The Holy War, Episode 61. On the advice of Mr. Godly Fear, Mansoul, with tearful repentance and godly sorrow, constantly petitioned Prince Emmanuel to return to them. Meanwhile, some Diabolonians who dwelt in the walls of the town met at Mr. Mischief's hold as Mr. Lasciviousness proposed that they risk offering themselves as servants to some of the natives of the town. Remember, young people, that when I've spoken of that the corruptions that still remain in our flesh, Mr. Bunyan in his allegory mentions that in a certain way. The Diabolonians, those things that were mentioned, lasciviousness and adultery and fornication and murder, Lord Murder and all those others from previous, the lesson before and the lesson before that. They dwell in the walls of the town. That's where, when I mentioned the corruptions of our flesh, that is the same thing. Remember that the entrance into Mansoul is through five different gates. The eye gate, the ear gate, the nose gate, the mouth gate, and the feel gate, the skin. So you have all these different gates in order to go into the town, but within the walls, this is where all the corruption is, the corruption of our flesh. For, so Mr. Lasciviousness speaking in Mr. Mischief's Hold said, for, he said, if they do so and Mansoul accepts them, they may make the taking of the town of Mansoul easier for us and for Diabolus, our Lord, than it would otherwise be. But then the Lord Murderer stood up and said, This may not be done at this time, for Mansoul is now in a kind of rage, and because of our friend, Mr. Carnal Security, having already been ensnared once and made to offend her prince, How will she reconcile herself unto her Lord again, but by removing the heads of these men? Besides, we know that they have a commission to take and slay us, wherever they shall find us. Let us therefore be wise as foxes. When we are dead, we can do them no harm, but while we live, we may. Thus, when they had tossed the matter to and fro, they jointly agreed that a letter should be sent away immediately to Diabolus in their name, by which the state of the town of Mansoul should be shown to him, and how much it is under the frowns of their prince. We may also, said some of them, let him know our intentions and ask of him his advice in this case. So a letter was quickly framed, the contents of which was this. to our great Lord, the Prince Diabolus, dwelling below in the infernal cave. O great Father and mighty Prince Diabolus, we the true Diabolonians, yet remaining in the rebellious town of Mansoul, having received our beings from you and our nourishment at your hands, cannot with content and quiet endure to behold as we do this day. how you are dispraised, disgraced, and reproached among the inhabitants of this town. Nor is your long absence at all delightful to us, because greatly to our detriment. The reason we are writing to our Lord is, for we are not altogether without hope that this town may become your habitation again, for it has greatly declined from its Prince Emmanuel, and he has arisen and has departed from them. Yes, and though they send, and send, and send, and send after him to return to them, still they have not prevailed, nor received good words from him. See, this is a reason why we should not let, we should do all that we can to not let Jesus depart from us, because we might be in a condition where we will be attacked by those fleshly corruptions. Continuing on, in their letter they say, there has also been of late, and is still remaining, a very great sickness and fainting among them, and not only upon the poorer sort of the town, but also upon the lords, captains, and chief gentry of the place. We alone, who are of the Diabolonians by nature, remain well, lively, and strong. so that through their great transgression on the one hand and their dangerous sickness on the other, we judge they become vulnerable to your hand and power. If therefore it is agreeable with your horrible cunning, and with the cunning of the rest of the princes with you, to come and make an attempt to take Mansoul again, send us word, and we shall, to our utmost power, be ready to deliver it into your hand. or if what we have said shall not be thought best by your fatherhood and most fitting to be done, send us your thoughts in a few words and we all are ready to follow your counsel to the hazarding of our lives and whatever else we have. The letter continues, this letter has been given under our hands on the above written day and date after a close consultation at the house of Mr. Mischief, who is still alive and has his place in our desirable town of Mansoul. When Mr. Profane, for he was the carrier, had come with his letter to Hellgate Hill, He knocked at the brazen gates for entrance. Then Cerberus, the porter, for he was the keeper of the gate, opened to Mr. Profane, to whom he delivered his letter, which he had brought from the Diabolonians in Mansoul. So he carried it in and presented it to Diabolus' lord and said, Tidings, my lord, from Mansoul, from our trusty friends in Mansoul. Then Beelzebub, Lucifer, Apollyon, with the rest of the rabble there, came together from all places of the den to hear the news from Mansoul. So the letter was unsealed and read while Cerberus stood by. When the letter was openly read, and its content spread into all the corners of the den, command was given that, without interference or hindrance, dead man's bell should be rung for joy. So the bell was rung and the princes rejoiced that Mansoul was likely to come to ruin. Now the clapper of the bell went, the town of Mansoul is coming to dwell with us. Make room for the town of Mansoul. This bell therefore they rang because they hoped that they that they should have man's soul again. And if you had a question of who Cerberus was, Cerberus was the gatekeeper to Pluto. Yeah, the dog, the Greek mythology, the one Pluto is named after in Disney, he was the gatekeeper for the, for Hades in Greek mythology. Cerberus for Pluto. Now, when they had performed their horrible ceremony, they got together again to consult as to how they should answer their friends in Mansoul. Some advised one thing and some another. But finally, because the business required haste, they left the whole business up to the prince, Diabolus, judging him to be the most proper lord of the place. So he drew up a letter, as he thought fit, in answer to what Mr. Profane brought, and sent it to the Diabolonians who dwelt in Mansoul, by the same hand who brought theirs to him, and these were the contents thereof. To our offspring, the high and mighty Diabolonians who still dwell in the town of Mansoul, Diabolus, the great prince of Mansoul, wishes a prosperous issue and conclusion of those many brave enterprises, conspiracies, and plans you have in your hearts to attempt, from your love and respect to our honor, to do against Mansoul. Beloved children and disciples, my Lord's fornication, adultery, and the rest we have here in our desolate den received to our highest joy and content your welcomed letter by the hand of our trustee, Mr. Profane. To show you how acceptable your tidings were, we rang our bell for gladness. For we rejoiced as much as we could when we recognized that we still had friends in Mansoul, and such as sought our honor and revenge in the ruin of the town of Mansoul. We also rejoiced to hear that they are in a degenerated condition, that they have offended their prince, and that he is gone. Their sickness also pleases us, as does also your health, might, and strength. Glad also would we be, right horribly beloved, if we could get this town into our clutches again. Nor will we spare spending our wit, our cunning, our craft, and hellish inventions to bring to a desired conclusion this, your brave beginning in order thereto. And take this for your comfort, our birth and our offspring, that if we should again surprise it and take it, We will attempt to put all your foes to the sword and will make you the great lords and captains of the place. Nor need you fear that if ever we get it again, that we afterward shall not be cast out anymore for we will come with more strength and so we'll hold them far more securely than we had at the first besides it is the law of that prince that now they own that if we get that if we get them a second time, they shall be ours forever. Therefore, our trusty Diabolonians continue still to pry more into and endeavor to spy out the weakness of the town of Mansoul. We also desire that you yourselves attempt to weaken them more and more. Send us word also by whatever means you think we best attempt in regaining the town thereof. Namely, whether by persuasion to a vain and loose life, or whether by tempting them to be continued. Now, a question may arise. concerning Matthew chapter 12, verses 43 to 45, when Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders who accused him of casting out devils in the name of the prince of the devils, in the name of Beelzebub, or Beelzebul, the Lord of the flies. Baal is Lord, and flies is Zivuv, Beelzebub. So the question may come up as far as for that, because he says that the law of the prince is that if we have been cast out, that when we come back, we will be stronger because he goes about, the demon is cast out, he goes about in dry places. But when he comes back, he says, well, I need to bring stronger friends with me and then we can take over. Does this sound like someone can lose their salvation? Because this is only episode 61 and there are episodes to come, not necessarily. by some people who have had, if the wickedness has been, quote unquote, cast out of them, but it hasn't been filled, then that would be true because that's the context of what Jesus speaks of in both Luke and in Matthew 12. However, if someone is saved, then they have the Holy Spirit permanently living with them as promised by the Lord Jesus. And though his presence isn't with them, as is in this case, they would not be lost forever. Sister, you had something. And Brother Mike, you had something. Apparently I answered the question. So what he does to show just generally by bringing that up, For us, as we look at a person, somebody may have a confession of faith. But is it a true confession of faith? Well, we take it with a grain of salt and trust that that confession is true. But after a period of time, it may not be because we don't know the eternal and unseen work of the Lord. So we can only go by, you know, fruit that's displayed from the tree. Well, that must be an apple tree because it's bearing apple fruit. However, if it bears no fruit, I can't tell what kind of tree it is. So those are questions that are eternal, and like with faith in Jesus Christ, we must even also trust the confessions of faith of others by faith, that Jesus has saved them, or Jesus has not. We can't know, and so by faith we trust in whatever the Lord is doing. That keeps us from being judgmental. as in Matthew chapter seven, judge not lest you be judged. We should use discernment as according to First Corinthians chapters four through six, we should use discernment and make proper judgments. But as far as for judging someone's salvation, we take that with a grain of salt knowing that it's in the hand of Jesus only, only in the Lord's hand or in the hand of the Holy Spirit. And hopefully that has helped you through this episode. Any questions? Comments?