is it not faid, Jacob have I loved, and Efau have I hated, before they had done Good or Evil; but this is to be observed, God had appointed them to live to be Men, and two Nations to come out of their Loins; fo when they were come to be Men, the one had the Seal of God's everlasting Love in his Soul from his righteous Actions: The other had the Seal of God's everlasting Vengance from his wicked Actions. Is this any other than Bleffing and Curfing, or Salvation and Damnation? And these are the Words of a Man, that had Power from God to fet Life and Death before all Men; and this I fay, Happy is that Man that hath the Seal of God's everlasting Love in his Soul; and miferable is he, that is fealed up, through the Evil of his own Heart unto eternal Condemnation, which all Men are that have committed the unpardonable Sin, by defpifing the Teachings of God's Holy Spirit, and blafpheming against it. By this you may fee there is a prerogative Power in God, above all Law, to place his electing Love where and in whom he pleases; and to fix his rejecting Power where and on whom he will, without any Motive to it, for the Advancement of his own Glory: For this I fay, God will have as much Glory by reprobate minded Men, as he hath by the Elect: For as the one fetteth forth his Love and his Mercy, fo the other fetteth forth his Juftice, Power, and Wrath, without which the Glory of God would be quite loft For Mercy cannot be called Mercy, if there be no Juftice to punish Wickedness; take away the one, and you destroy both. He that pleads against this Doctrine and Power opposes an infinite Being; and who art thou that contendest against it? For Infinitenefs is above all Law. The Apostle Paul hath spoken pofitively and fully to this Point, which I refer to your Confideration. This Doctrine is owned, I fuppofe, by the Church of England, but is very coldly maintained; for I don't remember I have heard it preached to any Purpofe in my Time. And now I fhall return. to my first Propofition, and prove, in the fecond Record, that Power was given unto Man to give Sentence of Damnation upon all fuch as refufe to believe, or rather despise the Doctrine of the Apoftles. For it is faid: He that believes and is baptized fhall be faved, and he that believes not shall be damned.

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Is not this a pofitive Sentence of Bleffing and Curfing, or Salvation and Damnation? And these were Men who pronounced it; and this Power was given to the Apostles when the Keys of Heaven and Hell were given to Peter. These Keys were the Gospel of Jefus, by which they opened the Hearts of all fuch as had Faith in their Doctrine to Salvation; and to fhut the Gates of Heaven upon all fuch as defpifed and perfecuted it unto Condemnation. This was opening the Gates of Hell in the Hearts of all despifing, blafpheming fpirited Men that villifye God's Prophets, Apoftles and Saints, when Salvation is offer'd to them, by calling them Blafphemers, Liars, Hereticks, and their Doctrine falfe Delufion, perfecuting the Name of Chrift afresh, and yet expect to be faved by the fame Name which they perfecute, this is a Sin not to be repented of, and will never be forgiven. This I fpeak of Men that had their Commission from Heaven given of God by Voice of Words, as Paul, and Mofes, and fer veral of the Prophets had; and he that speaks Evil or perfecutes a falfe Prophet, will do the fame by a true Prophet, for he knoweth not who is falfe and who is true, and all Perfecution is of the Devil, and will be punished with eternal Death; as well he that perfecutes a falfe Chriftian, as he that perfecutes a true Chriftian.

Note, The fame Power that was given to God's chofen Meffengers in the two paft Records, the fame Power was given to his two laft Witneffes in this third and last Record that God will bare to this World, and which will last to the End of the World; and that Miniftry that hath not Power to blefs Men for their Faith and Obedience to God, and to curfe Men that are difobedient to the Teachings of his Holy Spirit in his chofen Meffengers is not of God.

The next Objection I fhall answer is, thefe Sayings in the Scriptures where the Devil was cast out of the Man that had an unclean Spirit, and fuffered to enter into the Herd of Swine: But first I fhall endeavour to discover the right Devil from the imagined Devil, which Man hath created to affright himself with all, how fain would Man have a Devil diftinct from himself: But there is no fuch Thing, the right Devil is the Seed or Spiritof Reafon in Man, from whence the Ima

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gination flows which was first feated in Cain, and runs in the Line of his Seed to the End of the World, therefore Cain is branded with the Title of a Devil, and Judas was a Devil, and thofe Jews that pleaded they had Abrahám to their Father. Chrift tells them, they were of their Father the Devil, which was a Murderer and a Liar from the Begining and his Work they would do, and fo they did, for they crucified him, and put him to Death. Thefe were all Men Devils, and I can find no other Devils mentioned in Scripture. Efau was a Devil, and would have murdered his Brother Jacob, had not his Mother by the Revelation of Faith fent him out of the Way. Now obferve, it is faid, all Evil is of the Devil, not only actual Evil, but all fuch Evils as are Incident to the Nature of finful Man, for by Sin came Death; and Diseases being the Forerunner of Death, these are the evil Spirits or Devils that Christ caft forth of Men, that were afflicted with them, and the Man out of whom the unclean Spirit was caft, was a lunatick Person, and was distracted in his Senfes, as may be feen by his Breaking of Chains, so that by his rageing Madnefs, his Strength was doubled to him; and Christ commanded this unclean Spirit to come out of him, whereby his Senses were restored, and he became in his right Mind as before this unclean Spirit, Devil or Disease took Place in him, and went away praifing or giving Glory to God for his Mercy toward him, so likewise Chrift caft out the Fever. Now I would not have Men think that Chrift caft out a Spirit, an Existence in itself distinct from the Body of Man; for there is no fuch Thing as Spirits without Bodies, for Spirit and Body is one infeparable Being, and cannot be parted from its own Body; and as to the cafting out this unclean Spirit, Chrift by his commanding Power, caused this Spirit or Disease to ceafe and have no longer Power in him; for he became whole and in his right Mind: And as to the Devil or Disease entering into the Herd of Swine, I affirm the Devil did not enter into Hogs, for there were no Hogs in that Country, but Hogs the People, and they abhor Swine's Flefh, for the Swine the Devil entered into, were Men of a brutish, swinish Nature, a ftubborn, ungovernable,

governable, unruly People, that would neither be obedient to the Law of God nor Man, but always refifting the Power of Christ, when he was upon this Earth, as you may fee, where they accused Chrift of cafting out Devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils; and thefe unclean Spirits that entered into them, arofe out of their own Souls or Spirits; for Soul and Spirit is all one. And it is faid, they run down a steep Hill into a Sea or Lake, and were drowned: Now this Sea or Lake was not a Sea or Lake of natural Waters, neither was that Hill a Hill of Earth; but it was the Worship of the Law of Mofes was that Hill they are faid to run down; for thefe Gadareans were a zealous People in the Worship of the Law; and those high and lofty Imaginations they had of that Worship, was that fteep Hill; for that Worship was esteemed as a Mountain, overtopping all other Worships; and this was that high Mountain the Devil tempted Chrift upon, where he fhewed him all the Glories of the World; and thefe Waters were fpiritual Waters, wherein they were choaked or drowned: For the Teftimony that Chrift did bear, in declaring the Gofpel of Peace, and the Miracles he wrought, and with the lunatic Man's declaring him to be the Son of God, it took away or destroyed their Peace they had in the Worship of the Law; fo that no true Hope of Salvation remained in them: Thus they may be faid to be drowned in the Fears of eternal Death; these were thofe fpiritual Waters they were drowned in.

Again, I never read, that Chrift deftroyed any Man in his temporal State, while he was upon this Earth: He came not to destroy, but to fave Sinners. I wonder that Men fhould be fo dark in their Imaginations, to think that the Devil entered into Hogs. Were not all Things made for the Use of Man, and to support him with Food whilst he is in a State of Mortality, and fo to end and be no more? The Beasts cannot fin, nor be tempted of the Devil, nor fuffer erernal Torments: It is the Devil and his Angels, or his angelical Seed of wicked reprobate Men, that will be caft into Hell-Fire at the End of Time. And now obferve; this lunatic Man is said often to frequent, or have his Dwelling amongst the Tombs: These Tombs fignify a Burying-Place or Church Yard, near unto

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which might be an Affembly of People to be inftructed in the Worship of the Law of Mofes; and for their Unbelief, and defpiffing Chrift's Power and Miracles, they are called a Herd of Swine; for they were many in Number; and those Herdsmen were their Teachers, which went to the City and told what was done, which brought a Fear upon them; fo they came humbly to Chrift, and befought him to depart their Coafts, Again, it is faid, Caft not your Pearl before Swine: It is not meant, caft not natural Pearl before Swine; but those Pearls they were forbid to caft before Swine, were thofe SalvationSecrets that tend to Mens everlafting Happiness; these are those Pearls fuch swinish Men are not worthy of. Thus, if your Eyes are opened, you may fee fomething into the fpiritual Meaning of thofe Scripture Sayings.

And now I fhall discover the Devil Man hath created out of his lying Imagination of his own evil Heart. This Devil is a Spirit without a Body, and hath no Form of his own, but borrows fome other Form to reprefent himself in; for he can affume what Shape he pleafes; he can whip into a Man, and tempt him to all Manner of Evil, which once committed, he can whip out of him again, and leave the Man to fuffer for his Sins; he is invifible, and yet vifible; he is in Hell-Fire, and yet out of the Fire; he is chained, and can go no farther than God fuffers him; and yet at Liberty, and can tempt Millions of Perfons at the fame Time: He is a Monster of a Devil; for he hath Horns and never a Head to place them upon; he hath Wings, and never a Body to fix them to: I have feen him reprefented with Claws to tear and torment People with, but ftill hath no Body of his own. This is the Devil Man hath made to affright himself withal.

The next Thing I infift upon is to diftiguifh a true Minister from a falfe, which I have in a Measure explained before, as thus; a true Minister is one that God hath chosen and fitted for his Purpose, by inspiring him with the Revelation of his Holy Spirit, and then giveth him a Commiffion to go forth in this World, to propofe Terms of Salvation or Condemnation to his People. Thus he is made Chrift's Ambaffador, and is impowered to fet Life and Death before all Men, and this Power is bleffing all fuch as believe, and are obedient to his

Doctrine