Emmanuel, by his captains and his holy army, made his first assault upon Mansoul, slaying and wounding many Diabolonians therein. Of the townsmen, there was one loved no good. He was a townsman, but a Diabolonian. He also received his mortal wound in Mansoul, but it took him a long time to die. Mr. Ill-Pause, the man who accompanied Diabolus in the first attempt of taking Mansoul, he also received a grievous wound in the head. Some say that his brain pan was cracked. I have taken notice of this. After this, he was never able to do the mischief in Mansoul as he had in times past. Old Prejudice and Mr. Anything also fled. Now when the battle was over, the prince commanded that yet once more the white flag should be set upon Mount Gracious in the sight of the town of Mansoul to show that Emmanuel still had grace for the wretched town of Mansoul. When Diabolus saw the white flag hung out again, and knowing that it was not for him, but for Mansoul, he determined to play another prank to wit, to see if Emmanuel would end his siege and depart upon a promise of reformation. So he went down to the gate one evening, a good while after the sun had gone down, and called to speak with Emmanuel, who immediately went to the gate. Then Diabolus said to him, for as much as you make it appear by your white flag that you are wholly given to peace and quiet, I thought it appropriate to make you fully aware that we are ready to accept such terms as you may permit. I know, Diabolus continued, that you are given to devotion and that holiness pleases you. Yes, that your ultimate goal for making war upon Mansoul is so it may be a holy habitation. Well, draw off your forces from the town and I will bend Mansoul to your bow. Therefore, I will lay down all acts of hostility against you and will be willing to become your deputy and will, as I have formerly been against you, will now serve you in the town of Mansoul. And More particularly, one, I will persuade Mansoul to receive you as their Lord, and I know they will do it sooner when they understand that I am your deputy. Two, I will show them how they have erred and that transgression stands in the way to life. Three, I will show them the holy law unto which they must conform, even those of which they have broken. Four, I will impress upon them the necessity of a reformation according to your law. Five, and moreover, that none of these things may fail, I myself at my own proper cost and charge will set up and maintain a sufficient ministry in Mansoul with lectures besides. Six, you shall receive each and every year as a token of our subjection to you whatever you think is fit to tax and charge upon us in gesture of our subjection to you. Then Emmanuel said to him, O full of deceit, how movable are your ways! How often have you changed and rechanged, just so you could still keep possession of my mansoul, even though, as has been plainly declared before, I am their rightful heir. You have made many proposals already, nor is this the last one a single whit better than those past. And failing to deceive when you have showed yourself in the black of your darkness, you now have transformed yourself into an angel of light, and in order to deceive, now as a minister of righteousness. But know this, O Diabolus, that nothing you offer must be regarded, for nothing is done by you except to deceive. You neither have conscience toward God nor love to the town of Mansoul. Why then should your sayings arise except from sinful craft and deceit? He who can enlist and will offer what he pleases, and doing so in order to destroy them who believe him. is to be abandoned with all he shall say. But if righteousness is such a beauty spot in your eyes now, how is it you so closely stuck by wickedness before?" But this is a side note. You talk now of a reformation in Mansoul, and that you yourself, if I will give my permission, will be at the head of that reformation, all the while knowing that the greatest proficiency man can make in the law and the righteousness it contains will amount to nothing at all in taking away Mansoul's curse. since the curse was pronounced against Mansoul by God for having broken his law daring to suppose Mansoul could reform to keep the law can never deliver him from the curse to say nothing of what a reformation would look like being set up in Mansoul when the devil becomes corrector of vice you know that all you have now said in this matter is nothing but guile and deceit and is as it was at first, the last card you have to play. There are many who recognize you when once you've shown them your cloven foot, but in your white, your light, and in your transformation, you are seen by only a few. But you shall not do this with my Mansoul, O Diabolus, for I do still love my Mansoul. Besides, I have not come to place Mansoul under a system of works to live by. Should I do so, I would be just like you. but I have come that by me, and by what I have and shall do for Mansoul, they may be reconciled to my Father, even though they have provoked him to anger by their sin, and even though they cannot obtain mercy by keeping the law. You talk of placing this town under subjection to do good, when none desires it at your hands. I am sent by my Father to possess it myself, and to guide it by the skillfulness of my hands into such a conformity to Him as shall be pleasing in His sight. I will therefore possess it myself. I will dispossess you and cast you out. I will set up my own standard in the midst of them. I will also govern them by new laws, new officers, new motives, and new ways. Yes, I will pull down this town and build it again, and it shall be as though it had not been, and it shall then be the glory of the whole universe. When Diabolus heard this and perceived that he was revealed in all his deceits, he was confounded and utterly puzzled with embarrassment. To be continued. Thoughts to ponder from today's episode. Remember that Old Illpaws was the chief speaker for Diabolus. In the first assault by Emmanuel's armies, he was cracked in the brain pan, in his skull. What did this mean? Read Matthew 22 verses 15 to 46 to help you with your answer. In Diabolus's offer to Emmanuel, he suggests to reform Mansoul under his leadership as deputy by emphasizing that the townsfolk keep God's law. Why is an outward religion with no inward spiritual regeneration unacceptable before God and Christ? Read Matthew 23 verses 25 through 28 to help with your answer. For more help, read Galatians 3 verses 10 and 11, and 2 Timothy 3 verse 5. What did Emmanuel mean when he said, he will pull down this town and build it again, and it shall be as though it had not been? Read Ezekiel 36 verse 26, John chapter 3 verse 3, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17, and Revelation 21 verse 5 to help with your answer.