Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	call_v	day_n	sabbath_n	2,477	5	9.8919	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33370	A paradisical dialogue betwixt faith and reason disputing the high mysterious secrets of eternity, the like never extant in our revelation. As touching God in eternity, how he became time in flesh, and how he dyed in the grave, and ascended to his glory again. Also what the angels are in form and nature, and how the angel became a devil, and that devil man; and that this world was prepared for the devil, so this the devils kingdom; and what the soul is, with the place of its glory and torment. With a brief narration what a commission is, and how many commissions there are; what the difference of their worships, and how that the law was given to the devil; with a brief discourse on the catechism, the Lords Prayer, and the creeds; as also, a divine prospect to the elect of the Lord. Written by Law. Claxton, the onely true bishop and faithful messenger of Christ Jesus, creator of heaven and earth.	Claxton, Laurence, 1615-1667.	1660 (1660)	Wing C4581; ESTC R215220	88,691	122

it is finished bringeth forth death Novv Jam. 1. 15. vvhile thy lust is a tempting there comes a good motion and frustrates that temptation by vvhich means that thou hadst intended is not conceived so no sin indeed lust vvas burning in thy heart but in that it came not to perfection the lavv hath quenched the flame for vvhat hath the Lavv to do vvith a heart-adultery no no it is no thought but an act that breaks the Law and what comes not within the bounds of the Lavv be it adultery nay be it murther if it lie onely in the heart and be not acted there can no Lavv condemn thee Reason What is thy thoughts as touching the fourth Commandment as being changed from Saturday to Sunday and vvhat is the reason why this Command vvas changed above all the rest and vvhethe● this Sabbath called The first day of the week is not according to the judgement of the Assembly of Divines to continue to the end of the World vvithout any alteration thereof Faith It matters not me vvhat grounds or principles of Religion your Assembly of Divines holds forth as a Catechi●m to thy Seed for this by Faith I knovv and against men and Angels affirm That as the Commission of Moses ended in the Commission of the Apostles so the Jevvish Sabbath vvith the rites thereof ended in the Sabbath or first day of the vveek of the Apostles then knovv as the Commission of the Apostles ends in ours so vve have povver as the Apostles to erect you a Sabbath suitable to our Commission for knovv this that one Commission is not tied in point of Revelation to observe the former but each Commission according to its title and place hath power in it self to direct you what manner of Sabbath you are to keep therefore observe the Sabbath of Moses Commission was in this nature as followeth viz. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man servant nor thy maid servant nor thy cattel nor thy stranger that is within thy gate for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it Now this Sabbath thou wilt not own but the First day or Sabbath of the Apostles which hath no such form in it as the Sabbath of the Jews hath And why the Sabbath of the Jews was altered I tell thee in that Christ the onely God by his own power that day had quickned death into life as it is written In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards Mat. 28. 1 2. the first day of the week came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre and behold there was an earthquake for the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sate upon it So this being the first day of Christs Resurrection was a day of joy and gladness to the Apostles in that it brought peace and rest to their souls confirmed in their faith that he was Christ the Son of God Whereupon the Revelation of their faith led them forth to keep the first day of their Saviours Triumph over sin hell and death to be a day set apart to assemble together and contribute their benevolence for the refreshment of the poor members of that faith as it is written And upon the first day of the week when the Disciples Act. 20. 7. came together to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight also Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you 1 Cor. 16. 2. lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering when I come Now this Command being a day set apart in point of Worship therefore as the Commission changed so the Worship changed and so of necessity it will follow that the day must be changed Therefore take notice as this Commission was not to hold to the end of the World no more ought that First day for as I said before every Commission hath power in it self in the vertue of its Revelation to change its Worship suitable to its Commission so a Commission hath power to change a day for that Worship Now our Commission being spiritual doth hold forth no manner or forms of Worship but the worshipping of God in Spirit and truth Therefore I say not onely the Jews Sabbath but also the Apostles First day in our Commission are void and of no effect as it is written He spake on a c●rtain place of Heb. 4. 4. the seventh day on this wise and God did rest the seventh day from all his works So the blessed of the Lord believing Christ to be God the Father Creator of Heaven and earth are entered into the perfect liberty of faith which frees them from the lusts of the flesh and so entered into peace and rest by which not onely the Jews Sabbath nor the Apostles First day but every day is a Sabbath to the Elect of the Lord Now Mat. 12. 1 10. in that the Priests of this World do know that if the first should be as another day then they would lose their hearers and so in conclusion lose their tythes therefore as Christ and the Apostles by the Jews were accused for breaking their Sabbath so the Pharisaical Teachers of thy Seed will condemn us for repealing the First day of the Week But however in the Authority of our Commission I declare That every soul which knoweth Christ in his Form and Nature the Devil in his Form and Nature hath entered unto his eternal Sabbath of perfect rest without end Reason Let me but hear thy judgement as touching that saying of the Lawyer to Christ Master which is the great Commandment in the Law Now Christs answer was That thou shouldst Mat. 22. 36 37 38. love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy minde this is the first and great Commandment Faith And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self on these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets Now what manner of love is this with which if we love the Lord and our Neighbour as our self we keep the whole Law but for my part I know not the man that can love his neighbour as himself and so none can truly love God My judgement is That all the ten Commandments are according to the sequel of these words reduced into two heads and these two are comprehended yea fulfilled in this word Love as it is written Owe no man any thing but to Rom. 13. 8 love one another

A PARADISICAL DIALOGUE BETWIXT FAITH and REASON DISPUTING The high mysterious Secrets of Eternity the like never extant in our Revelation As touching God in Eternity how he became time in flesh and how he dyed in the grave and ascended to his glory again ALSO What the Angels are in form and nature and how the Angel became a Devil and that Devil man and that this World was prepared for the Devil so this the Devils Kingdom and what the Soul is with the place of its glory and torment With a brief Narration what a Commission is and how many Commissions there are what the difference of their worships and how that the Law was given to the Devil with a brief discourse on the Catechism the Lords Prayer and the Creeds as also a Divine Prospect to the Elect of the Lord. Written by Law Claxton the onely true Bishop and faithful Messenger of Christ Jesus Creator of Heaven and earth London Printed for the Author and are to be sold by William Learner at the Blackmoor near Fleet-bridge 1660. INDEX Chap. 1. SHewing whether God be a Spirit without á body or that God is a body of flesh and bone glorified Chap. 2. Shewing whether the Father became not a Son which Son was Christ and by death became a Father to all Eternity now in heaven glorified Chap. 3. Shewing Christ is the onely God and Father Creator of Heaven and earth now it is to be revealed what God and Father that was and where he was that Christ so often called upon when he was upon earth Chap. 4. Shewing whether the Angels were the first that God created and of what he created them with their nature and form and what was the cause of the Angels fall above all the rest Chap. 5. Shewing whether this World was before the Angels or no and whether this World was made of something or nothing and how it came into form and being and whether it shall for ever thus remain Chap. 6. Shewing of what matter Adams body was created and what was his nature soul or spirit and by what means he came to lose that estate he was created in Chap. 7. Shewing who it was that tempted Eve and Adam whether it was the Angel aforesaid and if so why is he called a Serpent Beast or Tree c. and how and which way they were deceived and what effect it hath ever since produced Chap. 8. Shewing whether Cain was not the first Devil and who are his seed or children and what Devils those were so frequently spoken of in Scripture Chap. 9. Shewing what the soul is and what it is that dyes how that it is none but the soul which is the life of the body that can dye Chap. 10. Shewing what Heaven is and how many heavens there are what the nature and form thereof Chap. 11. Shewing what Hell is and where it is what the form and nature of its torment Chap. 12. Shewing what Authority a Commissioner hath in the vertue of his Commission what the effects and operations thereof Chap. 13. Shewing what the Law is at large and in short and whether any can keep the Law and when he is said to keep the Law and when not Chap. 14. Shewing whether that prayer doth not belong to all and whether by prayer we may come to the knowledge of God and whether it is our duty to make use of the Lords prayer Chap. 15. Shewing whether there be any truth in the faith of the Church of England expressed in the Creeds or Articles recorded Chap. 16. Shewing in eighteen Propositions the invincible mighty great Authority that is intrusted with a Divine Commissioner Also an eternal whip or scourge for the Quakers for belying the Holy Ghost A PARADISTICAL DIALOGUE BETWIXT Faith and Reason Disputing the high Mysterious Secrets of Eternity the like never yet extant in our Revelation CHAP. 1. Shewing whether God be a Spirit without a body or that God is a body of flesh and bone glorified Reason FRiend having such a convenient opportunity to have some conference with you my request is to know your judgement as touching the true God and that the more in this distracted age There are so many opinions concerning him That some holds him forth an Infinite Spirit c. others say Though God be a Spirit yet there are three Persons in the Godhead the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God the same in Substance equal in Power and Glory Now if thou please let me hear what thy judgement is of God Almighty Faith Notwithstanding this hodg-podg it matters not me what thou or all the wise men of the world hold For from the Spirit of Revelation I infallibly against men and Angels affirm That God the Creator of Heaven and earth is in the Person and Form of a man Reason How is it possible that God the Creator of all forms should admit of a form of his own Faith I say unless that Divine heavenly Faith or Nature had a Form or Person of his own he could not have created man after his own form image or likeness Reason Yea I grant God created man after his own image in righteousness and holiness but no otherwise Faith Ah pitiful Soul how thy riches choaks thee and thy wisdom blindes thee from believing in the true God that thou shouldst conceive that righteousness or holiness can be created without a form or didst thou ever read or hear of any holiness in any other creature but man onely so that thou canst not say this or that is holiness without a form and that the form of man above Reason What necessity or what ground can be shown that God who is the Creator of all forms should admit of a form of his own Faith It was the greatest ground of all for if God had not a form of his own it had been in vain to create either Angel or man in his form and that because he created them to behold his glorious person Reason Why cannot the glory of God be seen unless he admit of a Person and what matter of glory can be delighted onely in a single Person for I conceive him more glorious when he is a Spirit without a bosty for then he can fill Heaven and Earth wi●h his glory and every creature that he hath made then beholds i● in that they enjoy part of it Faith I say no glory can be seen without a Personal Substance nay it cannot bear the title of glory without a body for the glorious Spirit that ever was if it had not a body were nothing at all in that a Spirit cannot be seen so no delight in that which is not for what delight could man have with his wife if she had no person And whereas thou sayest God having a Person cannot fill Heaven and earth with his glory I say without his Person he could fill nothing at all As for instance what glory can there be in a

Spirit also and yet the Nature Soul or Spirit of either God Angel or Man cannot be worshipped without a body for there is no Spirit whether immortal or mortal celestial or terrestial but it hath its own body and that sutable to its own nature as if its Spirit be an immortal glorious Spirit so is his body immortal glorious also and if its Spirit be mortal earthly so is its body mortal earthly also and this I say all bodies whether of God Man or Beast are invisible and seeth that which is without yet it self cannot be seen by any outward sight For who seeth the Spirit of a man save he that hath it So that I say if God were a Spirit without body he could not be seen so not worshipped no more then a Kings Spirit without a body could be honou●ed and therefore God being a spiritual body must be worshipped in Spirit And where thou sayest Feel me for a Spirit hath no flesh and bone as ye see me have I say from those words of the Lord Jesus it doth not in the least conclude that a Spirit is not cloathed with flesh and bone for I affirm the Apostles as well as others were dark in many things till Christ was glorified they supposing that Spirits might be seen without bodies and that by the eye of nature therefore Christ walking u●on the Sea and appearing among them the Doors and Windows being shut was the main cause of their sudden fear supposing they had seen a Spirit so that for the future and clearer satisfaction Christ tells them a Spirit hath not flesh and bone as ye see me have though I be all Spirit yet feel me and behold my wounds and the print of my nails so that understand a Spirit without flesh and bone cannot be seen or felt unless a spiritual body so that against Angels and all thy Seed I affirm that God that Christ which said to the woman of Samaria God was a Spirit I say that self same Spirit was not in Heaven but in Christs body alone CHAP. 2. Shewing whether the Father became not a Son which which Son was Christ and by death became a Father to all Eternity now in Heaven glorified Reason THou hast told me all along that God hath a body in the form of a man and now thou sayest that the Spirit of God was in Christs body and not in the body of God the Father Where then was the body of God when his Spirit was in Christ Faith I shall affirm that as the Spirit of God was in Christ so the body of Christ was the body of God Creator of Heaven and Earth not two but one yea the very self-same body Reason Oh Friends this is a strange saying indeed that the body of God the Father should be the person of Christ If so how or which way came he down from Heaven to Earth it is so mysterious that it is beyond my reach or understanding Faith What is strange to thee is familiar with me for thou reads and understands not though it is frequently written in Scripture That Eternity was to become time yea immortality was to become mortal which is no less that the Father was to become a Son as it is written The seed of the Woman shall Gen. 3. bruise the head of the Serpent and to Esaiah it was revealed these sa●ings For unto us a Child is born and unto us a Esay 9. 6. Son is given and his Name shall be called wonderful Counsellour the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace and again it is written In the beginning was the Joh. 1. 1 2 Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God which Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst men So that I affirm the coming down of the immortal personal God was clouded in those sayings The holy Ghost stall come Luke 1. 35. upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also the holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Reason I do not deny the truth of those sayings but do believe that Christ was the Son of God conceived by the holy Ghost but how or which way God was this Son I cannot tell neither do I believe that God did any more unto her then he did unto Ad●m when he made him a living Soul the Scripture saith He breathed unto him and he became a living Soul So in the same manner I conceive God breathed into Mary and by that breath she conceived the Seed of God in her womb and so she not knowing of man called him the Son of God and not God for God was in Heaven when he was upon Earth Faith From my Seed-spring I say that the Childe that vvas conceived in the vvomb of Mary so called a Son Was the Mighty God the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace yea that Babe in her vvomb vvas the very God For the Word was God and became flesh and who was the Rower of the Highest that overshadowed Mary but God Creator of Heaven and Earth take notice that the knovvledge of these sayings vvas not to be revealed to thy Seed for saith the Prophet Vnto us yea unto us Pr●phets and the Messengers of the Lord a Son is given and a Child is born and therefore thou canst not tell hovv God the Creator should become a Son and Saviour but imagines God as he vvas a Spirit breathed into her vvomb as he breathed into Adam and so by that breath she conceived a man-child as touching this I tell thee there is great difference of a living and a dying Seed for by that breath Adam became life and by her overshadovving she vvas not made alive but had a conception in her living vvomb novv there can be no conception vvithout a Seed and that Seed must first dye before i● quicken to life again as it is vvritten Before the Wheat grain dye it abideth alone So that against Angels above and all their Seed belovv I affirm as from the Scriptures before is proved that God the Creator in the form of a man vvho is the onely Povver of the Highest did descend from his Throne and Kingdom as svvift as thought and his vvhole body pierced through her secrets in a Trance and in a mome●t dissolved into Seed and there died from an immortal Father and quickned there to a mortal Son of flesh blood and bone so called Christ Jesus the Saviour of the world Reason Oh admiration this is a report of astonishment that for my part I never never read or by the hearing of the ear ever heard till now that God in the form of a man should as thou sayest vvith that form descend from Heaven and for ought I knovv of as large proportion and bigness as thy self enter the vvomb of Mary and the greatest vvonder of all is that God vvith a body as big as thine should descend like lightning from Heaven and

temptation whatsoever though it was in a house of clay Faith Again and again against all thy seed I affirm that the soul of Adam was onely of the divine nature in its creation yet because it was one essence with a body that was taken out of dust it was both probable and capable to be thought into a condition of entering dust again and that for these ensuing particulars First to fullfil these Scriptures saying In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death And in the sweat of thy Gen. 3. 19. face thou shalt eat thy bread till thou return to the earth for out of it thou wast taken because thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return again Secondly if the body of Adam had been immortal in his creation as well as his soul he would not onely have been uncapable of natural generation but also he would have been uncapable of any transmutation whatsoever and where then had been the prerogative power of infinite wisdom and transcendent glory of the Creator ever been seen or known by angels or men And therefore it was Adam knew not whether he should stand or fall from his present state or no neither did he know what power he was indued withal in his created purity neither did he know any greater glory but what then at present he enjoyed so that if Adam had known that he had power in his own will to preserve himself in his present condition thou mayest be sure if he could have kept himself in that blessed state he would never have lost it for making use of all the power that was in him to have resisted a temptation unto rebellion in which he knew there was a threatning of a loss of that created glory he enjoyed as aforesaid CHAP. 7. Shewing who it was that tempted Adam and who it was that tempted Eve whether it was the Angel aforesaid and if so why he is called a Serpent a Tree c. and how and which way they were deceived and what effects it hath ever sinee produced Reason HOwever I cannot believe whatever thou hast related as touching these things yet tell me who it was and by what means Adam was deceived Faith I say though the Soul of Adam was Divine and free from all kinde of rationality so could not possibly have any desire in him after any carnal copulation with his Wife for I know that carnal pleasures were too low for a spiritual Soul whose nature was variety of Divine satisfaction in it self and therefore the woman Eve through the permission of God was first guilty of the transgression of lust and so tempted her innocent Husband to lye with her if possible to cover her folly And now from the Lord I say that the carnal I desire in her towards her Husband proceeded not from her Divine purity but from the rational nature of the unclean Serpent within her Reason Now I understand that thou makest Faith and Reason two contraries as fire and water so that from hence I understand that Seed thou callest Faith hath no desire but that all desire doth onely 〈◊〉 from Reason al he Faith Whether thou understand or ●o yet this I shall reveal to thee that God is now a body of flesh and bone glorified with all Divine spiritual Heavenly Faith and no Reason as aforesaid for ● so ● God himself wo●ld be subject to transmutation as man and so full of unsatisfaction that all his transactions would be i●perfect and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason Seeing thou 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i● him ●● How comes it then that God saith Come now lets reason together saith the Lord c Now if there were no Reason in God Isaiah 1. How could he have reasoned with the Rulers of Israel Faith Oh! that thou could but see how thy ignorance blinds thee from the true understanding of any Scripture as to think that God in his person should Reason with them when thou reads it was none but the Prophet Isaiah who from the Revelation of Faith in his own Soul reasoned the cause with them as from the Lord for I tell thee and all blind Quakers Reason with thee that if God were not of a nature contrary to the nature of Angels and men there could have been nothing created nor preserved in their form and order as now they are and this I know that Faith can take up the words of Reason though not inherent in it as Reason to take the vvords of Faith though not experienced in it Reason What then was that Reason which deceived Eve or was it an Apple or a Serpent for the woman said the Serpent beguiled me and I did eat Now if thou canst tell me what it was that deceived Eve Faith Though I tell thee thou canst not believe yet thou mayest read That the great Dragon the old Serpent called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the world he was cast out into the earth therefore it is written Wo unto the Inhabiters of Rev. 12. 12 13. the earth for the Devil is come down among you So that from my Seed-spring I say that Angelical Serpent which I have discoursed with thee in the 4th Chapter was that which deceived Eve Reason I cannot find in Scripture that was an Angel which deceived Eve though I confess the Scripture saith there was an Angel cast down but for what I know not for it is written Thou shalt not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and in another place it is said a Serpent beguiled her not in the least relating it was an Angel so that I believe it was one of the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made and the Devil was an invisible spirit vvhich entered into the body of the Serpent and spake those subtile expressions through his mouth and so caused the vvoman to eat of the fruit of a natural Tree vvhich the Lord God had forbidden and tempting her Husband to eat of the fruit vvith her it operated that venemous evil in them and all man-kinde Faith Oh! the gross darkness that lodgeth in the spirits of the learned and unlearned of thy seed not knovving the Scriptures are generally expressed in natural terms for the manifestation of spiritual things and yet the learned of thy seed vvould persvvade men exactly to understand them in the Letter because thou measurest the glorious things of Eternity by thy rational learning vvhen thou maist read that the seed of the Devil are sometimes called by the name of Devils Dragons Vipers Serpents fruitless Trees and such like so this Angelical reprobate by vvhom Eve vvas deceived vvas called the Dragon an old Serpent the Devil Satan the Deceiver or the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and such like names sutable to his cursed nature so in truth I say that Serpent that tempted Eve vvas that Angelical Dragon-Devil aforesaid vvhich God from the highest Heavens cast down to this lowest earth and it was his seeming Divine

and ways of the Lord are past finding out then thou wouldst forbear reasoning against the Creators prerogative power and yield thy self to be damned at his pleasure CHAP. 8. Shewing whether Cain was not the first devil and who are his seed or children and what devils those were that are so frequently spoken of in Scripture Reason WHat then dost thou say that Cain was the first devil and was there no evil spirit before Cain and if so prove that Cain is called a devil Faith From the divine spirit of the Lord of glory I affirm as before is proved that the angels were the first sensible living formes that ever were created and that reprobate angel as I have said dissolved into seed in the womb of Eve and there conceived into flesh blood and bone her first-born Cain yea the first devil and father of the damned so that against thee and all thy seed I say there was no other devil before Cain and that thou mayest know Cain is called a devil read these Scriptures Not as Cain which was of that wicked one and slew his brother Again it is written He that soweth the good seed is the son of man and the field is the world and the good seed are the children of the kingdom and the tares are the children of the wicked one and the enemy that soweth them is the devil Again Ye are of your father the devil John ● 44 and the lusts of your father ye will do he hath been a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there was no truth in him when he speaketh a lye he speaketh of his own for he is a lyar and the father thereof Now then what sayest thou was not Cain the first murthering lying man that ever was born of a woman Reason I have read in Scripture that there are evil angels or devils living in the Ayr and a devil amongst them called Beelzebub the prince of devils now I judge the devil is of such an invisible spirit that he is here there and every where and so can infuse evil thoughts into man and man cannot see the devils that tempts him Faith If this be as thou sayest what need any man trouble himself with the least fear of eternal death whatsoever wickedness is committed by him For I say if any man be tempted to evil by any devil but what is in his own nature onely that devil or evil spirit is to be eternally damned and the man to be set free and if sin issued not from mans uncleane reason or lyng imagination within him how is it possible that any man should be so tormented as thy seed are with inward burnings through a secret fear of eternal sufferings rising in them from the guilt of former evils committed against the light of conscience Now if it were possible for thee to know that the subtility of the prince of the ayr that rules in the hearts of children of disobedience was thy own imaginary reason or evil spirit that is the prince of all airy disputes concerning God devil angels heaven hell eternal glory or shame to come then thou wouldest see the truth of what I speak Reason What then dost thou say there never was is nor shall be no other devil but men and women and if so from whence comes that devilish nature in man and whether all have not the devilish nature in them and if so how shall any man escape damnation Faith As unto this thy Question I answer as aforesaid There never was no devil till the angel became a man-child of flesh blood and bone and that evil nature ever since hath generated in all the sons and daughters of Adam since his fall both reason and faith lay hid in that seed that conceived in the womb So that I say as Adam and Eve the womb of all living had both reason and faith in them so of necessity it must follow that all that are begotten or generated by them must needs partake of both natures so that I affirm that all the righteous as the wicked have the devils nature in them and yet the seed of the woman shall escape damnation Reason What then dost thou say that the devils have faith in them and yet shall be damned and the true believers have reason in them and yet shall be saved Now there being both seeds in one as the other how comes it that all are not either damned or saved certainly faith being as thou sayest of the nature of God then that faith in the devils must return to God again Faith I say Gain the father of all devils had faith in him as all his children have at this day as it is written touching the four seeds speaking of them that hath the seed sown on a Luke 8 13 rock when they hear they receive the word with joy and these having no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away And it is written the devils believe and tremble Jam. 2 19 so that if thou were not stone-blind thou mightest see that there is no other devil but men and women and that faith in them doth cause many secret feares of damnation and yet that faith in them shall never return to God nor they themselves saved for this I know that faith that is in the seed of the serpent shall die with them and rise with them for the devils shall rise all reason and no faith or shall not be capable to ascend to glory when on the contrary the blessed of the Lord all their Faith in their life time out-topped reason by which he came to the knowledge of God so that at his death his reason shall dye with him insomuch that at the Resurrection he shall rise all Faith and no Reason so shall be able to ascend to glory Reason What then shall become of natural fools and children that understand neither Faith nor Reason shall they all be damned if they be of the Serpents seed Faith From an unerring Spirit I speak it there is neither child nor fool that dies uncapable of the breach of the Law that shall be damned so that herein the Justice and Mercy of God appears that as he will damn whom he will so he will damn none unjustly therefore I say let them be children or fools though the seed of the Serpent yet they shall be raised to the glory their father had before his fall viz. the estate of the Angels Reason If there be no other Devil but Cain and his generation of men and women What Devils were then those from these Ma● 4. 1. Scriptures where it is written Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil which Devil taketh him up into the holy City c. again it is Mark 5. 2. written Satan entered into Judas c. and it is written Out of Mary Magdelen Christ cast out seven Devils with many hundred

presumption for I know it is the curse of God and not of man that must bring a soul under condemnation Faith Whatever thy thoughts are of me I matter not but this thou shalt ●●nde that I have power in the Revelation of my Commission to curse not onely thee but any of thy seed that shall do as thou hast done to call it a lye And in the Revelation of my faith I say That the Sentence of Blessing and Cursing belongs onely to the Prophets and Messengers of that Commission for I testifie unto thee That God the giver of Commissions never damned any but the Angelical seed in the Womb of Eve who is the Father of thee and all the damned as all along it is recorded That in the name of the Lord the Prophets and Apostles pronounced Plagues Woes and Judgements against all the despisers of their Commission in that they were Ambassadors and Stewards in Christs stead so we the Prophets and Messengers of God represent the Authority of our Commission as the Prophets and Apostles did in theirs Reason If thou please let me hear what thou intends by a Commission and why this is a Commission more then any other Dispensation now in being for I conceive were it not ambition in them that Quakers and all others may assume the Authority to bless and curse as now thou dost Faith Notwithstanding I have sufficiently unfolded our Commission in the Quakers Downfal yet that thou mayest be left excuseless I shall in another way infallibly lay down the truth thereof in these particulars 1. How many Commissions there was to be in this perishing world 2. The nature and tenor of a Commission 3. The powerful operation of a Commission 1. As unto the first it is writ There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and there are three that bear witness 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. on earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one Now as God did consist of three titles and not three persons as thou and thy seed vainly immagine that is to say Father Son and Holy Ghost So from each of these issued forth a Commission upon this earth for in the time that he bore the title of Father Moses and the Prophets was in Commission Now when that Father became Word Flesh so called Son or Christ then the Apostles were in Commission after that both Father and Son became Holy Ghost or one entire Spiritual Body now in Heaven glorified the next after came forth our Commission so that according to the titles above there was to be three Commissions in this world suitable to the three titles in Heaven 2. As unto the nature of a Commission it is not given in silence but upon record under hand and seal to the Messenger or Messengers therein included with an exact charge to observe the Kings pleasure according to the tenor and form thereof Now this Commission being given to thee doth not concern another for the names included for that Embassage doth this Commission belong Now for any other to counterfeit thy Commission thou hast power by vertue thereof to apprehend him for a Traytor against the King thy Master Even so it is with a Commission from God which is not given by private whisperings in the soul as all counterfeits imagine every motion whimsey or fancy in the minde more then ordinary is a call from God not knowing yet daily reading that all Commissions were given by laudable voyce of words to the hearing of the ear as to Moses Paul and now in this last to John Reeve Now then what are all these seven Dispensations but by Moses the Apostles and this Commission impeached for Traytors against Christ the Lord of Glory 3. And thirdly the power of a Commission is so great that it commands yea subjects the spirits of all that it hath to deal with A man in Commission represents the Authority of the great God of Heaven and Earth that whatever he bindes imprisons or condemns on earth is so in Heaven and whosoever he declares blessed or happy here are so in Heaven so that if thou wert not stone blinde thou wouldst then see that there is no Teacher publique nor private now living that hath a Commission but we and therefore it is we have power overall mens spirits yea the judge of all spiritual things of what sect or opinion soever Reason O what a boasting dost thou make that none but your Commission hath power over mens spirits and that onely to you belongs blessing and cursing when I conceive there is many able wise Teachers that are as true Commissioners as you and yet dare not assume that power to themselves as you do Faith O thou man of pretended light yet gross darkness bring any man now living except this Commission that dares say he had a Commission by voyce of words from God as we have thou shalt hear that I will curse them as I have cursed thee And where is any of your Teachers that hath a Commission of his own but Moses and the Apostles whom they have counterfeited and made merchandize for their own gain From the Lord of Glory I say not any of them no not the wisest or moderatest head-peice dare or can in peace of conscience say that thou art damned and another is saved Alas poor blinde leaders of the blinde they know not what will become of their own souls how then can they judge anothers but they will be condemned for so doing for were I not certain of the knowledge of the true God and the right Devil and all others that are ignorant thereof are culpable of judgement instead of being justified I should be condemned and yet what a flutter Caesars Ministers make in praying to a God that is no God and preaching delusions of their own inventions pretending thus and thus saith the Lord when Christ the onely God knows them not neither did he send them therefore from my Seedspring I say they are all Thieves and Robbers yea Traytors against the God of Heaven for do but bring any of them before me and thou mayest take notice I have power over their blinde zeal that if they do not for future desist in bewitching the people to believe lies thou shalt then hear the same sentence pass upon them as hath already passed upon thee Reason Which of them will believe the sentence of thy Commission unless thou couldst shew some present example either without or within as the Prophet Elias did to cause fire from Heaven and stop the rain that it rain not Now if thy curse be true how comes it that I do not finde it immediately within or without Faith Thou art worse then the inhabitants of Jerusalem a●d Judea Mat. 11. 11. that believed in John that did no miracle and yet was a Prophet yea I say more then a Prophet for as Christ said among them that

Christ these many hundred years since v●ere not the Scripture vvritten for our learning and if the Scripture do not belong to all then also the Lavv is void and belongs to none so then none vvould be condemned as it is vvritten I had not known sin but by the Law and the Lavv makes sin exceeding sinful so that if the Scripture do not belong to us then vve are freed from the Lavv so then for all thy curse I shall be as happy as thou Faith In this last ansvver I shall finish my discourse as touching the truth and variety of these three Commissions in that I have already so infallibly treated of them in the first Chapter of the Quakers Downfal I shall no longer demur vvith thee upon this but shall divide the heads of thy Question into these particulars and so exactly answer them as they lie in order 1. That thou bel●eves the Apostles Commission is to continue to the ●nd of this World 2. That though all the Commissioners vvere dead that had power to invest another yet thou having the same Spirit though as thou saith not the same measure yet thou believest thou mayest pray preach and baptize from the letter as they did 3. Thou sayest if ye had not thus done how should the world have come this hundred years to have known God or Christ Hell Heaven or Devil 4. Thou sayest if the Scripture do not belong to thy Seed then the Law doth not belong to thee and so thou concludes all shall be happy as we 1. First I declare That the Apostles Commission was to continue to the end of the World held forth in that Commission for this I know was the condition of thy Fathers the Jews that did as really believe it blasphemy for Christ or the Apostles to p●t an end to the Ceremonial part of the Law as now thou dost that our Commission should put an end to all Formal Worship under the Gospel But however I say unto thee as Christ said to thy Fathers Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but fulfil So I am come not to destroy the revealed transactions of the Gospel but to tell thee and thy Seed that as there was to be three Commissions before the end of this World so I know that every Commission is a World in it self and to it self and when the Commissioners dies that commissionate World ends with them otherwise thou mayest call God a lyar to promise he would be with them to the end of this World and many hundred years ago they are all dead and yet this World remains so that as I know the command was to none but them and to hold no longer then the lives of them so I know that the beginning of one Commission here below is the end of another as thou art not ignorant what overturnings here hath been in your Kingdom to the admiration of the inhabitants so are the Commissions of God the beginning of one was the end of another by which the infiniteness of the Divine Revelation in the Person of God is the more admired to behold the seeming contrarieties of these three Commissions that one puts a period to the other as a greater light clouds the use of the other not but the Moon is a true light in her self but living in the light of the Sun we have no need of the light of the Moon So the Apostles light being more glorious then that of the Law therefore no need of the Ceremonial part of the Law So our light being far more glorious then that of the Apostles therefore no need of the formal Worship of the Gospel 2. Secondly seeing the beginning of one Commission was the end of another how then canst thou plead for a succession of the formal Worship in the Gospel after all the Commissioners of the first or second Magnitude were put to death by thy Fathers Now if onely the Apostles had onely been p●t to death yet if Timothy or Titus who were Bishops or Messengers authorized by them had been preserved in the continuance of that Commission they might by the same power have continued the Bishoprick by their imposition of hands up●n another If so the effects thereof would not have produced such blinde Lordly Bishops with lawn sleeves caps tippits and such like fopperies as ever since hath continued so that if thou wert not stone blinde thou mightst all along discern there was no succession considering the Divine Knowledge and poor mean estates of the true Bishops and the Humane knowledge and lordly ragi● of all the false Bishops ever since as it is not many years ago since the Roman Lordly Authority had the whole power in this Nation as in all other places though now of late from that great Monster Bishop the Whore of Babylon there hath sprung six Sons or Generations one from the loyns of another yet each one refined more then his Father as the Episcopal more then the Papist the Presbyter more then that and the Independent more then that and the Baptist more then that and the Ranter more then that and the Quaker more then you all insomuch that the Father hath disowned the childe as the childe now doth the Father and yet the refinest Son of them is but a Formal Worshipper in the Gospel which when the last Son was begotten o● as it is written The last Angel sounded viz. The Quaker then the mysierie of truth was revealed that is our Commission was given by voyce of words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus as Moses and the Apostles were which spiritual Commission of ours doth abolish all formal Worship in the Gospel as the Apostles did the Circumcision with the blood of Bulls and Goats and all such traditional Ceremonies attending the Law and therefore as I am a Bishop or Messenger authorized in the power of my Revelation confirmed by the Commission of this last Witness so being in the height of Revelation with them I say That your Praying Preaching Breaking of Bread or Baptism is now of no more value then Circumcision or the blood of Bulls and Goats was in the Commission of the Apostles which circumstances was of high prize and great value in the days of Moses though not regarded by the Apostles so all formal worship of the Gospel is highly esteemed by thy seed when by our Commission it is forbidden and not regarded as before I have finished my discourse with thee thou shalt hear so that till then have patience that so I may proceed to the third But thirdly thou sayest What should all thy Seed have done had it not been for the Commission of the Apostles As unto this I shall answer thee As the Disciples went all night a fishing and caught nothing so thou hast all thy life time been enquiring after the true God by the light of another and so hast not the knowledge of the true God nor right Devil but