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<DATE>2008-04-21</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>ANSVVERS TO SEVERALL QUERIES Put forth to the de&s;pi&s;ed people called QUAKERS, by <HI>Philip Bennett,</HI> who cals him&s;elf a Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t, but is found a Deceiver; An&s;wered by them to whom they were directed.</P>
<P>ALSO, ANSVVERS To Severall other &s;ubtil QVERIES Put forth by one <HI>Iohn Reeve,</HI> who lives in the City of LONDON, who cals him&s;elf the la&s;t Me&s;&s;enger and witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, but is found a fal&s;e witne&s;&s;e, and a lyar, and a perverter of the right way of God.</P>
<P>An&s;wered by <HI>Edward Burrough,</HI> and <HI>Francis Howgill,</HI> who are Witne&s;&s;es unto the Truth again&s;t this &s;ubtil &s;erpent|like generation.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Giles Calvert,</HI> at the black-&s;pread-Eagle, at <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
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<HEAD>ANSWERS to &s;everall QUERIES put forth to the diepi&s;ed People called Quakers.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>We having received a Paper which was directed to <HI>Rich. Roper,</HI> and to his quaking friend, which words comes from the dark carnall mind, quaking and trembling, which the Saints and holy men of God wit|ne&s;&s;ed, we own and witne&s;&s;e; therefore do we deny thee and all thy dark Divinations.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>_WHereas thou <HI>Philip Benett,</HI> in thy Note which thou ha&s;t writen to <HI>Roper,</HI> in An&s;wer to a Letter which he wrote to thee, wherein he charges thee to be a Lyar, and a fal&s;e accu&s;er, and charges thee to bring any man to witne&s;&s;e what thou ha&s;t &s;poken by them, whom, thou &s;ayes, denyed that Chri&s;t that dyed at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and who they were that denyed that Chri&s;t that &s;uffered at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> or el&s;e acknowledge thy &s;elf to be a &s;lande|rer, and in thy Paper, thou gives no An&s;wer at all to the&s;e words, but &s;ayes, thou called the Congregation to witne&s;&s;e, but doth not mention one in all the Congregation that will witne&s;&s;e it, whereupon the lye re&s;ts upon thy head, and thou found to be the lyar, and the &s;lan|derer, and the fal&s;e accu&s;er.</P>
<P>And whereas thou &s;ayes, thou ha&s;t &s;ent Queries concerning that matter, thy Queries makes thee manife&s;t what thou art, many of thy own Tribe and generati|on, if they &s;aw thy Queries, would be a&s;hamed both of thee and of thy Queries; for hundereds there are in the world that knowes nothing of the true and living God, and yet would &s;ee thee and thy Queries not to be worth an&s;wering, yet le&s;t thou &s;hould boa&s;t in thy filthy ignorance and darkne&s;&s;e, and for clearing of the Truth to the &s;imple: Something in an&s;wer to them.</P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="query">
<P>1 Quer. <HI>Whether was the VVord made fle&s;h, or the Son of God made of a Woman more or oftner then once?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> In this fir&s;t Querie thou ha&s;t manife&s;ted what thou art to all the children of Light, and where thou art, and what Spirit thou art of, a reprobate, a child of darkne&s;&s;e thou art; thou might have &s;pared the other nineteen Queries, for in this Querie thy &s;pirit is tryed, and in the eternall Light &s;een and known: Thou askes whether the Word was made fle&s;h any more or oftner then once, which makes it plainly manife&s;t, that thou knowes not what thou askes, and that thou do&s;t not know nor cannot witne&s;&s;e the Word to be made fle&s;h once, but art one of the An|tichri&s;ts and deceivers which <HI>John</HI> &s;peakes of, that are entered into the world, which
<PB N="2" REF="3">
cannot confe&s;&s;e Je&s;us Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h, and therefore thou queries whether the Word was made fle&s;h any more or oftner than once, which Querie comes from thy dark polluted minde, who is out of the Light, and a &s;tranger to the life, and without God in the world, among&s;t the fal&s;e Prophets, Antichri&s;ts and deceivers which are in the world, and in the Light of Chri&s;t, which condemnes the world, yea, are all &s;een, known, and made manife&s;t, and are turned away from by the&s;e who dwell in the Light, which Light condemnes thee and all thy generation eternally; and the Word made fle&s;h we witne&s;&s;e which dwells among&s;t us, and we behold his glo|ry as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, according to the Scripture, whereby we witne&s;&s;e thee and all thy generation to be in the &s;orcery, and in the witchcraft, de|ceiving and betraying the &s;ouls of the &s;imple, the Light of Chri&s;t in thy con&s;cience will tell thee &s;o, for that thou mu&s;t be obedient to, and witne&s;&s;e before thou witne&s;&s;e the Word to be made fle&s;h once, for thou art darkne&s;&s;e it &s;elf, and the light in thy con|&s;cience, if thou would let it ri&s;e, will be thy condemnation, and when thou can wit|ne&s;&s;e the Word to be made fle&s;h once, then thou wilt know whether the Son of God was made of a Woman any more or oftner than once: But thou art the Dragon that would devour the Manchild which the Woman hath brought forth, who &s;hall rule all Nations with a rod of iron, and her child is caught up to God and to his Throne, thou, the Dragon, and thy Angels is ca&s;t out into the earth; and therefore do&s;t thou per&s;ecute the Woman which hath brought forth the Manchild, but thou art over|come by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his Te&s;timony; and for thy other nineteen Queries, thou ha&s;t conjured them up in thy black Art out of the bottom|le&s;&s;e pit, which is to be turned into perdition, if thou had an ear thou might hear, or an eye thou might read, but thou art blind.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="query">
<P>2 Quer. <HI>Whether did the Man Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Son of God, &s;lain, (in re&s;pect of Gods Decree and Efficacie of his death) from the foundation of the world really and in|deed &s;uffer death or di&s;&s;olution of &s;oul and body, as upon the Cro&s;&s;e at Jeru&s;alem, more or oftner than once.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Here in this Querie thou Diviner is found adding to the Scripture thy divinations of thy own brain, whereupon the plagues of God is to be added unto thee, and poured upon thee, for as thou &s;ayes, the Man Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Lamb of God, &s;lain (in re&s;pect of Gods Decree and efficacie of his Death) from the foundation of the world. Oh thou lyar, let all people &s;ee where there is &s;uch a Scripture that &s;peakes as thou &s;peakes here, but in the &s;ight of Chri&s;t thou art &s;een, and in the life comprehended, and art for condemnation. The man Chri&s;t Je&s;us we own and witne&s;s, and the Lambs book of life, which was &s;lain from the foundation of the world we witne&s;&s;e, the Lamb of God, which takes away the &s;ins of the world, we witne&s;&s;e ac|cording to the Scripture; prai&s;es, prai&s;es, eternal prai&s;es, be to the Lord God for ever, and thee to be the bea&s;t that makes war with the Lamb we witne&s;&s;e, and thou Anti-Chri&s;t which looks at Chri&s;ts death at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> alone, and cannot confe&s;&s;e him no otherwi&s;e but without thee, here thou art but equall with the Pope of <HI>Rome,</HI> for he confe&s;&s;es Chri&s;t dyed at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> as well as thou; &s;o let all thy Congregation &s;ee what they hold up that followes thee.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="query">
<P>3 Querie <HI>Whether did the man Chri&s;t ever really and indeed &s;uffer in his own per|&s;on, for that end and after that manner which he did once upon the Cro&s;&s;e at Jeru&s;alem, before the time, or &s;ince the time?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Here thou full of all &s;ubtilty hath made manife&s;t thy Poi&s;on and enmity, but with the Light of Chri&s;t thou art &s;een, and known, and with it condemned for ever; Chri&s;t Je&s;us in his own Per&s;on doth, and ever did, &s;uffer by thee, and &s;uch as
<PB N="3" REF="3">
thou art, and by thy Generation he did &s;uffer at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and doth &s;uffer where he is made manife&s;t by you, after the &s;ame manner, and thou blind Phari&s;ee and bla&s;phemer, would thou have Chri&s;t to have more ends in &s;uffering than one?</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="query">
<P>4 Quer. <HI>Whether was not that death which the man Chri&s;t &s;uffered once, and but once, upon the Cro&s;&s;e at Jeru&s;alem &s;o &s;atisfactory for all the &s;ins of the Elect, as that the Ju&s;tice of God, did not, doth not &s;ince require any &s;uffering or working upon that account, either from &s;inner or from Saint.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here thou Je&s;uite art pleading again for a Chri&s;t farre off thee, according as thy father doth at <HI>Rome,</HI> That Chri&s;t that dyed at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> did not &s;atisfie for thee who art an enemy to him, and doth not abide in his Doctrine, but acts con|trary to his Commands, and art under the wo, which he cryed again&s;t them that were in the &s;ame &s;tops where thou art, and from that wo thou &s;halt never fly; The death of the man Chri&s;t Je&s;us which &s;uffered at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> we own and witne&s;&s;e; the &s;ame Chri&s;t that &s;uffered at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> we witne&s;&s;e made manife&s;t, and the one God and the one Mediator we witne&s;&s;e and know; betwixt God and man, the Man Chri&s;t Je&s;us, according to the Scripture: And here thou lyar art made manife&s;t to all thy Congregation to be a lyar, who &s;aid among&s;t them, that we denyed that Chri&s;t that died at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &s;o let them all be witne&s;&s;es of thy lyes, &amp; let thy mouth be &s;topt thou lyer, who art for the lake; and whereas thou queries whether the ju&s;tice of God be not &s;atisfied for the &s;ins of the Elect, here let<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2. 10. Tit. 1. 1. 1 Pet. 1. 2. 1 Pet. 2. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 13.</NOTE> &s;hame &s;trike thee in the face, that ever thou &s;hould take upon thee to &s;peak to any people, and knowes not the Scripture; where do&s;t thou read in all the Scripture, that God doth require &s;atisfaction for the &s;ins of the Elect, or laid any thing to their charge, let all people try thee here by the Scripture, and &s;ee whether thou be not a blind ignorant Sott, who doth not know what the ju&s;tice of God requires, neither from &s;inner nor from Saint, <HI>I&s;a. 42. 1. I&s;a. 65. 9. 22. Luk. 18. 7. Rom.</HI> 8. 33.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="query">
<P>5 Quer. <HI>Whether you be reconciled to God by any other obedience, than that parti|cular obedience which Chri&s;t performed in his own Per&s;on, and is mentioned in the Scrip|ture, or by any other &s;uffering or death, than that which Chri&s;t once &s;uffered upon the Cro&s;&s;e at Jeru&s;alem?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Silence fle&s;h: would thou, (who art an enemy to God, and a child of di&s;|obedience, in whom the Prince of the air rules) know how we are reconciled to God, and by what obedience, fir&s;t own the Light in thy con&s;cience which con|demnes thee, and be obedient to that, and then thou &s;halt know by what obedience it is that reconciles to God, for yet thou knowes no obedience, nor the death which Chri&s;t &s;uffered upon the Cro&s;&s;e, thou do&s;t not know, but art an enemy to the Cro&s;s of Chri&s;t, and in the mi&s;tery of iniquity, and in the dark power and man of &s;in; what ha&s;t thou to do to talk of obedience, who art reconciled to thy lu&s;t, and &s;in reigns in thee, and thou art blind in the broad way that leads to death, as thy fruits makes it manife&s;t, who lives in &s;trife and envy.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="query">
<P>6 Quer. <HI>Whether did not the Man Chri&s;t &s;uffer as a publick Per&s;on in the Elects &s;tead, or in their behalf, and for that end that none who believed in him might dye eternally?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> There thou blinde guide makes many replyes, but &s;till one and the &s;ame thing, but thou makes it manife&s;t, that thou do&s;t not know the man Chri&s;t at all, nor his &s;ufferings, for death reigns in thee yet, that hath pa&s;&s;ed over all men that askes this Querie; for a publick Per&s;on Chri&s;t is not to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ee, but a mi&s;tery which
<PB N="4" REF="4">
thou knowes nothing of, and for the redeeming of the Elect from under &s;uch mouths as thine, did and doth Chri&s;t &s;uffer; and tho&s;e that are brought to believe denyes &s;uch dumb Idoll &s;hepherds as thee, who as yet doth not believe, and therefore &s;hall dye eternally.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="query">
<P>7 Quer. <HI>Whether the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t now in his Saints, be all the &s;atisfaction that is made to, or which the ju&s;tice of God looks for, for &s;ins pa&s;t, pre&s;ent and to come?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> There thou bla&s;phemer askes thou knowes not wha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">; is not Chri&s;t the &s;ame now as ever, and is not the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t &s;atisfactory where ever? What wilt thou have to &s;atisfie, if the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t do not &s;atisfie, let all people take no|tice what a bla&s;phemer thou art, or what they can learn of &s;uch a one as thee, who knowes neither the ju&s;tice of God, nor the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t in his Saints.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="query">
<P>8 Quer. <HI>Whether was not that body of Je&s;us which con&s;i&s;ted of fle&s;h, blood and bone, and which was offered upon the Cro&s;&s;e at Jeru&s;alem, the one and onely &s;acrifice for &s;in God accepted, and to which alone exclu&s;ively the Saints before under the Law, and the Saints &s;ince under the Go&s;pel, did and do look to be ju&s;tified by, without any other works.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Here again thou art replying thy former &s;otti&s;h Queries, which ri&s;es out of thy dark mind, concerning the body of Je&s;us, as the devill did about the body of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> let thy mouth be &s;topt here, for the body of Je&s;us thou knowes not, nor what it con&s;i&s;ts on; and the offering of it up thou knowes nothing of, but what thou knowes and heares by the outward Letter, that it was offered up at Jeru&s;alem; and the &s;acrifice for &s;in thou knowes not, and thou art none of the Saints, neither un|der the Law, nor under the Go&s;pell, but art without in the world, in the broad way, blind leading the blind into the ditch; and for thee the body of Chri&s;t is no &s;atisfaction; and thou Reprobate, what ha&s;t thou to do to talk of believing, for that is the condition of the Saints, they do believe and are ju&s;tified, and their works thou knowes not, thou di&s;obedient one, upon whom God will render vengeance in flam|ing fire.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="query">
<P>9 Quer. <HI>Whether there be not another righteou&s;ne&s;s by which the Saints are ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of God, than that which Chri&s;t works in them and by them?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> There thou accur&s;ed art made manife&s;t, who preaches another Go&s;pell, and would have another righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e than that of Chri&s;t, here thou bea&s;t to whom the plagues of God is due, and upon whom his wrath mu&s;t be accompli&s;hed, here thou ha&s;t made thy &s;elf manife&s;t, thou who would have another righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e than the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, which he works in the Saints and by them, and &s;o thou would be ju&s;tified and live in thy &s;in, but thou art &s;hut out from God for ever; and we witne&s;&s;e ju&s;tification by faith, and the ju&s;t &s;hall live by his Faith.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="query">
<P>10 Quer. <HI>Whether doth &s;anctification or ju&s;tification in order antecede holine&s;&s;e of life or ju&s;tification by faith go before, or whether d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">th not God love man, ere man lov|ed God?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Here thou dark blinde hypocrite hath &s;hut thy &s;elf out from the knowledge of God in any mea&s;ure, oh that ever people &s;hould be &s;o blinde as to look for to learn any thing at &s;uch a one as thee but &s;in and filthine&s;&s;e; and what ha&s;t thou been teaching them all this while, that neither knowes &s;anctification nor ju&s;tification yet, but art querying whether goes before, let all people judge if thou be not a teacher of la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;in and uncleanne&s;&s;e, and how dare&s;t thou mention a holy life, or ju&s;tification by faith? which knowes neither ju&s;tification nor &s;anctification. And thee, man, which art <HI>Cain,</HI> God doth not love nor accept thee nor thy &s;acrifice, and for ju&s;tification by faith thou knowes nothing of it, which we own and witne&s;&s;e, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> doth not love God&punc;</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="query">
<PB N="5" REF="4">
<P>11 Quer. <HI>Whether the ju&s;tice of God be not fully &s;atisfied for all the &s;ins of the Elect, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">re Chri&s;t appear to their &s;ouls, or holine&s;&s;e appear in their lives?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">hou full of all &s;ubtil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t comprehended, and with the Light of Chri&s;t thou art &s;een, and with the life judged and condemned, who would &s;ay &s;in to the charge of the Elect, when the Scripture &s;aith, <HI>VVho &s;hall <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect? It is God that ju&s;tifieth, who &s;hall condemn? The &s;oul that &s;in|neth &s;hall die.</HI> Thou &s;orcerer, doth the Elect of God <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">in? Shall the Elect dye? To that in thy con&s;cience I &s;peak?</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="query">
<P>12 Quer. <HI>VVhether the holy lives, or holy works of the Saints be not excluded from the Act of ju&s;tification, from the guilt of &s;in?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Thou dead bea&s;t hath made it manife&s;t, that thou art a &s;tranger from the life of God, and is excluded from the holy life of the Saints and their works, who art que<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ying whether this be not excluded from ju&s;tification: Oh that ever thou &s;hould open thy mouth, or take upon thee to &s;peak of the Scripture; doth not the Apo&s;tle &s;ay, 1 <HI>Pet. 1. 18. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as &s;ilver and gold, from your vain conver&s;ation, but with the precious blood of Chri&s;t, as of a Lamb without blemi&s;h and without &s;pot, who verily was ordained before the foundation of the world was, but was manife&s;t in the&s;e la&s;t times for you, who by him do believe in God, that rai&s;ed him up from the dead?</HI> Now let all people read this Chapter, and try thee, who knowes nothing of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but as thou ha&s;t heard of him, that he was crucified at <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> and &s;o thou art unredeemed from thy vain conver&s;ation, and &s;o art not ju&s;tified before God, nor never &s;hall be, but tho&s;e that can witne&s;&s;e Redemption by the precious blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as all the Saints of God do, are ju&s;tified; and by the &s;ame that they are ju&s;tified thou art condemned into the lake for ever.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="query">
<P>13 Quer. <HI>VVhether is that righteou&s;ne&s;s which is wrought by the Saints every way an&s;werable to the ju&s;tice of God?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> There again thy blindne&s;&s;e is made manife&s;t; is there any righteou&s;ne&s;s but that of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and is not that every way an&s;werable to the ju&s;tice of God&punc; but &s;uch polluted filthy bea&s;ts as thou would have another righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as thou&punc; &s;peaks plainly in thy ninth Querie, but all thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e we deny, and the righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Je&s;us Chri&s;t we own and witne&s;&s;e, who&s;e righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hall be revealed upon thee in flames of fire.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="query">
<P>14 Quer. <HI>VVhether none be accounted righteous in Gods &s;ight, in whom there is any corruption, or failing, or who do not fulfill the Law, and an&s;wer every demand of ju&s;tice?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here thou polluted bea&s;t hath made it manife&s;t what thou ha&s;t been driving at all this while in thy queries, which is, that thou would have corruption and filthines to be accounted righteous in Gods &s;ight, that &s;o thou might lye and wallow in thy &s;ins &amp; filthine&s;&s;e, but <HI>Iohn</HI> &s;aith, that <HI>he that commits &s;in is of the divell:</HI> for the divell &s;in|neth from the beginning, and for this purpo&s;e the Son of God was made manife&s;t, that he might de&s;troy the works of the divell, and thou man of &s;in would have it to &s;tand, but tho&s;e that loves God keeps his Commandements, and they are not grie|vous; and God doth not accept any where there is any failing, or who do not ful|fill the Law, and an&s;wer every demand of ju&s;tice, and he doth re&s;erve the unju&s;t unto the day of judgement to be puni&s;hed, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2 9. and chiefly them that walk after the fle&s;h in the lu&s;t of uncleanne&s;&s;e, and there thou art.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="query">
<P>15 Quer. <HI>VVhether a &s;oul be justified before God by the non-imputation of &s;in, and the imputation of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Per&s;on of Chri&s;t to his Faith, or by a righteou&s;|ne&s;s wrought by Chri&s;t in the Per&s;on justified or to be justified.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<PB N="6" REF="5">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here &s;top thy mouth thou &s;orcerer, which art gathering up here a heap of confu&s;ion, which is fit for nothing but to be turned with thee into the bottomle&s;&s;e pit, from whence it comes, wherein thou talkes of imputation and non-imputa|tion, and of a per&s;on ju&s;tified, and to be ju&s;tified; thy language is of <HI>Aegyt,</HI> and in the my&s;tery of iniquity, thou &s;peaks it, which is condemned into the lake of per|dition by the Light of Chri&s;t, and in the light thou and it art &s;een and comprehen|ded; and as I told thee before, I own no righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e but what is of Chri&s;t, and wrought by thee, which Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hall confound thee and all thy unrigh|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e and conjuration, and the &s;ame that ju&s;tifies us &s;hall condemn thee eternally.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="query">
<P>16 Quer. <HI>VVhether Chri&s;t be in his Saints in re&s;pect of that nature wherein he &s;uffered at Jeru&s;alem?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here thou enemy of Chri&s;t would know how the Saints injoy Chri&s;t here, the Scripture is fulfilled upon thee, the light &s;hines in darkne&s;&s;e, and darkne&s;&s;e comprehends it not, when thou comes to own thy condemnation, the light in thy con|&s;cience it will let thee &s;ee thy evill deeds, it will lead thee up to Chri&s;t from whence it comes, and then thou wilt know that nature that he &s;uffered in; but now thou art in that nature that <HI>Iudas</HI> was in that betrayed him, and that they were in that crucified him.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="query">
<P>17 Quer. <HI>How, and after what manner Christ, who in re&s;pect of his Divine na|ture is infinite and in all places, may be &s;aid to be in a Saint, and not in Reprobate?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> What ha&s;t thou to do to Qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rie after the Divine Nature, who art the na|turall man, that knowes nothing of God, but what thou knowes naturally as a bruite bea&s;t, and knowes not the things that be of God, becau&s;e they are &s;piritually di&s;|cerned&punc; and the manner of Chri&s;ts Divine nature, which is infinite, is hid from thy eyes, for of that eye that thou &s;hould &s;ee that with thou art blinde, and the manner of his being in a Saint thou knowes not, who art a Reprobate, and thou &s;halt find him to be thine eternall condemnation.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="query">
<P>18 Quer. <HI>VVhether doth Chri&s;t now in the&s;e dayes a&s;sume or take upon him the form of a &s;ervant, and the &s;eed of Abraham, that is our fle&s;h: And whether doth not this a&s;&s;umption cau&s;e &s;uch a perfection of the Godhead and the Manhood, as that both of them are united together into one per&s;on?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> O thou dark bea&s;t and conjurer, who art querying with thy conjured words, that which thou knowes nothing of, and which is out of thy reach and comprehen&s;i|on; thou bla&s;phemer, do&s;t thou limit Chri&s;t to dayes, in taking upon him the form of a Servant, and the &s;eed of <HI>Abraham?</HI> Is not he the &s;ame now as ever he was? And for the union of the God-head and Manhood, as thou calls it, let thy mouth be &s;topt, for with thee God nor none of his children hath any union, for God ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h put an utter enmity, betwixt thy &s;eed, thou &s;erpent, and the &s;eed of the woman, and the perfect union with Chri&s;t we witne&s;&s;e, who is the &s;ame to day, ye&s;terday and for ever, and therefore are we &s;eparate from thee and thy generation.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="query">
<P>19 Quer. <HI>VVhether is Chri&s;t now conver&s;ant upon earth, among&s;t men, &s;ince his a&s;|cen&s;ion, as he was before, and in tho&s;e times wherein the Apo&s;tles lived?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> In thy Queries thy &s;peech bewrayes thee, thy language is the language of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> for in it thou makes it clearly manife&s;t, that thou knowes not Chri&s;t at all, not in the lea&s;t mea&s;ure, for where the fir&s;t Principle of Truth is made manife&s;t, it is the &s;ame that ever was, and never changes; and thou askes whether Chri&s;t be now conver&s;ant upon earth among&s;t men &s;ince his A&s;cen&s;ion, as he was in the A|po&s;tles time&punc; Do&s;t thou know what thou askes? Did he not appear to the Apo&s;tles
<PB N="7" REF="5">
&s;ince his A&s;cen&s;ion, in the mo&s;t glorious manner that ever thou read; and is he not the &s;ame now as he was then? What would thou make of him, thou dark &s;otti&s;h bea&s;t) &s;uch a one as thy &s;elf, who would be pleading for darkne&s;&s;e and ignorance of God, but prai&s;e and glory to him who hath di&s;covered thee and all &s;uch deceiv|vers as thou art.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="query">
<P>20 Quer. <HI>VVhether did not Chri&s;t dwell among his Saints, after another and more vi&s;ible manner than now he dwels in his Saints?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> There again thou ha&s;t &s;hewed thy ignorance of the Scripture, and for thy word vi&s;ible, he is not, nor never was vi&s;ible to thee, nor to thy generation, for tho&s;e that did profe&s;&s;e the Scriptures, as thou and thy Generation doth, crucified him, and &s;aid he was of the devill, as thou, and &s;uch as thou art doth now; thou bla&s;phemer, where ha&s;t thou a Scripture that &s;aith, that Chri&s;t would dwell in his Saints after another manner? Did he not &s;ay, <HI>It is expedient for you that I go away, and I go and prepare a place for you, and I will come again and receive you unto my &s;elf, that where I am there you may be al&s;o; and ye have heard how I have &s;aid I go away and come again unto you, and if ye loved me, ye would rejoice, becau&s;e I go unto the Father;</HI> and Chri&s;t Je&s;us &s;aith in the 14. <HI>Iohn 12. Verily, verily I &s;ay unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do, he &s;hall do al&s;o, and greater works than the&s;e, becau&s;e I go to the Father:</HI> But all the&s;e Scriptures is hid from thy eyes, and thou art one of tho&s;e that <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> Prophe&s;ied on; and that Scripture is fulfilled on thee which &s;aith, <HI>He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they &s;hould not &s;ee with their eyes, nor under&s;tand with their hearts:</HI> Now ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord that hath di&s;covered thee, and &s;uch blind guides as thou art. So we have An&s;wered thy Queries in the eternall Light and life of God, and we have given judgement upon thee and them, which thou &s;halt eternally witne&s;&s;e, without roving or wan|dring, but thou who art out of the Light art roving, and wandring and &s;tumbling in darkne&s;&s;e, who hath put forth the&s;e &s;tumbling&punc; Queries, which we have An&s;wered lovingly and plainly, and in the Scripture Language and Termes, and with the eternall Light and Life of God, &s;et thee in thy own place, which thou &s;halt eternally witne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="query">
<P><HI>The&s;e are matters of great concernment, and if you refu&s;e to an&s;wer them in writing, &s;pare your tongues and &s;pare your Papers, for I will henceforth neither hear the one, nor read the other.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Thou &s;aith, the&s;e are matters of great concernment; We &s;ee that that which makes thee manife&s;t, and &s;uch as thou art, and which layes thee open to poor ignorant people, which is deceived by thee and led into the ditch, and their &s;ouls kept in death by thee, to make this manife&s;t is of great concernment, as the&s;e dark black &s;tumbling Queries, and thy conjured words hath done&punc; which thou ha&s;t no Scripture for, as ambiguity, efficacy, exclu&s;ively, antecede, and non-imputation, a&s;&s;ume, and a&s;&s;umption: Now let all people read and con&s;ider what they do that holds &s;uch as thee up, who is &s;hut out from God, and &s;hut out from the Saints life and lan|guage, and art &s;hut out of the Scriptures, though thou makes a trade of them for mony, and deceives poor people, but thou knowes nothing of the life and power that gave them forth; So thou art to be condemned with the Light, and with the Life which gave forth the Scripture. Let all people read <HI>Deuteronomie</HI> 18. from the 9. ver&s;e to the 15. There the Prie&s;ts and the Levites which was ordained of God; was to have no inheritance among the people, but the Lord was their Inheritance, and they were to have it of that which was offered up to the Lord, and this is a figure of the everla&s;ting Prie&s;thood, which mini&s;ters out of the everla&s;ting Trea&s;ure; and the
<PB N="8" REF="6">
Lord God commanded I&s;rael, that not to do as they did when they came into the land, nor to go after their abominations, as you may &s;ee, but gave I&s;rael their land to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e, that did hearken unto &s;uch as the Lord had not &s;ent, which was a|bomination to him, and the Lord &s;aith to I&s;rael, Thou &s;halt be perfect with the Lord thy God, and in the 15. ver&s;e the Lord thy God will rai&s;e unto thee a Pro|phet from the mid&s;t of thee, of thy Brethren like unto me, unto him &s;hall ye hear|ken; And &s;o to the end of the Chapter, he that hath an eye may &s;ee, and the Lord is the &s;ame that he was, and he will not &s;uffer the abominations that is committed in this Land, but is di&s;covering the abomination of it; A horrible and a filthy thing is committed, which <HI>Ieremiah</HI> cryed again&s;t, covetous men preach, drunkards preach, &s;wearers preach, lyars preach, &s;trikers preach, and proud men preach: Oh, wonderfull, where is your eyes? Try your Prie&s;ts by the Scriptures, &s;ee if they be not found in the &s;ame Generation that all the fal&s;e Prophets and the deceivers were in which the true Prophets of God cryed again&s;t, and di&s;covered, and in the &s;teps of the Scribes and Phari&s;ees, that Chri&s;t cryed w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> again&s;t; and &s;ee if they be not the Antichri&s;ts and the Deceivers which are entered into the world, which <HI>Iohn</HI> &s;peaks of, which cannot confe&s;&s;e Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h; but tran&s;gre&s;&s;eth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Chri&s;t, &s;o hath not God, neither knowes him; but preaches for &s;in, and again&s;t perfection, and denyes the Light which enlightens every one that comes into the world, and &s;o keeps people in blindne&s;&s;e and ignorance, and out of the knowledge of God, and never any that followes them &s;hall ever come to the knowledge of the true and living God, therefore all people &s;ee where you are, and minde the light in your con&s;ciences, which is pure, and which te&s;tifieth again&s;t all &s;in, and it will let you &s;ee all your blinde guides which deceives you, to be in &s;in, and ignorant of God; for they deny that which &s;hould make him manife&s;t, there|fore beware what you hold up, and give over going after them, to that in your con|&s;ciences I &s;peak, which &s;hall witne&s;&s;e me eternally to &s;peak the truth, if you obey it, and &s;hall condemn you eternally, if you di&s;obey it.</P>
<P>The&s;e blind guides that are in this Land, denies the Prophets which Mo&s;es wrote of, which is the &s;ub&s;tance of the Prie&s;thood, which was before, and here they are found in the &s;ame generation, in the &s;orcery and in the witchcraft, which the Lord commanded &s;hould be put out of the land, where the children of I&s;rael went to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="9" REF="6">
<HEAD>An&s;wers to &s;everal other &s;ubtil Queries put forth by one <HI>Iohn Reeve</HI> who lives in the City of LONDON, who cals him|&s;elf the la&s;t Me&s;&s;enger and Witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, but is found a lyar, and a perverter of the right way of GOD.</HEAD>
<P>A Certain Writing is come to our hand, called an Epi&s;tle from the Mighty JEHOVAH, or Je&s;us the onely LORD, and God of the Elect I&s;raelites, from one, who&s;e name is &s;ub&s;cribed <HI>Iohn Reeve</HI> Pilgrim, who cals him&s;elf the la&s;t Me&s;&s;enger, and Witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, unto which, for the &s;ake of the &s;imple, we, (as one Spirit) are moved of the Lord of heaven and earth to write &s;omething in an&s;wer, that &s;o his folly may be made manife&s;t, and his ig|norance and bla&s;phemy laid open, unto the &s;imple hearted, who have been long de|ceived by &s;uch through their fal&s;e voice, <HI>lo here, and lo there;</HI> Friend, to thee, who hath &s;ub&s;cribed this Writing, who cals thy &s;elf the la&s;t Me&s;&s;enger, and witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, I An&s;wer, The Lord of ho&s;ts, and God of the Elect I&s;raelites, doth not accept thy te&s;timony and witne&s;&s;e; for thy &s;pirit is made manife&s;t not to be the Spirit which came from God, and which dwels with God, which bears true witne&s;&s;e unto God, but the &s;pirit which is driven out from the pre&s;ence of God into the creation, and into the vi&s;ible world, and that is the living &s;pirit, and bears not true witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, but is a &s;pirit which beares witne&s;&s;e to the ima|ginations of thy own heart, which looks upon, and declares the living God, as if he were carnall, and a creature-like &s;ub&s;tance; and here the Scripture is fulfilled upon thee, thou thinks he is <HI>altogether &s;uch a one as thy &s;elf;</HI> and for the true God thou art no Me&s;&s;enger, nor ha&s;t received any Me&s;&s;age from him, for thy &s;pirit is known, and he never delivered his Me&s;&s;age unto it in any generation, but kept his &s;ecret &s;ealed up from it; and friend, here I charge thee in the pre&s;ence of the true &s;piritual God, that thou be-lies the Lord of ho&s;ts, who &s;ayes thy Epi&s;tle is from him, thou u&s;es thy tongue, and &s;aith, the Lord &s;aith, When, &s;aith the Lord? I have not &s;poken unto thee; &amp; of that generation thou art which <HI>Ieremiah</HI> cryed again&s;t; and therefore let all fle&s;h be &s;ilent before the Lord, and call not thy own imaginations his Word, but thou who ha&s;t a dream, tell thy dream for a dream, and he that hath the Word of the Lord, let him &s;peak it faithfully; and though thou call thy &s;elf the la&s;t Me&s;&s;enger, and witne&s;&s;e unto the true God, yet I &s;ay unto thee, verily the Lord hath a Witne&s;s which was before thee, which hath been &s;lain in the &s;treets of the great City, which the Lord will bring forth after thee, which will bear true witne&s;&s;e of the true God, &amp; again&s;t thee, and thou who ha&s;t been alive, &s;hall be judged by him which hath laid &s;lain, &amp; he will eternally condemn thy te&s;timony and me&s;&s;age; Friend in the light of Chri&s;t, which hath lightened every one that comes into the world, thou art com|prehended,
<PB N="10" REF="7">
and &s;een, thy beginning, thy time, and thy end, and with it thy te&s;ti|mony and Me&s;&s;age is denyed, for thy te&s;timony is &s;uch, and if thou &s;wear the Lord lives, thou &s;wore fal&s;ly, and further, thou &s;ayes, by in&s;piration of the holy Spirit thou was moved to pre&s;ent this Epi&s;tle: I an&s;wer, the language of the holy Spirit is like it &s;elf, pure and &s;pirituall, but thy language is carnall and &s;en&s;uall, and &s;o is thy &s;pirit; the Saints which &s;pake by the in&s;piration and moving of the Spirit, cur&s;|ed not that which God had ble&s;&s;ed, as thou do&s;t, neither did they &s;ay the Elect was defiled as thou do&s;t, neither did they &s;peak of God as a carnall &s;ub&s;tance, as thou do&s;t, but &s;aid that God was a Spirit, and here be thou a witne&s;&s;e again&s;t thy &s;elf, that thou &s;peaks not by the in&s;piration and moving of the holy Spirit, but &s;peaks thy imaginations, and lies in the Name of the Lord; and whereas thou &s;aye&s;t in this confu&s;ed age, there hath appeared variety of Spirits pretending to be &s;ent by the everla&s;ting God, yet they are at war with all their power to overthrow one another, that their own opinions may bear rule; I an&s;wer, Among the many pretenders thou &s;peaks of, thou art one; and it is true, you are at war with all your power en|deavouring to overthrow one another, that your own opinions may bear rule, and though there be among you variety of opinions, yet by one Spirit you act, for the kingdome of the Devil is but one, and yet divided, and it is at war with it &s;elf, and therefore it cannot &s;tand, and you cannot overthrow one another, but one is ap|pearing to overthrow you all, and all your opinions, for all you pretenders are made manife&s;t by your fruits, and thereby men may try you, for nothing is to be gathered from you but opinions and ayery imaginations, &s;ome of you &s;peaking of a God, and Chri&s;t afarre off, to believe in, others of you &s;peaking of a God and of a Chri&s;t within, and afarre off to believe in, thus you feed people by your own imagina|tions, and &s;ome of you pretends Revelation, others of you denying Revelation, and thus you &s;trive to &s;et up your own opinion, but you live all in one nature, and are of one generation, and he that walks in the light &s;ees you all, and comprehends you all, and judges all your opinions, and are redeemed out of all your vain im<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">dgina|tion into the life of God, acting and &s;peaking as the Spirit acts and &s;peaks, and &s;eeks to exalt Chri&s;t, and him to bear rule, that all opinions may be by him thrown down, and that by him people may be brought out of a confu&s;ed age, into the land of r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t, and peace, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to &s;erve the true Spiritual God, in the Spirit, and by the Spirit of his own Son; and further, thou &s;ayes, &s;ome there are takes upon them to &s;peak of a God, and of a Chri&s;t in the invi&s;ible heavens, above the &s;tarres; but are uncapable to demon&s;trate how Chri&s;t by his &s;pirituall Word lives in mens hearts, and how he reigneth vi&s;ibly in glory with his Elect Angels: I an&s;wer, there are not &s;ome but many, which lives in, and &s;peaks forth their own imagina|tions, upon God and Chri&s;t, and one of them thou art, thy &s;pirit is tryed, God who is a Spirit, dwels in the Spirit of his Son, even in the high and holy place, and with him al&s;o who is of a contrite Spirit, and trembleth at his Word; but this by thy vulterous eye is not &s;een, neither can any demon&s;trate how Chri&s;t dwels in the heart&punc; but he who witne&s;&s;eth it through death, and where he reigns his glory is with him, and his Elect Angels, this I witne&s;&s;e, but to thy carnall eye it is invi&s;ible, and by thy carnall wi&s;dome he can never be known, Chri&s;t and his &s;pirituall word is not to be divided, though thy &s;en&s;uall &s;pirit would divide them, but by the flam|ing &s;word thou that &s;peaks art divided from both, and &s;halt know neither but to thy condemnation; and further thou &s;aye&s;t, others there are which &s;peaks of an eter|nall Spirit, or Chri&s;t onely in the con&s;ciences of men, as if there were no Creator <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> Chri&s;t at all vi&s;ibly reigning upon his Throne of immortall glory; I an&s;wer,
<PB N="11" REF="7">
They who talke of an eternal Spirit, or Chri&s;t in the con&s;cience by hear &s;ay, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> other mens words, without (as thou do&s;t) and doth not in life and power wit|ne&s;&s;e it, from the Father within, made manife&s;t, &s;uch are denyed by them who witne&s;&s;e the eternall Spirit dwelling with the contrite heart, which Spirit is the Creator which dwels al&s;o in the high and holy place, and reigns upon his Throne for ever, and who do in power witne&s;&s;e this, &s;ees and judges all y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ur carnall ima|ginations, and conceptions of the living God in your carnall minds, where he dwels &s;hall no unclean thing enter, but is without to be troden in the wine-pre&s;&s;e of his wrath for ever and ever, and by him &s;hall thy carnall conceptions be con&s;umed, even by the breath of his mouth, for he is eternall, and his Throne is eternall, and by the carnall eye &s;hall never be &s;een; and further thou &s;aye&s;t, there are, who through unbelief that ever any living creature had a beginning, they affirm there is no God or Chri&s;t at all, but peri&s;hing nature, of this &s;ort are innumerable, witne&s;&s;e the lives and conver&s;ations of people every where; I an&s;wer, All who do witne&s;&s;e the eternall Spirit made manife&s;t, to rule and guide all &s;uch, doth deny and declare a|again&s;t, for nothing was without beginning but the eternall Word, which was the beginning of all things, and which will be the end of all things, even the de&s;tructi|on of the wicked, and the &s;alvation of them that believe, who are born of the im|mortall &s;eed, and redeemed out of the peri&s;hing nature into the image of God, and &s;uch do &s;et to &s;eal there is a God, who will reward every one according to his works, and beares witne&s;&s;e again&s;t them, who in their lives and conver&s;ations denies God, as all do who do not witne&s;&s;e the eternall Spirit of Chri&s;t ruling in the con&s;ciences, but talkes of a God in imagination at a di&s;tance, and &s;uch are innumerable, and &s;aith in their heart, there is no God, and &s;uch are the fools the Scripture &s;peaks of, and whereas thou be&s;eeches to con&s;ider of the&s;e en&s;uing particulars; I an&s;wer, They are con&s;idered, and by them thy ignorance is made manife&s;t, and thy folly di&s;clo&s;ed, and thy bla&s;phemy, who cals thy &s;elf the la&s;t witne&s;&s;e.</P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="query">
<P>1 Quer. In thy fir&s;t particular thou queries, <HI>Whether the&s;e men were &s;ort forth by the eternall Spirit to preach, which in the lea&s;t cannot demon&s;trate what the onely true God is in him&s;elf; and how he is a distinct being from all living creatures, and how he reigns in the Elect by a created Word, voice of &s;pirituall motion onely.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Tho&s;e men were not &s;ent forth by the eternall Spirit to preach, who have not received it, and &s;uch knowes not God, what he is, no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> where he is, but in their imaginations imagines him to be like a creature, by being i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> a creature by place or habitation, God is a Spirit, and he is not di&s;tinct from living creatures, for in him living creatures lives, moves, and hath their beings, and he is not far from them, nor di&s;tinct from them as he &s;pake, who was &s;ent by the eternall Spirit to preach, he reigns in the Elect not by a created word, voice, or a created &s;pirituall motion, for the Word which lives in the Elect, from which voice and motion pro|ceeds, is not created, but is uncreated, even as God is uncreated, for God is that Word, and here thy ignorance appears, by calling the Word which lives in the Elect a created Word, or voice, or motions, and here be a witne&s;&s;e again&s;t thy &s;elf that thou &s;peaks from darkne&s;&s;e, and not from light, which darkne&s;&s;e cannot comprehend the &s;hining of the light, and this di&s;covers thee more to be a fal&s;e witne&s;&s;e, and not the true witne&s;&s;e of God, and therefore thy portion mu&s;t be portion of fal&s;e wit|ne&s;&s;es, read what it is.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="query">
<P>2. Quer. In thy &s;econd particular thou queries, <HI>Is not this an infallible demon&s;tra|tion</HI>
<PB N="12" REF="8">
<HI>to men, that a man is &s;ent forth by the eternall Spirit, if he have received a gift from the holy Gho&s;t, to demonstrate what the true Creator was in his own di&s;tinct E&s;&s;ences, Nature and glory, from all eternity in time, and to all eternity, and wherein Elect men and Angels differ in their natures, and glory, di&s;tinct from their Creator in their Per&s;ons.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> He that hath not received a gift from the holy Gho&s;t in &s;ome mea&s;ure, is not &s;ent forth by the eternall Spirit, or God of all truth, this is infallible, and &s;uch knowes not what the Creator is, but by imagination, and carnall conceptions of him, and &s;uch in the Light of Chri&s;t is &s;een, and by it judged, and among &s;uch thou art, to that in thy con&s;cience I &s;peak, which will witne&s;&s;e me, he that hath re|ceived the holy Gho&s;t, turnes people from the power of Satan to the power of God, and knowes the Creator, and the dwelling of him in the heart, for as the Scripture &s;aith, <HI>the word is nigh,</HI> but let all fle&s;h be &s;ilent, he who is in time, knowes not him which was before time, and &s;hall be when time &s;hall be no more; he who knows the Creator which inhabiteth eternity, is redeemed out of time, into the Habi|tation of the Almighty, but this to thy dark minde and &s;pirit is unknown, if ever thou know it, it mu&s;t be through death, the nature and glory of the Elect differs not from the Nature and glory of the Creator, for the Elect are one with the Crea|tor, in his nature enjoying his glory, which was from eternity unto eternity, he that reads let him under&s;tand, thy word di&s;tinct E&s;&s;ence, I deny, for the Elect is not di&s;tinct from the Creator, but lives by the dwelling of the Son in him, and with the Son the Father dwels al&s;o, if thou ha&s;t an ear, thou maye&s;t hear.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="query">
<P>3 Quer. In thy third particular thou queries, <HI>What that angelicall &s;erpent was in his creation, which the Scripture &s;peaks of, and how he came to be ca&s;t out of his glo|ry, and how he overcame innocent Eve, and how he entered into her wombe, and changed her pure &s;eed into his nature of unclean rea&s;on? And thou askes, What think you, Was not that man Cain the fir&s;t murdering, lying devill that ever was? And is there any devill but proud, vain-glorions, unmercifull men and women?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> That &s;ame which &s;peaks in thee is that &s;ame &s;erpent which the Scripture &s;peaks of, and if thou have the &s;pirit of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> thou knowes what he was in the crea|tion; for <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aw his creation by that &s;pirit which was before he was, and if thou know his creation in thy &s;elf, then thou may know him without thee, but yet he lies under his vail deceiving thee, and is not deceived by thee; and by the &s;ame which thou lives in he was ca&s;t out of his glory, even di&s;obedience, and he overcame ino|cent <HI>Eve</HI> even as he overcomes thee, by promi&s;ing what he fulfilled not, and by pre&s;enting that which was vi&s;ible, and &s;o her minde was led out, as thine is, and by her con&s;enting, he entered and got power, and &s;et up his habitation, which is now &s;tanding in thee, and &s;o &s;he became the likene&s;&s;e of him&s;elf, her minde and lu&s;t &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ayed into the vi&s;ibles, out from the Creator who is invi&s;ible, and &s;pirituall, and &s;he now lives under the cur&s;e, and brings forth cur&s;ed children, &s;uch as thou art who puts forth the&s;e queries, and this child was begotten by him who deceived her, and he is the father and prince of all you, who are wells without water, clouds with|out rain, and wandering &s;tarres having no habitations in the heavens, the blackne&s;s of darkne&s;&s;e is re&s;erved unto you for ever, ye who &s;peaks great &s;welling words of va|nity (that ye are the la&s;t witne&s;&s;es and Me&s;&s;engers, &amp;c.) but you your &s;elves are &s;ervants of corruption, and to the la&s;t part of thy querie: I an&s;wer, before <HI>Cain</HI> who is a lying devill was a child, he was a father, and if thou ha&s;t an ear, thou maye&s;t hear, the proud, vain-glorious, unmercifull men and women, who bears his image
<PB N="13" REF="8">
mu&s;t with him be tormented in the lake which burneth (by the kindling of the breath of the Almighty) for ever and ever; and here thou art an&s;wered, though not to the feeding of thy wi&s;dome, but in the light by which thou art comprehended, which light will eternally condemn thee who hates it.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="query">
<P>4 Quer. Thou queries <HI>What condition Adam was formed in, and how he came to fall from his e&s;tate, and what &s;in it was they committed (Adam and Eve) and where|by the Elect and Reprobate are defiled.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;. Adam</HI> was created in the image of God, and God breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living &s;oul, but eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evill, therein he turned from the Command of God and did dye, if thou ha&s;t an ear thou maye&s;t hear, and thou that queries ha&s;t eaten of that tree, and thou &s;halt never know in what condition he was created in, but through the death: for a &s;word is &s;et at <HI>Edens</HI> gate to keep the tree of life, which will cut thee down, before ever thou know or can witne&s;&s;e his e&s;tate, and as for the Elect being de|filed, here thou make&s;t thy &s;elf manife&s;t, that thou never knew what the Elect was, for the Elect is born of God, and he that is born of God &s;ins not, and the promi&s;es of God are to the Elect, and election obtains it, and the Elect was never defiled: if thou ha&s;t an ear thou maye&s;t hear, that which is defiled &s;hall not enter into the holy City, and here thou ha&s;t manife&s;t thy ignorance, and art that reprobate thou &s;peaks, which is ordained of old for condemnation, which is the tran&s;gre&s;&s;er which is ca&s;t out, thou ha&s;t no communion with the Elect, for thou art defiled and art without the gate, to be trodden in the wine-pre&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="query">
<P>5 Quer. <HI>What that heavenly glory is, and where it is that the Elect wheat of Chri&s;t &s;hall eternally enjoy, who are the &s;eed of Adam, and not of Cain?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> What that glory which the Elect which thou &s;poke of in thy fourth querie &s;hal inherit which was and is defiled, it is to be in hell, in utter darkne&s;&s;e for ever and ever, where all the unclean are, and thou would know where it is, it is without the gate of the City, among the dogs and whoremongers, and lyars, and deceivers, and what&s;oever is defiled &s;hall be trodden in the wine-pre&s;&s;e of the wrath of God for ever and ever, where is weeping, wailing, and gna&s;hing of teeth. But as for the Elect wheat of Chri&s;t, which thou &s;aye&s;t is the children of Adam, thou &s;peake&s;t thou knowes not what, the fir&s;t man is of the earth earthly, and he begate his image, and that which is earthly &s;hall never inherit, but are to have their portion with <HI>Cain,</HI> where thou art that hath uncovered thy nakedne&s;&s;e, but the Elect and the wheat &s;hall be gathered in|to the barn, and they are not, nor ever were they defiled, but &s;hall reign with the Lamb in the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> for ever and ever, where no unclean thing can enter, nor nothing that de&s;troyes or defiles in that holy mountain of the Lord, if thou have an ear thou may hear.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="query">
<P>6 Quer. <HI>VVhat that painfull and &s;hamefull death in utter darkne&s;&s;e, and where it is, that is re&s;erved for the reprobate, who are the &s;eed of Cain, and not of Adam, or ble&s;&s;ed Abr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ham.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Thou that queries &s;halt &s;urely know, it is Tophet, prepared of old even for the King, the burning of it is as fire, the breath of the Lord doth kindle it, it &s;hall be de&s;truction for ever and ever, to that which hath given forth the&s;e queries, and it is to be &s;eparated from God for ever among all idolaters, and adulterers, and liars, the unbelieving, the abominable, and the fearful, in the lake of fire&punc; where the worm di|eth not, nor the fire goeth not out; as for <HI>Adam</HI> thou knows nothing of him; the fir&s;t birth that he begate was <HI>Cain,</HI> who &s;lew his brother, who hath his portion with <HI>Cain,</HI> and not with <HI>Abraham,</HI> the promi&s;e was not to the tran&s;gre&s;&s;er, nor to <HI>Adam</HI> who
<PB N="12" REF="9">
eat of the tree of knowledge, the promi&s;e came upon; in the day thou eate&s;t thou &s;halt dye, he was driven from the pre&s;ence of the Lord into the earth in the cur&s;e, the promi&s;e was to <HI>Abraham,</HI> in <HI>I&s;aack</HI> is the ble&s;&s;ing, not in <HI>I&s;hmael;</HI> and here thou &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ws thy ignorance, but it is but like the former, when thou joynes the Elect and reprobate together, light and darkne&s;&s;e, and in <HI>Babylon</HI> thou art, but in that which was before <HI>Babylon</HI> was, thou art &s;een, and as for tho&s;e dark &s;pirits thou <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">peaks of, who minde nothing but their lu&s;ts, condemning the glorious things of eter|nity, becau&s;e their carnall rea&s;on cannot comprehend them: &s;ee at home, for in the light of Chri&s;t thou art &s;een, that thou knowes nothing of eternity, but by thy dark imaginations, and naturally as a bruite, to the light of Chri&s;t in thy con&s;cience I &s;peak, which will let thee &s;ee it is &s;o.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="query">
<P>7 Quer. <HI>Are there not deceived per&s;ons, and utterly ignorant of the true God, who judge men and women in darkne&s;&s;e, if they a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">k them Que&s;tions about the needfull things of eternity: is it not becau&s;e they went before they were &s;ent, and &s;o are of a bitter &s;pirit for want of &s;pirituall light to &s;atisfie the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ender Chri&s;tian querier.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> All who dwell not in this light, which is pure and eternall, are ignorant of God, and never knew God, &s;uch judging &s;hall be judged, and by the light which &s;ees and comprehends all darkne&s;&s;e thou art &s;een, but the &s;pirituall man judgeth all things, and he is judged of none, and all judgement is committed to the Son, and where he i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">made manife&s;t he &s;peaks, and judgeth righteou&s;ly, and tho&s;e men and women who would be asking que&s;tions of eternity, and never came to the fir&s;t prin|ciple to be guided by it, the light which leads to eternity, all &s;uch men and women are in darkne&s;&s;e, and that minde which is in the earth and in the naturals &s;hall never know; and therefore they are judged to be in darkne&s;&s;e, and darkne&s;&s;e cannot comprehend the light, Chri&s;t and his Di&s;ciples an&s;wered and judged that &s;pirit which would have had a &s;ign; and called them adulterers, and which &s;pirit we witne&s;&s;e to the prai&s;e of God; and to thee that put forth the queries, I &s;peak to thee in the pre|&s;ence of God, whether thou put them forth in &s;implicity and art ignorant, or would know, or in the pride of thy heart, and &s;ubtilty to tempt, the light of Chri&s;t will let thee &s;ee, but thou art rich and full, therefore thou mu&s;t be &s;ent empty away, all who queries from that nature that would know, but never come to obedience, that is to be judged, &amp; judgment mu&s;t thou witne&s;s, and for a bitter &s;pirit of envy that &s;hall &s;tand for thy &s;elf, and that thou wants &s;piritual light is made manife&s;t, which cur&s;es that which God hath ble&s;&s;ed, as I have &s;een under thy own hand, far remote from this City, and that thou ha&s;t cur&s;ed them &s;oul and body to all eternity, which thou never heard nor &s;aw, let &s;hame &s;trike thee in the face, and &s;top thy mouth, for thou cannot put a difference betwixt the precious and the vile, but cur&s;es thou knows not what, and &s;peaks to that thou knows not: But as for them who have a de&s;ire to know the way to the Father, we are ready to give an an&s;wer, and to impart of the gift we have received, and doth not break a brui&s;ed reed, but the fat we f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ed with judgement, and there thou art an&s;wered.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="query">
<P>8 Quer. <HI>It is not an infallible demon&s;tration unto them who have a di&s;cerning &s;pirit, that tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> man hath no commi&s;&s;ion from the true Spirit to preach or &s;peak to a people, when for fear of his ignorance being di&s;covered, or for fear of lo&s;ing his hearers, he &s;hall coun|&s;ell them to &s;trike clo&s;e to the Word of God, or to hearken to the light within them in their con&s;ciences, without what that is in the con&s;cience, or what will be the i&s;&s;ue of it, if men be obedient to it, or di&s;obedient to it: and to beware of fal&s;e Prophets, and not think|ing in the lea&s;t him&s;elf to be that fal&s;e prophet, and thus borrowing Scripture language which we are the true Me&s;&s;engers of the Go&s;pel, doth he not in his power hinder his hear|ers</HI>
<PB N="15" REF="9">
<HI>from reading the glorious things revealed unto, the two la&s;t witne&s;&s;es, and &s;o thou &s;aith, it is clear that the Spirit is not in them which was in</HI> Paul, <HI>who gave them leave to try all.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here thy infallible demon&s;tration is made manife&s;t to be fallible and lying, when thou laies that down to be a &s;ign of them that have no commi&s;&s;ion from the Spi|rit, and not to have the Spirit, becau&s;e they exhort them to cleave clo&s;e to the Word of God, and to minde the light which &s;hines into the con&s;cience of every man, which is the light of Chri&s;t; here thy Spirit is tryed, that thou ha&s;t not the &s;ame commi&s;&s;ion as they had, who &s;poke forth the Scripture, and &s;o thou Preaches ano|ther Go&s;pel, for the Word of God endures for ever, and by the Word which is eternall, and which was in the beginning, who tryes all things, who &s;earches all things, comprehends all things, and judges all things, he that cleaves not clo&s;e unto, that builds upon another foundation; and by the Word which endures for ever, thou art &s;een, not to have that word, neither knowes what, nor where it is, neither hath cleaved to it, and &s;o art raced out from the life, from the foundation, and the Apo&s;tle who had his Commi&s;&s;ion not from man, nor by man, he exhorted tho&s;e he had preached to and wrote to, to take heed to the &s;ure word of Prophe&s;ie, as unto a light that &s;hined in a dark place, and to wait in it, till the day did dawn, and the day Star did ari&s;e; and for di&s;tingui&s;hing of that in the con&s;cience what it is, he that is not &s;eparate from the darkne&s;&s;e knows not how to do it. But this I &s;ay unto thee, as we declare unto all, the Light which &s;hines into the con&s;cience is the light of Chri&s;t which he hath enlightned every one withall, and it is &s;pirituall like him&s;elf, and eternall, and it leads out of &s;in, and declares again&s;t all iniquity, and he that comes to own it, and to be guided by it, it leads out of &s;in to know the Cro&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, which is a Mi&s;tery to thee, and it leads to the eternall Word, which was in the beginning before &s;in was, and it will judge all thy imagi|nations and vain conceivings, and it leads to the inheritance incorruptible out of corruptible; if thou have an ear to hear, thou may hear, it is that which will let thee &s;ee thy vain frothy imaginations, which thou hath of God, and will condemn all thy vain imaginations, and hating it, it will be thy condemnation, and there is the i&s;&s;ue of it, and all &s;uch as &s;teals other mens words, and the true Prophets words, and never knew the life that was in them, all &s;uch we deny, and &s;hut them up within utter darkne&s;&s;e, where they, thou and both are, and for the glorious things that thou and thy partner, which call your &s;elves the two la&s;t witne&s;&s;es, it is manife&s;t that your my&s;teries are as in thy book, and thy queries, where thou puts Elect and repro|bate together, and as for tryall of &s;pirits, we give liberty and exhort all that may try, and we direct them to that to try by, which is is infallible and eternall, where|by they may &s;ee and comprehend thee and all who have not the Spirit. But that they &s;hould try, who hath nothing to try with, let all &s;uch be &s;ilent for ever, for none under&s;tands the Spirit but the Spirit with which we &s;ee thee, and all who &s;tands in their imaginations ignorant of, therefore &s;top thy mouth in the du&s;t, and be &s;ilent.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="query">
<P>9 Quer. <HI>Doth not they that &s;peak to a people that declares again&s;t all appearances, which are contrary to his way, di&s;cover him&s;elf unto a true di&s;cerning Spirit, not to be of the Lord, unle&s;&s;e they can demon&s;trate a &s;pirituall Commi&s;&s;ion that he hath received from heaven, by voice of words through the glorious mouth of the Lord, &s;o that no mortall man can di&s;prove him, though few for want of under&s;tanding receive him.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The way that leads to the Father is but one, which is Chri&s;t, and he that de|clares from him, made manife&s;t in him, declares again&s;t all Sects, and Opinions, and that which thou cals appearances, and the way is one, and the Tru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h one, where
<PB N="16" REF="10">
there is no rent nor divi&s;ion, and he that dwels in the life hath di&s;cerning, and he that witne&s;&s;es the annointing di&s;cernes, he is able to judge and di&s;cern, and in that thou art &s;een, who would &s;it on the throne, but thou mu&s;t come down and lick the du&s;t, du&s;t is the &s;erpents meat, and they who had their Commi&s;&s;ion from God, and hath their Commi&s;&s;ion from God, now they were made manife&s;t to every mans con&s;ci|ence in the &s;ight of God, and this we witne&s;&s;e, this the Scripture witne&s;&s;eth, and he that believes hath the witne&s;&s;e in him&s;elf, and the father bears witne&s;&s;e, and they witne&s;&s;e the voice of the Lord, which is &s;pirituall &s;peaking to them, and they declare from that which is &s;pirituall to the con&s;ciences of gain&s;ayers, and this is witne&s;&s;ed; but thy voice of words is carnal, and is denyed, and who art thou made manife&s;t unto, that which is mortal cannot di&s;cern and di&s;prove thee, but that which is immortal can, and they who are guided by the immortall denies thee, and will receive none of thy te&s;timony, becau&s;e it is not the &s;ame which the holy men of God witne&s;&s;ed, and doth now witne&s;&s;e, which voice &s;hakes the wilderne&s;&s;e, and rents the rocks, and makes the earth to reel to and fro, but to thee this is a my&s;tery and &s;ealed.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="query">
<P>10 Quer. <HI>Again he that &s;peaketh of an invi&s;ible &s;pirituall God, or Chri&s;t living in the con&s;ciences or &s;pirit of men, thou &s;ayeth, he questions the truth of all the Scripture re|cords concerning the life, death, and re&s;urrection, and a&s;een&s;ion of the ble&s;&s;ed body of Chri&s;t into the throne of his immortall glory; and d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">th he not que<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ion whether the con&s;ciences of the Saints being &s;prinkled with the blood of Je&s;us, which died without the g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">es of Je|ru&s;alem, are purified from the pollution of the fle&s;h and Spirit, doth he not que&s;tion the re&s;urrection of the &s;ouls and bodies out of the eat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h at the la&s;t day.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Here again, thou ha&s;t made thy &s;ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e and thy ignorance manife&s;t and knows not &s;o much as the Letter of he Scripture, <HI>Paul</HI> in Apo&s;tle of Je&s;us Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;t, notby the will of man, and Mini&s;ter of the everla&s;ting God, he witne&s;&s;ed the Son of God revealed in him, and he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, kn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">w ye <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> Chri&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s in you, or el&s;e you are rep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">ates, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t is no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> divided, and he tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> is joyned to the Lord is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">e Spirit, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> my Father are one, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">d w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">e Chri&s;t dwells the Father dwells, and if thou have <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> to hear <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">hou may h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">, and if the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">e Spirit be not in you that rai&s;ed Chri&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">d, you are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, and he that declared the&s;e things &s;peak of a &s;pi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ua<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">l Chri&s;t, and an invi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> God, and who <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">all a&s;cend up to heaven, the word is nigh, in thy mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> heart, and this is the &s;ame Chri&s;t that &s;uffered without the ga<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and no other wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">h <HI>Paul</HI> travel|led till he was born in them, if thou have an ear th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u may hear, and the Apo&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> did not que&s;tion the Scripture records, for they &s;poke it and recorded it, and th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y wit|ne&s;&s;ed the life of Chri&s;t, and his death, and re&s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rection, and a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n&s;ion, and witne&s;|&s;ed him a&s;cended above thrones, and dominions, and to &s;it at the right hand of the Father, and witne&s;&s;e the &s;ame Chri&s;t made manife&s;t in us, and his re&s;urrection, not becau&s;e <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aid &s;o, we have &s;een it, and are witne&s;&s;es of it, the &s;ame that ever was, the &s;ame that did a&s;cend, the &s;ame did a&s;cend; this is a riddle unto thee, and &s;even &s;eals is upon it, and thou that queries &s;hall never &s;ee them opened, and they who had Chri&s;t in them, and the Father, the Son &s;upping with them, they had their con&s;ci|ence &s;prinkled, and none el&s;e for his bloud thou knows not, and &s;o I &s;ay unto thee, thou art not &s;prinkled, nor thy con&s;cience purified from dead works, and they who know Chri&s;t in them, and no more after the fle&s;h come to know his re&s;urrection, he is the re&s;urrection, he is the fir&s;t and the la&s;t, who knows him ri&s;en, and have &s;een him witne&s;&s;e the fir&s;t day and the la&s;t, what &s;peaks thou of a la&s;t day, that never came to the beginning, and &s;o thy &s;oul lies in death, and in chains, and in utter darkne&s;&s;e and therefore lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and &s;ee where thou <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">t,
<PB N="17" REF="10">
and the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures thou cannot witne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="query">
<P>11 Quer. <HI>If after death there is no bodily re&s;urrection, for the &s;pirits of men to po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;e an immortall glory to eternity, or to &s;uffer an eternall devill like &s;hame, according to their deeds, whether good or evill. Is it not one of the vaine&s;t things in the world&punc; to di&s;cour&s;e of God, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, unle&s;&s;e it be for earthly gain among&s;t men.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> There is a re&s;urrection both of the ju&s;t and of the unju&s;t, the ju&s;t into everla&s;ting life, and the unju&s;t into everla&s;ting &s;hame and contempt, and every one &s;hall receive according to his works, whether they be good or evill, but this a my&s;tery hid, for none knowes it, but through death, but what knowes thou who art yet alive in &s;in, what &s;hall be in the re&s;urrection which is after death, which whoever comes to know the re&s;urrection, knowes the e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d of all things; therefore it is not taking their words, nor thy own imaginations, that is faith, nor if thou know Chri&s;t no nearer than <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> nor no nearer than above the &s;tarres, thou knowes not where, but through thy dark imaginations, this is not to Chri&s;t ri&s;en from the dead, &s;ee therefore what ha&s;t thou &s;een in thy &s;elf: But thou art dead whiles thou lives in that nature, and at the re&s;urrection contempt and &s;hame will be thy portion, and turn in thy minde to that which &s;hews thee &s;in, and witne&s;&s;e the body and &s;in de&s;troy|ed within, and then, and not till then, &s;halt thou know how it is in the re&s;urrection.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="query">
<P>12 Quer. <HI>Thou rai&s;es a que&s;tion from</HI> Pauls <HI>words to the</HI> Athenians, <HI>thou was be|fore condemning them that &s;tole other mens words, and here thou ha&s;t &s;tolen a Query, and thou askest what think you did that &s;piritual Creator, dwell and live in the</HI> Athenians <HI>con&s;ci|ences or did his glorious per&s;on vi&s;ibly appear in the highe&s;t heavens.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The <HI>Athenians</HI> to whom <HI>Paul</HI> &s;poke wor&s;hipped the work of their own hands, as <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">his generation doth their own imaginations, and that God whom ignorantly they wor&s;hipped at a di&s;tance, which God lived in <HI>Pauls</HI> con&s;cience, <HI>Paul</HI> declared unto them, and they looked as thou do&s;t carnally, thinking God to be carnal and at a di&s;tance, but he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aid he, was not at a di&s;tance from every one of them, for in him they lived, moved, and had their being, and this was the God which <HI>Paul</HI> preached of, which Creator, we witne&s;&s;e, lives in the high and holy place, and with him al&s;o that is of a humble and a contri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e &s;pirit, and trembleth at his Word.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="query">
<P>13 Quer. <HI>And thou &s;aye&s;t, what think you, can there <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e any living Spirit without a bo|dy, or per&s;on to di&s;play its life, in, or from, and mu&s;t not the Creator of nece&s;&s;ity be a glorious per&s;onall &s;ub&s;tance, and thou &s;aye&s;t doth not the&s;e men that wor&s;hip an in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">inite Spirit with|out any bodily f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rm, living in mens con&s;ciences, onely gl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ry in a God of their own ima|ginations, in&s;tead of honouring the onely Lord of all life, the man Je&s;us, ye&s;terday, to day, and for ever?</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> That which is not po&s;&s;ible with men is po&s;&s;ible with God, which God is a Spirit as Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;aith, and a &s;pirit hath not fle&s;h and bone, nor a created body, but di&s;plays it &s;elf as it plea&s;es, contrary to thy will, and the will of all men; and thou who would by thy rea&s;on <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y the Creator with a nece&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y to a per&s;onal being, are void of the knowledge of God, and led by thy corrupt rea&s;on, which &s;hall never know God, and all tho&s;e who wor&s;hips God in &s;pirit, wor&s;hips an infinite Spirit, which Spirit inhabiteth eternity, and lives in the con&s;ciences of the Saints, and this is not to glo|ry in an imagination, but a witne&s;&s;ing of the &s;ame eternall Truth, which he Saints witne&s;&s;ed which &s;pake forth the Scripture, for they witne&s;&s;ed Chri&s;t dwel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ed in them, and the &s;ame God they w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r&s;hipped, who&s;e temple they were, and not another, and we the &s;ame witne&s;&s;e, and this to the honour of the Man Je&s;us, who was ye&s;terday, to day, and for ever.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="query">
<P>14 Quer. <HI>The eternall Spirit, Creator, and alone everla&s;ting Father, which dwels</HI>
<PB N="18" REF="11">
<HI>e&s;&s;entially in the glorified body, as our Lord Je&s;us his eternall Son, and virtually reign<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> in all the Saints, Elect men and Angels, be record between me and you world without <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">d, whether this Epi&s;tle &s;hall not be &s;ent to you, and all the cho&s;en that &s;hall peru&s;e it, principally for the e&s;tabli&s;hing of your tender &s;pirits upon that eternall &s;pirituall Rock Je&s;us Chri&s;t God and Man in one di&s;tinct body, or per&s;on glorified, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">ly ho|noured with all &s;pirituall prai&s;es from Elect men and Angels when this world is con&s;u|med into a&s;hes, and all time or times is &s;wallowed up into eternity or eternities.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="answer">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The eternall Spirit, which is the everla&s;ting Father, which thou &s;aith is e&s;|&s;entially in the Son, thy word e&s;&s;entially I deny, and thy voice, yet Chri&s;t and the Father is one, and the &s;ame Spirit that dwels in the Son dwels in the Father which is one, I and my Father is one, the &s;ame dwels in the Saints, thy word vir|tuall I deny, the &s;ame that dwels in the Father and in the Son, the &s;ame dwels in the Saints, not di&s;tinct nor divided, for he that hath &s;een the Father hath &s;een the Son, and he that hath the Son hath the Father al&s;o, and Chri&s;t is divided, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one, and he that is joyned to Chri&s;t is one &s;pi|rit, and not di&s;tinct nor &s;eparate: if thou have an ear thou may hear, and that eter|nall Spirit, which is the Father and the Son, which dwels in the Saints, is judge of thee, and by that Spirit I judge thee, that this Epi&s;tle came not from him to none of the cho&s;en, for they who are cho&s;en deny thy voice, and what do&s;t thou &s;peak of E|lect and Angels, with whom God dwels, when in thy fourth Querie thou &s;aid, they were defiled, and the holy Gho&s;t &s;aith, he dwels with no uncleanne&s;&s;e, and &s;o &s;peaks confu&s;ion and <HI>Babylons</HI> language, which is the land of thy nativity, from whence all the&s;e things have been &s;poken by thee, and all that &s;hall ever be e&s;tabli&s;hed with thy declaring, or thy Epi&s;tles, &s;hall be thrown down, for the Rock &s;hall beat thy image to pieces, and therefore leave off thy &s;peaking of him, and of thy di&s;tinct body, and of his glory, for when he &s;hall appear in his glory, in&s;tead of thy prai&s;es, thou &s;halt howl and lament, and wi&s;h the mountains to cover thee, and he who is out of time &s;hall con&s;ume thee to a&s;hes, who &s;tands in time and in the airie philo&s;ophy and imagination, and thy great words eternity and eternities &s;hall &s;tand thee in no &s;tead; for that which is eternall was before thou was, and &s;hall be when thou art brought down to the pit with all thy imaginations: And &s;o that thou might not glory any more in thy &s;hame, we have an&s;wered thy Queries, and for the &s;imple ones &s;ake, that they might not be &s;tumbled by thy &s;tumbling Queries, who dwels not in the Light.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
