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 diseases 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 spirit 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 without 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 of 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
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 fâ—r 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 oâ— 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 read but 1 Cor. 2. 4 5 and 6 verses and there you shall hear Paul shew the vast difference of the wisdom of Faith from the wisdom of flesh for the wisdom
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 oâ— 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 whicâ— 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 â—n him and in the room thereof both see â—nd feel nothing but spiritual darkness â—ith a secret fear of eternal death until â—he light of life appears again with a new â—ssurance of a glorious deliverance from â—hat sinful darkness and fearful death as â—foresaid 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 world for though the bodies of the mighty Angels are in forms like men yet you may know that they shine like unto the Sun or a flame of
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 wtitten 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 it 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 elect 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 wo 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 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
fire being formed in a Region of a more higher nature then this therefore they are of motion more swifter then thought of a pure thin or bright fiery nature so that with great ease they pierce through a narrow passage at the divine pleasure of the Creator So likewise it was with that Serpent tree of knowledge of good and evil for though his created purity was become all maner of imaginary impurities through his outcast condition yet you may know that his form was of a more fiery brightness then that of Adam or else Eve could not possibly have been deceived by him as aforesaid also his body being spiritual though his nature was carnal there was no let to hinder this descending into her womb to bring forth the Creators secret purpose of two generations coming through the loins of one woman to make an everlasting distinction between the transcendent glory of respection and shame of rejection Again though the Angelical Serpent descended into the womb of Eve yet you may know that his ascending nature was utterly lost so that in stead of his ascending upward into that habitation of ravishing glory from whence he was cast he was ignorant of it and of that God and his mighty Angels as if he had never known them in the least therefore he imagined his serpentine subtilty to be the onely wisdom then in being and this world to be the onely heaven Thus all the seed of Faith may be satisfied that the Devil that was is or at the resurrection shall so rise is in the form of a man and this Cain man-devil in process of time married and begat sons and daughters so that there shall not onely be a male but female devils also yea since there hath been and now is legions yea millions of legions of his seed in the forms of men and women and that as comely persons as â—ver were born of a woman O then ye seed of Cain look about you and seriously lay to heart how rashly it hath and now at this day is preached and by you believed that the devil was long before man was created as also that the devil had never the form or shape of a man but as it pleased Master Painter to draw him forth in such a form that when the devil knows himself to be a devil thou wilt see the cheat of both the Limner and his Picture Notwithstanding it hath been infallibly proved that there is no other devil but what is in men and women yet it is made known unto me the various pleas and excuses why or wherefore the generation of Cain have endeavored to finde out a devil before and without man First because that which is a devil is in antipathy to God so a professed enemy to his glorious person also the very name devil is a frightful cursed name a name that is a terror to all sober-minded men therefore to cloke their cursed devilish actions and that they may not be noted by the righteous Abels to be devils this devilish generation atribute it to a devil without them First It is by them supposed the devil is a deformed creature of an ugly shape with a cloven foot c. and therefore say they it cannot be a man or woman for they are comely beautiful creatures Secondly It is by them believed that the devil can transform himself into any form and appear where how and when he pleaseth therefore it cannot be that man should be the devil in that man can do none of these things Thirdly say they The devil is in hell tormented and torments all that he can captivate in his bounds but we are upon the earth not tormented neither torment we any man Fourthly say they The devil is a wicked cursed blasphemer against Goâ— and all that is good yea the devil is a â—…ing murthering persecutor of the châ—…dren of God therefore it cannot be thâ—… man should be this devil in that he is a true worshipper of God and is reverent of his name no blasphemer or persecutor of his people Fifthly and lastly The greatest Appeal the seed of Cain can make for himself is this If there be no other devil but what is in men and women then say they Kings may be devils Magistrates devils Merchants devils Lawyers devils Soldiers devils Doctors devils and Preachers devils and so in conclusion there may be few other in this world that at the day of judgement shall be raised but devils From these and such like hath that proud spirit of Reason in them corruptly imagined a Devil after their own fancy and have christened him Devil yea and given him a place of abode either under the earth in the hollow of the earth in â—…e depth of the waters or in the air or â—…e place they know not where and 〈◊〉 this is because they would not have â—od nor his people take notice that they â—…e his seed These and such like are in â—ome measure satisfactory to the spirit of Reason that there is a devil without them besides them and contrary to mans form Notwithstanding it hath been sufficiently maintained nay against all Gainsayers proved what the first descent or rise of the Devil was which never any since the foundation of the world could reveal till this Last Witness yet for thy further satisfaction I shall in short answer those thy frivolous Pleas and Excuses First thou pleadest The devil is a deformed deformed creature of an ugly shape with a cloven foot c. Answer This is one of the imagined whimsies of the ignorant and learned in these days this is one of the Scar-crows and Bug-bears believed and so reported by his own seed that the devil cannot be a man in that he is a deformed beast and yet not any of you dare avouch unto me where when and in what shape thou sawest him but in that thy soul is clothed with that ignorant dark devil within thee thou apprehendest and imaginest strange appearances without thee insomuch that an old Tree in the night is supposed a devil unto thee where this ignorance of a true God and a right devil hath taken place oh how fearful is that soul of something without it when the rise of thy fear is really within thee As consider what is the cause that a soul cries out The devil the devil stands before me waiting to carry me away with him and all that are with thee beholds nothing but thy self frighted and tormented by the devil within thee for my seed-spring declares unto thee there is no such thing as is supposed by thee but that devil that ever was is or shall be is for the most part as comely a creature as walks in London streets and hath as neat a foot and a a hand as any Lady in the land which shall appear more at large 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 in man for I 'le assure thee there is some this day in London and Country also that in my hearing hath said God is a devil and
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 me at 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
how many of these poor you can finde among the poor seed of Cain for if thou understandest what thou readest thou shalt finde though the Seed of Faith for the most part are but poor in this world viz. your kingdom yet minde what the Holy Writ saith though poor in estate yet they are rich in faith so that these poor by Faith receives the Gospel therefore take notice of this it is not poverty in the outward man that makes thee rich in the inward man for if you could discern by the spirit of Faith you shall finde that the major part of the poor in this world are as poor in faith yea so poor that they cannot give thee the least account what God is or what a rich treasure it is to believe in God therefore in stead of loving God they hate God as if it were but recorded how many times in a day at Billings-gate as also in all the Streets of London thou shalt hear they are educated in little else but to blaspheme the name of our glorious personal God as shall be seen more at large in the devil his qualification so that deceive not your selves and that because of your beauty or greatness no nor for your poverty unless you be richly clad with that rich Jewel of Faith for that will manifest who was thy tutor and the nature of thy education CAP. III. The devil or seed of Cain his Qualification and how he is acted forth FOr your better understanding of what I shall now write you shall finde this matter ensuing divides it self into several branches and not onely as touching his thoughts words and actions but there are several distinct actings forth of this wicked seed in matter of qualification and yet all makes up but one seed as unto its original even the seed of Cain their father as First some of this seed you shall hear are acted forth to all maner of uncleanness yea such as is spoken of in Romans the first from verse 21. to the end of the Chapter For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women did change their natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one towards another men with men working that which is unseemly Of these sorts of devils we have among us at this day and that not onely such that doth take shame for what they have done but rather will maintain such gross foul filthy acts and that because say they there is nothing that I can think speak or do but God is the Author of it so what if I lye with another mans wife what harm can be in that I know no evil in so doing for to me all women are but one woman and this woman a man and that man I man eternity and therefore if I lye with twenty they are but all one to me and there being a free consent what fin can be in this for what hath some in London said that it is no more sin for a man to lye with any woman then a Cock to tread a Hen or a Bull to serve a Cowe nay this ranting devil is qualified and acted forth saying till a man can act sin as no sin he cannot be free from sin for thinking this it is impossible for any man to be free from these sins unless he can steal murther and commit adultery as no sin then and not till then say they thou hast no power over sin and so thou encouragest thy self in all thy impurity in that saith thou to the pure all things are pure so that nothing is unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth it so not in the least considering as unto what the Apostle spake that to the pure all things are pure from hence including all maner of filthy acts whatsoever Now let any of the Seed of Faith judge if thou art not given over to a reprobate minde to do those things that are not convenient for as touching this speak thy self what convenience doth appear in any of these thy destructive actions for indeed destructive they are both to thy self and them thou hast to deal with witness the tears of many a poor virgin-wife and the sad misery many an innocent virgin hath undergone by thy devilish temptation to the loss of all her friends the defilement of her own body and the eternal hazard of her soul yet all this is justifiable in thy reprobate minde if thou canst but satisfie thy lust and spend her money that is all the love that she shall finde from thee and when this pretty deluded creature comes and tells thee how the case is with her I am with childe by thee and thou hast spent all my money what wilt thou do with me wilt thou according to thy promise make me thy wife and do thy best endeavor to satisfie me for this wrong thou hast done to me What is his answer think you even this he will reply Alas what can I do for thee marry thee I cannot in that I have a wife and to maintain thee I cannot in that I have it not for my self so thou must provide for thy self as well as thou canst Now if this poor deceived creature should reply and say thou toldest me thou wast single and it was nothing but pure love to me and that thou lovedst me above all the world so I did condescend to lie with thee thinking thou wouldest make me thy wife by which I have not onely brought my self to shame and beggery but for ought I know have damned my soul Upon these words this Ranting devil breaks forth saying A pox take you for a whore you are a dark devil indeed to say thou shalt be damned for thy love the Scripture commands us to love our neighbor as our self and therefore we are to love our neighbors wives and how can our love be more exprest then in kissing sporting and lying one with another and thus they make Solomon and his writings their patern nay they will engage soul for soul that she shall not be damned provided she do not look upon it as a sin for say they to lye with a maid widow or our neighbors wife is no more then to lye with that woman you call my wife for I know none lawfully married in this world but those onely that are one in flesh and spirit and she that you call my wife though I have had many children by her she is but a whore and the children bastards for we were not contracted in this light and purity aforesaid Now let any sober man judge the quality of this kinde of devil that his love and purity is to destroy and begger a poor innocent soul and yet plead for it as the onely truth saying It is not I but the Lord in me of my self I can do nothing and he is all in all with many such like Scriptures they will