all his elect Israelites Thus if you be not stone-blind you may clearly see that the serpentine angel when he tempted Eve was no homely beast as men vainly imagine from their beastly reason but he was a spiritual body and appeared unto Eve in form like unto a glorious God or man Now if you be unsatisfied as touching the Angelical serpent consisting of as large a compass as the person of a man and yet could enter into the womb of Eve through so narrow a passage as is declared by me I shall answer thee in those sayings of Nicodemus to Christ John the third where he saith How can a man be born when he is old can he enter the second time into his mothers womb and be born again As our Lord answered Nicodemus unto his fleshly question so likewise from his own light in like maner I shall make answer unto this Though the body of the Angelical Serpent in his length or breadth was as a man is yet you may know it was not of a gross substance as man is but it was a spiritual body created in another
in that Chapter that treats of the seed of Cain his education or bringing up Again It is by the Seed of Cain believed man is not the devil in that saith thou the devil can transform himself into any form and appear how where and when he pleaseth Answer If this were true as it is not it were nothing advantagious unto thee in that I can in truth and reality instance one remarkable Devil-man now living whose name is John Robins that did more devilish exployts then any conceited devil without thee Sometimes he did present the form of his person riding upon the wings of the winde like unto a flame of fire also he did present unto some in their beds a great light like unto a flame of fire over all the room that they have been compelled to hide their faces in their beds fearing they should be burned but when they hid their faces in their beds the light did appear more brighter then before also he would present unto them Half-moons and Stars and sometimes thick Darkness darker then any natural darkness whatsoever also he did present in the day time his head onely without a body to a Gentlewoman in her chamber presenting unto her to deceive her the forms of strange beasts as namely dragons and such like much more might be spoken of his deceits in this kind how many great lying signs and wonders this prince of devils was acted forthfar beyond all his cursed seed though a great many more hath assumed to raise various appearances yet notwithstanding all this the fundamental was in themselves as thus A real devil within them but an imagined devil without them and thus their consciences being seared they seek to make others in faith with them that they can raise a devil without them which at the great day they shall finde it to be a cheat that shall burn in their souls and bodies more hotter then any fire and brimstone Again thou sayest The devil is in hell tormented and torments all that he can captivate in his bounds but we are on the earth not tormented c. Answ This thy plea thou hast received from others as wise as thy self that knows no more of a hell without man then of a heaven within man for alas poor deceived soul thou apprehendst a devil thou knows not what and a hell thou knows not where for the learned or the proudest of his seed little think or can believe that their body shall be their hell and their spirit or soul shall be their devil shut up close prisoners on this earth tormented to all eternity neither shall you the seed of Cain believe that your cheats oppression adultery swearing drunkenness and persecuting this infallible truth with all other of your filthiness shall be that fuel that shall burn more hotter then any natural fire in this world And as touching that whereas thou saith We are upon the earth not tormented Alas pititous soul though all the seed of Cain are not tormented alike by reason of long habit and custom through which thy conscience is seared that no small sin will torment thee but there are thousands of thy brood that have an earnest peny of that they shall be hereafter otherwise what causeth the hideous doleful sighs groans and cries of many of your seed in health but much more on thy bed of sickness concluding in thy self I am damned I am damned to all eternity finding in thy self no peace in that thou knows not the God of peace neither hast thou walked uprightly in doing to others as thou would they should do to thee but have either publickly or privately transgressed the Law by which thy sin is strengthened for the strength of sin is the law and so death which is the sting of sin arraigns thee at the bar of thy own conscience reading within thy own soul all thy private evils against God and man nay from my seed-spring I speak it many of this cursed seed are seemingly Saints and do live as a people that doth righteous things and in gifts of nature heaven-like praying and preaching to the admiration of all that hears them and yet they find in themselves if they would speak the truth what sad torments they undergo while they live on this earth yea so great in some that their torment cannot cease till the soul make away it self As touching this I shall remind you of one remarkable accident which many in London this day can witness the truth of what I write Thomas Gun by name was the man who for gifts and parts in the Ministry as also for a civil life did equalize all the teachers of the Baptists if not excell them and yet at that very same instant was guilty of adultery and that for a long time deceived his own soul and the poor woman his torment for which could not be satisfied till he took a Pistol and shot himself to death thus it was with him and so with many more little or much are in hell yea on this earth tormented though nothing comparable to what thou shalt be at the day of Christs next appearance Again thou sayest The devil is a wicked cursed blasphemer against God and all that is good yea the devil is a lying murthering persecutor of the people of God therefore man is not the devil because he is a true worshipper of God c. Ans If thou understoodst what thou sayest I could set to my seal that whosoever is a true worshipper of God is no devil for indeed none can worship him or be reverent of his name but those that are of the seed of Faith those that are eternally preserved in peace here and glory hereafter for it is life eternal to know thee the onely true God without which knowledge none can worship him or be reverent of his name thus far I agree and set to my seal that this man is no devil but alas how many of these are in this perishing world though millions of thousand thousands make a show and a talk of a God yet very few there are that knows him as he is a glorious personal God so that true was that saying from the Lord in Isaiah 10. 22. For though my people be as the sand of the sea yet a remnant of them shal be saved Fear not my little flock it is your fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom One of a tribe two of a City so few are those that knows the true God that they are but a handful to them that knows him not But now to the Query in hand The devil saith thou is a wicked cursed blasphemer against God and all that is good from whence thou concludes man cannot be this devil in that man is not so wicked as to curse and blaspheme God what if I can find out such men that hath and at this day will curse God to his face is not this sufficient to convince thee there is no other devil but what is
that crusheth the Cockatrice eggs before they become serpent-devils to sting the whole man with fear of eternal death So that understand what I say those devils which by the powerful word of the Lord Jesus were cast out of Mary Magdalene or any other creature spoken of in Holy Writ were onely all maner of filthy deseases or violent fiery distempers in man that hurried him about any desperate wickedness whatsoever oftentimes increasing so powerfully as you may read in Mark the fifth that it did not onely occasion him to rend his own body and break iron chains but also he is ready to tear any one in pieces until the Lord of Glory shined into his distempered soul with that golden Grace of true Faith through which that imaginary devil is chained up whereby all his fleshly goods were spoiled of ever having power in him as formerly and being now in his right minde at the glorious feet of Christ Jesus through his own pure light leading him into heavenly raptures in reference unto his eternal glory at his visible appearing in the clouds with all his mighty Angels Therefore seriously consider that if Cain or Abel were both begotten by Adam upon the body of Eve as for the most part all men vainly imagine from one bare Scripture-record which they understand not I would know of that man that is offended with me concerning this point why Cain was nominated in Holy Writ to be of that wicked one aforesaid and branded as an out-cast fugitive vagabond and cursed from the divine presence of the Creator and cast out of the natural presence of his parents for ever and condemned with Balaam and Core as a perishing cast-away This I am sure of that no spiritual rational man that is sober dare say that either Adam or Eve was that wicked one from whence the cursed spirit of Cain sprang why because there is no such opprobrious names attributed unto them through the sacred Scriptures Moreover you may know that yea that wicked one from whence Cains soirit proceeded could not possibly have any relation to Adam or Eve though Cain was conceived in her womb and born of her body and that because there was an absolute curse denounced upon the Angelical Serpent and his seed in her womb as aforesaid wiâ—hout any after-promise in Holy Writ for ever being redeemed by the Creator but on the contrary you know there was a gracious promise by the Creator himself of the Redemption of Adam and Eve after their fallen estate with their whole generation of righteous Abels Seths or Abrahams in that glorious hidden saying The Seed of the woman shall break the serpents head Now one Scripture more which shall be against all gainsayers interpreted which is this Matthew the fourth beginning at the first verse Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterward an hungred and when the tempter came to him he said If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread then he answered Man shall not live by bread onely but by every word of God or that word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God then the devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the temple and saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He hath given his angels charge concerning thee c. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof and saith unto him All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me c. In that these hidden sayings hath their dependence on the precedent Chapter I must from thence make way to this divine Secret As if thou couldst but understand what thou readest thou shalt finde that as soon as ever Christ was baptized by John the Holy Ghost fell upon him that did impower him to encounter with the devil in which Dispute we must observe these two particulars 1. Who this tempter or devil was 2. The nature of this temptation First take notice that this tempter was one of the wisest and soberest yet subtilest Disputant amongst the Pharisees and Sadduces and therefore appointed by them to have conference with Christ as by and by you shall read for if you cast your eyes on John the third the fifth sixth and seventh verses you shall finde there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan and were baptized of him in Jordan confefsing their sins as touching these John used no words of reproof or dislike in the least but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduces come to his baptism he forthwith upbraided them with a sad yet just sentence saying O generation of vipers who hath forewarned you to flee from the wrath to come c. as if he should have said Ye are the children or that wicked one that onely comes to dispute and to cavel therefore John cuts them short with these words Bring forth fruits meet for repentance and think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our father Then John proceeds further and tells them I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier then I whose shoes I am not worthy to bare he shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire Now when the Pharisees and Sadduces heard this they forthwith commissionated one of the wisest and subtilest devil amongst them which by experience they found was best versed in Scripture to see if this man-devil could perswade the Lord Jesus to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire Now that you may no longer doubt but that this tempter or devil was onely a man as aforesaid cast thy eye into Deuteronomy 6. and the sixth verse where it is thus written Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God as ye tempted him in Massah so read Heb. 3. 9. Now tell me friend who those were that tempted the Lord were they not the people of Israel men and women So this tempter or devil that I am now treating of was onely a wise subtile man as you have already heard and will in this temptation be made more apparent 2. To the nature of the temptation beginning at these words Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil First minde the Spirit that led Iesus up into the wilderness was the Holy Ghost which came upon him at the baptism of John a little before the tempter came as you may read in the last verse of the third of Matthew I have found it true by experience that whosoever hath received the Holy Spirit cannot be free from the temptation of the devil that is the cavelling contentious disputes of unreasonable and unmerciful men
But Secondly in the next place I shall give you to understand that this wilderness here spoken of was not a wilderness yielding fruit for the supporting of life where nothing but wilde beasts void of reason doth inhabit as the seed of Cain doth imagine and the learned of that seed do vainly teach though this wilderness was the same that John quotes in Mat. 3. 13. saying The voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord c. Now let any sober man judge the black darkness that is over the learned to think that Iohn should cry the message of the Lord to a wilderness of wood and wilde beasts that hath no understanding to receive it and as great a darkness it is for thee to think that any devil without man or devil-man could so far overcome Christ as to lead him into such a wilderness no no therefore take notice that wilderness Iohn preached in and this wilderness Christ was lead up into was onely the wilderness of mans heart whose hearts are as barren as a natural wilderness that beareth no fruit as unto the true knowledge of things appertaining unto eternal life O minde what you read it was the wilderness of mans heart and not such a wilderness as Moses led the people of Israel through for neither did Iohn preach nor was in any such wilderness 3. It s said Christ fasted forty days and forty nights but from what he fasted is not in the least mentioned therefore I affirm that as Moses fasted forty days and forty nights in the mount from natural food so did Christ fast forty days and forty nights in the spiritual that is Christ did baptize none with the Holy Ghost nor with fire neither did he do any miracle for the space of six weeks and the original of this was that he might be tempted of the subtile serpentine devil-man as aforesaid which made that devil-man say If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread however thou that readest mayest not apprehend this yet let me tell thee that man-devil did not mean the hard stones that we tread upon no more then Iohn when he said God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham Oh what absurdity is it in any man to think that God would of natural dead stones raise them up spiritual living children no no when the devil-man said Command that these stones be made bread which was this Command this stony heart of mine and the stony hard hearts of the Pharisees and Sadduces that sent me command them to be made hearts of flesh by baptizing of us with the Holy Ghost and with fire whereby I and others may so believe that we may become true bread unto Christ for in Iohn 4. 32 34. there saith Christ I have meat to eat that ye know not of meaning his dispute with the woman of Samaria as touching this it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father which will was to baptize his Elect with the Holy Ghost and with fire without which no man could have eternal life abiding in him 4. Then the devil taketh Jesus up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the temple Observe that the City and pinacle of the Temple were both in the self same place yet understand that the Temple and the City signifie one and the same thing as from the words of Paul Defile not the temple of God whose temple ye are yea ye are the temples of the holy Ghost and the city of the living God as is recorded in the Corinthians and Hebrews and yet you shall finde though the Saints are the City and Temple of God that the Scripture calls the Nation of the Jews the holy City so that I know that was the holy City that the devil-man took Christ up into and there in the most eminent or highest place of the Temple stated his temptation in the pinacle that is nothing else but the high temptation that this devil used out of his own high spirit of reason saying Cast thy self down that is submit unto this people which in Moses time were the onely Nation or City of God do but submit to be Governor or King in condescending to us there can no harm befal thee in that he hath given his angels charge concerning thee thou being the Son of God and our King we shall conquer the whole world but Christs kingdom not being of this world he tells them as at other times Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It might well be called the high temptation of the devil that if it had been possible to unthrone Christ of his immortal Crown and Kingdom and crowned him King over a mortal bloody and perishing kingdom I say as in relation to the strength and subtilty of this temptation a man might well be called devil 5. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof and saith All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Answ If you could understand the Scriptures you shall read it calleth rich wicked men Mountains and poor believing men Valleys as saith Isaiah chap. 40. verse 4. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low there is very little of the New Testament to be understood in the letter but spirit onely therefore saith Christ My words are spirit and life so that if thou couldest see with an eye of Faith then thou couldest with me acknowledge that this exceeding high mountain which the devil shewed Christ and all the kingdoms of the world with the glory of them were all in the devils own heart for if you minde the Chief Priests and Rulers from whence this devil-man was sent they in their Councel instructed him that if that Christ to whom he was sent would but come and submit yea side with them for submitting you must understand is no less then to worship that if Christ Jesus would but submit to be their king and governor then they would assure him he should have all the kingdoms of the world for thou being the Son of God no earthly king can stand before thee for in so doing we shall have the rule and government of the whole world and the glory thereof which if thou wouldst but condescend to this we could make our words truth that Herod Pilate and Cesar would give place to thy crown and dignity by which we should become a greater people then ever we were these and such like thoughts was in the Priests and Rulers which they thought they had so wisely compacted together as a mountain not onely strong and great but a high mountain over-topping all other mountains whatsoever So that now you have the interpretation of that Scripture which till this last Witness could never be rightly understood that the high mountain there spoken of
was the moderate wise and high read Consultations in the breasts of the Rulers given into a particular moderate wise high learned man much read in the Law and the Prophets to tempt and if possible to perswade Christ to yield to this his high and learned Position but you may read this man-devils mountain was too weak and too low for the high immortal God to rest or cast himself down upon for to that end he came not into this kingdom to be King but to fulfil his own determined will in destroying him that had the power of death even the devil yea that devil-man that would if possible have deceived God himself and so returns his positive Answer Get thee hence Satan for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve that is thou oughtest to be ruled by me and not I by thee therefore depart my kingdom is not of this world but of that world which is everlasting immortal and to all eternity Upon which that man-devil leaveth him tormented for not prevailing and Christ refreshed by his Messenger from his glorious Kingdom above the stars Question If this be infallible what you have here written then may you ask me How comes it the Learned of this world could not as well as this Witness make known this hidden divine Secret seeing they give themselves wholly to finde out the true interpretation of the Scriptures Answ What ever the Learned of this world dream of finding out the invisible things of Eternity by searching into Scripture Records and comparing them together yet know this the Divine Majesty hath locked up all the principal Secrets of the Scriptures in his own spiritual breast that he by an immediate inspiration may dispose of them into the spirits of elect men and angels most advantagious for his own glory and their consolation therefore minde what you read and seriously observe that the Scriptures runs not in the line of Reason but in the line of Faith Inspiration or Revelation according to those sayings in the Hebrews and other Records By Faith the divine Work of Creation and wonderful Mystery of Redemption was and is known with the immortal eternal Glory and everlasting shame of mens persons in the end of the world but of the contrary you shall never read in any place of Scripture that any man in the least knew the things of eternal Glory by any kinde of rational comprehension wharsoever I confess the natural Reason of man is a very good handmaid if it be well qualified with the spiritual dame of divine Faith for illustrating of the things of God unto weak comprehensions but as for truly understanding the invisible things of God by the highest reason that ever was in man or angel it is utterly impossible as beforesaid and that because though the spirit of reason were never so pure yet you may know reasons nature is but a desire after the knowledge of the divine nature of that Spirit from whence reason had its living being but of the contrary spiritual Truth or Faith is of the divine nature of God himself and therefore in what soul soever that Heavenly Seed is sown it springeth up in that spirit all variety of divine knowledge with glorious raptures in reference unto life eternal by vertue of an intercourse with the eternal Spirit from whence it came Moreover I confess a man that is indued with a Solomon-like gift of natural reason may be able to comprehend all words whether they are spoken in a good form sense or language or no yea and such a man may be mighty in disputes about the glorious things of Eternity but as for thy real understanding whether there were or be any such eternal things or no thou hast no certain knowledge of that at all but thy bare thoughts onely which if equally weighed in that balance it may be true or it may be false and all this is for want of an infallibility of Truth it self therefore though the divine things of the eternal Majesty be nothing else but spiritual purity of an infallible truth in themselves yet unto that rational wise man they are nothing but non-sensical blasphemy or lying tales till his reason is confounded in him by a true and heavenly Faith Now thou that hast perused this Epistle if thou understandest what thou readest mayest behold how infallibly I have proved both by Reason Faith and Scripture that there is no other devil but what is in man and woman also how this devil came to be a devil so that if thou wilt not because thou canst not believe much good may that imaginary devil do thee yet by the way let me tell thee one word which is irrevocable that thou canst not now really nor at thy resurrection shalt finde or in thy self feel any other devil but thy soul onely which if it were possible for thee then to utter thy self thou wouldest tell me what now I write to thee was the naked truth but then even then I shall be far enough from thee in that I shall be with the Lord above the Stars this thou shalt finde and this I shall be as sure as God is God for believe me whether thou wilt or no I do not write now as formerly I have done viz. hab nab as a man onely indued with reason but take notice I write from that revealed Seed-spring within me Now to the seed of Cain his Education CAP. II. The Seed of Cain his Education or bringing up undeniably proved against any of his tribe that shall oppose it AS touching this I shall not need to spend much ink or paper and that because not onely Scripture but likewise experience doth confirm that there is none of the Seed of Faith so honorably educated as the rich sort of the seed of Cain for indeed to whom doth the wisdom and government of this world belong to but to them and therefore nothing that in the bounds of reason can be attained unto but his seed enjoys it nay they are so exactly educated in the affairs of this world that by their reason they are able to comprehend all words whether they are spoken in a Philosophical form sense or language nay many of them are not onely mighty in disputes as touching the Government of this their kingdom but they are also able in dispute about the glorious things of Eternity though they understand not the matter disputed of in the least for as Paul saith 1 Cor 2. 14. Neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned for their education in the greatest knowledge is but natural and therein they are able to dictate unto the unlearned of their seed laws and rules to preserve this their kingdom in peace among themselves for you must understand what wisdom Learning can teach them shall not be wanting and the wisdom they attain unto is not that spiritual or divine Wisdom for this onely belongs to the Seed of Faith As