boly, as I am boly, muft we turn our Souls out of our Bodies, to make them like your bodilefs God.

When we are faid to worship God in Spirit and Truth, is this spiritual Worship performed without a Body, although there is a Mental, Privy, and Praise without a vocal Expreffion, yet it must arise from a Heart, and that Heart must be placed in a Body.

There is no Light without a Sun, no Stream without a Fountain, and no Spirit without a Body.

3dly, As to your third Particular, this I must tell you, that no Light of Nature can discover Spiritual and Evangelical Truths, and it is very grofs for any Man to subject the Spiritual Truths of the Gofpel, to the heathenish Principles of Philofophers, making the New Teftament no other but for the, Confirmation of the Principles of Nature, which Nature you call right Reason, which fay, you never repugns the Gospel, nor the Gospel it.

By this your Difcourfe I find, that you own that Chrift came, but to confirm the heathenish Principles of Nature, as, that God, and Spirits, and Angels, were all without Bodies, being immaterial Beings, and you know not what.

Now give me leave to be plain with you, and to tell you, that I could never read that the Gospel of Chrift was ever fent to enlighten Nature, Nature or Reafon hath no Intereft in it at all. In the moral Law it hath, and therefore it is written, the Law came by Mofes; and what to do, but only to enlighten Reafon unto whom the Law was given: But as to the Gofpel, it came by Jefus Chrift, and particularly belonged to another Seed; namely, to the loft Sheep of the House of Ifrael; fo that you can no more diftinguish between the Law and the Gofpel than between the two Natures of Faith and Reason it is all a Mystery to you. Do you know what right Reafon is, if you do, you must ascend up into the Kindom of Heaven, and view it in the holy Angels; for you will not find neither pure, nor right, nor uncorrupted Reafon any where in this Orb below the Stars: For it is evident that Reafon's Notion can never be capable to comprehend Spiritual Truths, as from the Power of its own Nature, it only ferves to comprehend natural and temporal

Things,

Things, it being but natural itfelf; but Gofpel Truths are comprehended by another Light, according as it is written by David faying, in thy Light fhall we fee Light, &c.

So that from what is faid, we need not fear (as the World have) of the Heathens rifing up in Judgment against us, for maintaining Gofpel Truths against their Darkness of Reason.

4thly, As to your fourth Point, where you charge me of fathering upon the Scripture thofe things that are not, and you make a Wonderment of it, that I fhould fay, that God was a Man, and to quote Chrift's Words for it, telling the young Man, that there was no Man good but one, which was God; this you tell me was falfe, for you fay, the Text faith that none is good but one, which is God. Here your Ignorance appears very great, and may be wonder'd at confidering your great Learning and continual Study; but it appears, it is but in those heathenifh Philofophers; for obferve for better Instruction, did not that young Man call Chrift Mafter, and own him to be a Man and no more: Now to this you may find that Chrift's Anfwer did tacitly imply, that if he was but a Man, he was not perfectly good, and that no Man could be perfectly good.

And furthermore for a more full Anfwer in the Old Tranflation, attending to mark it, is render'd thus Word for Word that there is no Man good but one, which is God.

This is plain Scripture, and yet you are ignorant of it; I perceive you are not very confervant in Scripture, your Philofophy turns you out of all Scripture knowlege. But to proceed farther, cannot you find by Scripture that God was ever called a Man, did not you ever read that Scripture that faith, God was a Man of War.

Much more might be faid of this, and feveral pofitive Proofs From Scripture might be produced to confirm it withal, but because it is not the general received Opinion, therefore it muft be quarrelled with; for the Honour of this World must be both fought after and fubmitted to.

And whereas you farther fay, that the Apoftles of Chrift did ever teach after they had received their Commiffion, that Spirits were immaterial and could fubfift without Bodies, now anfwer to this:

Is

It is most certainly evident, that the Apoftles never taught, that any Spirit could fubfift without a Body, but the contrary altogether; for their Doctrine was, that as the Soul and Body lives together, fo it dies together, and at the Laft Day rifes together, and is ever without Separation.

When the Apostles faid, That many Spirits were generate into the World, which denied that Chrift was come in the Flesh, did he mean Spirits without Bodies: And when Paul said, that the Spirit fpeaketh exprefly, that some shall depart from the Faith: Now what Spirit was that, but Paul's own Spirit of Faith, in his own mortal Body; for without a Tongue it could not be expreffed.

And where the Apoftles tells of the Doctrine of Devils were those Devils bodilefs, and teached damnable Doctrine?

So that the Apoftles never taught that there was any Spirits without Bodies, but always Spirit and Body went together, and fo makes Longitude and Latitude profoundly, as your Philofophical Notions teacheth, although you cannot apply it to any fublime or fpiritual Thing, you knowing nothing of it but all is nothing and of no Substance; and fo in that your Darkness I leave you, feeing you are no Friend to the Lights and reft yours in all civil Refpects,

JOHN REEVE the only true Witness unto the very true God, amongst many pretended Spiritual Messengers in this confused Age.

An Epifle wrote by the Prophet JOHN REEVE to ISAAC PENNINGTON, Efq; dated 1658. concerning an Answer to a Book of his, with feveral Myfteries and Divine and Spiritual Revelations declared by the Prophet, concerning God's vifible appearing in the Flefb.

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N your Self-return, you feem to mourn over the funk Spirit of both Creations, fo termed by you. Alfo you write as though many from a fatanical Spirit write moft accurately, both of the Works of Creation and Myftery of Redemption by an immediate Gift of God from our Lord Jefus Christ. To this I answer, a little Seafon will produce Mourning enough in you, when you fhall fee your angelical Motions like Lightning, caft down with Confufion of Fear, from their former Perfection of imaginary Glory, rational Dreams and Visions, Revelations, Infpirations, Experiences, or Voices proceeding from an incomprehenfible Spirit.

Again; I have both read and heard a Voice to fay, that the Secrets of the Lord are his choice Treasures, referved only for Redeemed ones; but I never read or heard from any fpiritual wife Man before now, that any fatanical Spirit was able to intellect deceived Perfons, exactly to write of the hidden Mysteries of the Everlasting God. Again, you pretend unto no fuch Revelations as I proceed upon, but fay you, there is another Way more certain than Reafon or Revelation, which whether as I prefume you were led into, the Lord will one Day make manifeft, from the true Light of Life Eternal. To this I answer, your Light as terming of the true Infpirations of the Lord Jefus Chrift, written by me to you, is because as yet his Holy Spirit viels them from your Eyes; but as for your new Sound of teaching them from your God, more certain than Reason or Revelation, from the Divine Voice spoken in the Ear, through the glorious Mouth of my Lord.

I declare that in all Ages the Elect loft Sheep of Ifrael, did never read or heard of any more than two original Ways either natural or fpiritual in Mankind, whether you call them Creature or Creator, Light or Darkness, Truth or Error, Revelation and Reafon, Infpiration and Imagination, Truth and Unbelief, Flesh and Spirit, and fuch like.

'Tis confeffed, that visible Appearances of God or any elfe unto Mortals is teaching of all, but he that expects that kind of Teaching any more until Men are immortalized, lieth under at present as great an imaginary Deceit, as ever yet appeared in this Land. It is also granted that the most holy God fpeaketh to his Chofen Meffengers by Voice of Words, even to the hearing of the Ear unto which Truth for Ends best known unto himself, by his gracious Power only, can bear Record in this prefent Generation, unto the Grief only of all angelical Wife, envious, proud, inglorious, hypocritical Reprobates that hear of it.

Moreover if your more fure Way of teaching from God were Vision itself, yet it is impoffible for you to enjoy any true and lasting Peace, unless it fwallows up all your former Writings produced from your own Spirit, without an immediate Commiffion from God, and in the Room thereof, perfwade your Soul to pour in your Oil, into the natural Wounds of opprefled Perfons, under what Opinions or Appearances

whatsoever.

Again, you fay, O Lord God, pity the Captivity of Man, yea, pity the Captivity of thy own poor Seed, hear the Prayers of that Spirit that interceedeth with thee for every Thing, not according to any fleshly Imaginations, but according to Truth and Righteousness of thine own Ballance. From the God of Truth, to this I anfwer, concerning that fpiritual Captivity of the Elect, in Reference of a right Understanding of the Creator, you need not trouble yourself about that, unless you think through much importuning the unchangeable God, may be perfwaded to loose their Bonds before the decreed Time thereof; but if you think that Glory of God's eternal Love towards them, will provoke to their fpiritual Darkness through the invisible Appearances of his own pure Light, then you

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may