MR. LODOWICK MUGGLETON,

UPON HIS INTERPRETATION OF

THE BOOK OF THE REVELATIONS.

Much Honoured,

IT was my great good happiness to see
Part of this your unveiled mystery,
'Ere to the censures of the world it went,
Or open lay upon the continent:
And in that part, methought I did descry
A heav'nly language, and discerning eye.
I saw those mysteries, which hidden were
Since their foundation, plainly now appear,
Alter'd in dress; for now they are no more
Kept for succeeding ages as a store;
But have for us been stor'd, and now shall we
Enjoy the sweet reveals eternally:

For they to us are truly now made known
To let the world see who calls us his own.

And when, at first, this part came to iny view,
Like a perspective glass, it gently drew
The object near, and cans'd me for to see
Th' sereneness of this long hid mystery.
And though the object distant from the glass
May be a mile, yet that's too small, alas!
To hinder the attraction of the sight,
Or not to draw the object to't aright.
So was th' foundation of this piece too sure,
To hinder, or a little doubt procure

Of what proceeds; for the foundation try'd
There is no fear but the building will abide.
And that which follow'd drew so near my sight,
By what preceded, that I know 'tis right,
And will abide the storms of envy 's blast,
Or censures of the world, or slanders cast
Either on it, or those who do believe,
God did to you this heav'nly wisdom give.
Methinks they have been like a tender plant,
Who yields none of its precious fruit, for want
Of the assistance of the gardner's hand,
And he yet waits for an express command,
'Ere he transplant a thing which is so rare,
(On which his lord hath an indulgent care,
And in't takes pleasure) so the gardner will
Not meddle with it to remove it, till
His lord gave order; which done, he then bestows
It in a place where pleasantly it grows;
And by the help of his industrious hand,
Proves to be the mirror of all plants i'th' land,
And bears much fruit, and that proves cordial
too,

And cures such griefs, as nothing else could do.
Like such a plant as this, these things have lain,

You are the gard'ner, and your work's the plant,
The fruit's the experience of each precious saint,
Which is an antidote for to expel

The pois'nous and temptatious snares of hell;
And hath such peerless virtue, that it can
Inflame some souls, and quench some others then
For as the one tastes in a strong desire,
To blow the coals, and not to quench the fire:
So, on the contrary, the other who
Doth taste but only for to make a shew
That he hath try'd such things, and finds indeed,
They are but husks on which we seem to feed.
Then secretly this liquid fruit it will
Put out the warmness, and an ice congeal
In that presumptuous soul who dares to say,
This is not the right path, or heavenly way,
If we for parallels would seek, we may
Look o'er the Bible, and no other way;
For there's explain'd by the Apostles there
Such things as are not to be found elsewhere,
Till you in your great works did so excel,
That only to themselves they're parallel;
But if reflection back on them we make,
'Twill not a tittle of the glory take

From this your work, but it will rather add
A lustre, in confirming what you've said.
I've heard there is a fountain, and some say
'Tis in the confines of Armenia,
Which hath such strength in that close element,
That whosoe'er's by angry fortune sent
Into this fountain, or falls within its brink,
It bear? them up, and will not let them sink:
Even such is your commission; for whoe'er
Falls upon it, he shall not need to fear
That seeming danger, which at first may show
A threat'ning face, or knit an angry brow:
And this clear fountain, if consider'd well,
Would represent more than my pen can tell.
But our all-seeing God is he on whom
You daily wait for revelation.
And your inspired soul is so divine,
That 'tis a theme fit for wits more sublime
Than my weak genius, therefore I'll give way
To those who more refined wits do sway,
And mine shall only be a foil to clear,
Or make another's verse more fair appear;
And so I wish you many succeeding days,
That you may write again to God's great praise,

'Till you transplanted them, and made it plain. | And the saints benefit,

I

THE

EPISTLE to the READER.

HAD thoughts when I writ the Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation, to have written no more

books, thinking in myself that there were sufficient mysteries written to have satisfied the spirit of any man, as well as myself, who came to understand the mysteries of the true God, and the right devil, as I myself did.

And because those heavenly things there treated upon were so strange, neither did I ever find, or read such a kind of language, not in all the ancient fathers writings, and all who have undertaken to interpret the scriptures, and especially this book of the Revelation of St. John.

In all my zeal in religion, which was very great, I found no satisfaction neither in their writings nor in their preaching; which was an evident sign to me, that those preachers and writers were not sent of God.

For certainly if they had, I should have found rest there, and so would many more; but I see all our preachers and teachers of all opinions in religion, they did and do come short of the glory of God, in that none of them hath, or can declare unto the people neither by writing, nor speaking, what the true God is in his form and nature, nor the right devil his form and nature, not with all their wisdom of reason, and great learning, and study of the scriptures.

When as to know God, is life eternal, so that I know now by experience, that there is a great deal of difference between knowledge, and thinking I know; for true knowledge it gives satisfaction to the spirit of man, and whoever knoweth the true God, must needs know the right devil: And can a man be more satisfied in his mind than he that knows the true God, and the right devil? for by this knowledge the spirit of man hath peace with God.

Also

Also he knowing the devil, where he is, and what he is, he is not afraid of him, for the great trouble that lieth almost upon all men and women's spirits, is, they know not God, therefore they do not love God, but fear his anger they do not know.

And as for the devil, they fear him to be some spirit flying in the air, even a fiction of their own brain: the imagi. nation of reason through its ignorance hath created such a devil to itself, that the fear of it hath caused many men and women to loose their wits. When as indeed, and in truth, there is no devil but men and women, neither doth any devil commit fornication, neither temporal nor spiritual with idols, but men and women; neither doth any devil persecute and kill the saints or others, but men and women; so that there is no other devil to be damned to eternity but men and women.

So that this is to be minded, that all the scriptures as they were spoken by the holy prophets and apostles, they were spoken to men and women; that is to say, saint and devil; for the scriptures were spoken to none but to these And these two are men, both saint and devil, and yet all the interpreters of scriptures cannot find what the devil is, nor where he is. And if they were well examined they would hardly find where, and who are saints.

two.

And all this ignorance that lieth upon the spirits of men and women, that produceth the trouble of mind, or that non-satisfaction, it is because the teachers of the people are ignorant, and blind themselves in the knowledge of the true God, and the right devil, and of the true interpretation of the scriptures.

So the mysteries of the kingdom of eternal glory is hid from their eyes, so that they have not satisfaction in themselves, nor the people that hear them; so that whilst they preach to others, they themselves are cast-aways, or as Christ saith, The blind leads the blind, and both fall into the ditch of eternal perdition.

Yet I confess they cannot help it, for it is the instinct of nature for the spirit of reason in man, to go to preach be

!

fore he be sent; and it is the instinct and nature of the spirit of faith not to be willing to go on God's messages, when he is sent of God.

This I can experience to be truth in myself, for 1 was the unwillingest man in the world to be public, either in temporal things, or in spiritual matters, so that I was forced by a curse from the Lord if I would not go.

1

But now I see the same curse did God lay upon all prophets and messengers whom he had chose, if they should not obey to go where God would send them: witness Moses, Jeremiah, and divers other prophets, and us the Witnesses of the Spirit.

So that I would have the reader to understand thus much, that where a true minister is, he is sent of God and the doctrine he doth bring, it giveth satisfaction unto him self, and to all those that do truly receive it.

So on the contrary, that minister that is not sent of God, his doctrine doth neither satisfy himself, nor him that receives him; this most people's experience can witnessunto. Else, as Samuel said to Saul, What meaneth the lowing of the oxen, and bleating of the sheep in mine ears?

So in like manner, if men were true messengers of Christ, what meaneth the horror and torment of conscience, and the fear of eternal damnation in the souls both of minister and people ? this many a minister and hearer of them, can witness unto. And all is because they were not sent of God, for it is counted as great a sin to run before a man is sent of God, as it is not to go when he is sent, which sin is called rebellion, which is as bad as the sin of whitchcraft.

I speak this only that the reader, the seed of faith, may see the difference between those messengers that are not sent of God, and their doctrine, from those that are sent of God, and their doctrine, and see which will satisfy the spirit best for I know some have tasted of both, therefore they can tell best.

For this is to be minded, that every true prophet, or messenger of Christ, can trace the footsteps of God in the scrip

scriptures, for the scriptures are the paths for God's spirit to walk in, and the paths of God are but three paths, to wit, the three records in earth, water, blood, and spirit.

That is to say, the commission of Moses; the commission of Jesus and the apostles; and the commission of the Spirit; these are the three paths which God doth walk through, which every commissionated prophet could find out God in that path he walked in: Thus when God's spirit walked through the law of Moses, that being the path for God's spirit to walk in, the prophets afterwards did find him out in that worship of the law.

So likewise when God's spirit did walk in the path of the gospel, the apostles did find him out in the gospel, and could trace his steps in the paths of the law: So that the apostles found God out in those two paths, aforesaid.

Thirdly, the witnesses of the spirit have found God out in all his three paths, as thus: 1. The prophets kept close to the worship of the law of Moses, and therein they found God. 2. The apostles kept close to the worship of the gospel, and therein they found God. 3. The witnesses of the spirit keep close to the worship of God in spirit and truth; these three records on earth, are the three paths for God to walk in, and whoever doth walk in them shall find him. Only I would have the seed of faith to mind, what advantage one commission hath over another; the commission of the gospel had great advantage of those in the law; in that the apostles knew the path of the law, and the path of the gospel also, so that they had proofs from Moses, and the prophets, that they were chosen to bear witness unto Jesus, and that worship set up by them when as Moses had no books to prove he was chosen of God, but he had the power of miracles to prove he was sent of God, and the prophets after him had his writings, to prove that God had appeared to Moses: so that the prophets could go no farther than Moses, and he that could trace the steps of God until he came to Moses, he was sure to find God there; but if any man went any farther he could never find God at all.

So