The rise and progress of the kingdoms of Light & Darkness, or, The reign of Kings Alpha and Abadon

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{UNITED: STATES OF IMERICA.J

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Part First

A certain King, whose power is beyond description, at a period called the beginning of time, formed a kingdom on a small part of his dominion known by the name of Earth ; which, although it contains many millions of square miles, yet it is very small when compared with the whole of his dominion, which is without bounds. Now thus, as I shall proceed to tell, is the manner of his forming his kingdom : In the beginning he founded the celestial and terrestrial countries ; and the celestial he called Heaven, and the terrestrial, Earth, and placed the former above the latter, which was at that time void, without comeliness or beauty, and darkness covered the face thereof. Then it pleased him, before placing his subjects in it, to command that there should be light, and there was light ; he also exceedingly beautified it, dividing the land from the Water, saying to the water, So far shalt thou come, but no farther; this is thy bound, and here shalt thy proud waves be stayed. He also divided the waters into great and small portions, called oceans, seas, rivers, bays, creeks, &c, and he made the land to abound with plants, herbs and trees of all kinds imaginable, and these beautiful to look upon and delicious for Iruit ; he also made two exceeding great lights, one far greater than the other, which, from the brilliancy of his light, caused and ruled the day. Time being equally divided between day and night, one succeeded the other, and the lesser light ruled the night, which was the time of the absence of the greater light, for he was ordained to rise and shine by day, and, retiring to the west, should set ; and then there should be night, which the lesser light should rule. And besides these lights he placed many smaller lights in the firmament, and called them stars, and decreed that they with the greater lights should run their regular course, and shine on the earth only by night. All these lights, by the great wisdom and mighty power of this great King, whom I here denominate the King of Light and Glory, was set in motion, and decreed to run their regular course until time shall end.

So now, after setting all these things in order, he caused the waters to abound with living creatures of very many different kinds, sizes and shapes. Also in the air made he to fly many kinds of birds, beautiful and useful, and on the earth he placed all manner of beasts and creeping things, of all sizes, from the least unto the greatest. All of the above mentioned things did this great and good King do, for the benefit and comfort of his subjects, whom he was about now to place on the earth, that they might be happy and possess and enjoy all these things ; and render unto him that reverence that was due to him for their existence, and for all these great bounties. So you may see, kind reader, that this great King has taken great pains to set all things in order for the prosperity of his kingdom and the comfort of his subjects, who were to be called mankind, whom he intended should possess the sea and the dry land forever, on condition of their obedience to his just laws. And now therefore to make his regard for them the more plain, he made one particular place more beautiful than all the rest ; decorating it with beautiful flowers and trees, and delicious fruits of all kinds imaginable. And now therefore having formed man of the dust of the earth after his own image and in his own likeness, and having breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, to the intent that he might live and be happy so long as the King himself lives, which is to all eternity, if proving obedient to his just command; therefore he placed him in the delightful garden, and gave unto him all the fish of the sea, and all the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the earth, and all the trees, plants and herbs that grow upon the face of the whole earth, intending that him and his posterity should enjoy this vast dominion forever, if they on]y proved faithful to their bountiful Maker, for they had never done anything to merit his favor. So that all of these things were given them freely through the goodness of the King of Light ; though they had no right to expect them of him. So that all must agree that they ought to have paid that toleration that was due to so merciful a Prince for such great favors. But yet strange to tell, they did not do so, for both they and their children became transgressors of the righteous laws of so good a King, who intended that they never should have been removed from the land that he gave unto them, by Death, a great destroyer, whom he at length through their disobedience caused to be let loose upon them, by whose hands they and their children fell in process of time. Also he intended that they should never have felt sorrow nor pain,- nor to have to toil and labor and get their bread by the sweat of their face, for he made their land to bring forth plentifully all things necessary for their support without their labor.

Now when the King had placed his servant man in the beautiful garden he was at first alone, but reviewing him he said that it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore he made a helpmate to be with him, to enjoy with him all the comforts of the garden and the earth ; so then these two beings thus situated, stood as the heads and representatives of all the race of mankind, who was. to spring from them, and people the immense regions of the earth, and be the subjects of the King of Light. So the King in order to establish his kingdom aright, made a law for his subjects, which thing was necessary, for there must needs be a King to reign, and a law to keep, and subjects to obey, in order for a kingdom to be founded ; therefore the King made his law, which was a very mild one, and but few restrictions contained therein. There only being one recorded on the king's statute book, at the first which was merely of one particular tree, called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were commanded not to eat on the penalty of death ; for the King told them that on the day they eat thereof, they should surely die. Leaving with them this law, and the power to keep it, and warning them of the awful consequences of not keeping it, he blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over all the creatures that dwelt thereon. And every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to them, he said it should be for meat. So the King saw all that he had done, that it was good, and he rested on the seventh day from all his labor, having finished this great work in six days, therefore he set the seventh apart, and ordained that it should be a day of rest for all his people forever.

Thus, as above stated, was his kingdom founded on earth, all things being set in order for the prosperity thereof, and leaving these two in the posession and enjoyment of all these things, he departed for a little season, giving them the opportunity to prove their love and obedience to him.

Now this great King had lived and reigned in his everlasting dominion on high, long before this time, for he is without beginning. And it came to pass that one of those wjio dwelt in the Celestial Land with him, who had been highly honored by him, and had received of his exceeding great bounty, without any merit of his own, and had been permitted to stand in his presence, and behold his glory, yea was one of them that by the King had been placed the - highest in power and glory, of all them that dwelt with him in the Celestial Land. Yet did this one without cause, prove treacherous to his King, and rebelled against him, intending to overthrow him and take possession of the kingdom and reign in his stead ; for he was not willing to pay that homage that was due to the King, nor yet to his Son who was with him in the beginning, and helped him to build and establish all things that were made up to that time, and was therefore worthy with his Everlasting Father, to receive honor and praise, from aD the creatures that he had made and placed in happiness. But this most re-

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bellious one, as the King had Highly honored him, became proud, and thought himself too great to pay obedience to both the King and his Son, therefore he revolted from him and went about to influence the minds of all he could,against the King and his Righteous Government. Persuading them that he could through their assistance overthrow him and his son. Kow all of them that he spoke these things to, had been placed in infinite happiness by the King, and had everything necessary for their comfort; all bestowed freely by him to them without any merit of their own, so that it is reasonable to suppose that they would not have been easily persuaded by this wicked one, to forsake the King of Light, and cleave unto him, but yet as strange as it may seem, many adhered to him, and became willing to. join him in battle array against the King of* Light and Glory. So having thus far now gained his vile purpose, he assembled all them that were willing to follow him and took counsel together, and finally determined to break peace and make war in the Celestial Land, where up to that time, there had never been known but peace to prevail. But now it became necessary that the King of Light should assemble his army together, to make war with, and put down this vile offender, so he called forth one of Iris mighty warriors whose name was Michael, and commission cd him to gather in one band, his soldiers that were in all the Celestial Land, for war was now determined against the usurper and all his wicked crew, who were all now as-. sembled with him, and stood in readiness to fight. So the King told Michael to get such weapons from the Armory as were necessary for the battle. So the soldiers being properly equipped, at the command of the king, with Michael at their head and Gabriel also as one of their Chief Commanders, marched forward to the field of battle, where they beheld Satan, which was then the name of the usurper, with all the alien host in battle array, of whom it was demanded by Michael and those that were with him, why he had thus rebelled against the King of Light ? He and

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Tire meeting of Alalia and Abadon's aranv iiitlie Celestial Laiutl, IMr.Trvitli strikes Abadomvitli a Dart . pa£e 25 them that were with him straightway replied, that they were no longer willing that he should reign over them ; neither were they willing to pay obedience to his Son ; therefore they intended to free themselves from his power and reign, independent of him, or over him and his. Then replied Truth the orator of the King : " Seeing therefore, Satan that thou hast transgressed, in rebelling against so good a King, behold thou shalt be cast out of this place of rest, where thou mightest have dwelt forever in happiness ; but for this thy transgression, now shalt thou be cast into prison, a place of punishment with thy wicked crew, where ye shall be reserved in chains of darkness until the Judgment of the great day, for so has the King determined, and war is now declared against thee." With that Truth cast the first dart at Satan, which found way to his heart and made him sick > and he never was so strong as he was before. But he so far recovered as to be able to command his army, to prepare for the battle. So the command being given to both armies by their Commander in Chief, the battle was set in array, and behold Satan's army was put to flight, with great loss. Now this battle was fought hard by the City of Light from whence the alien host fled with great haste, and got them into the most remote parts of the Celestial Land. But being pursued by the army of the King, they still continued to fight, although they were put. to flight in every battle.

But as they had a wide range and were very wily, it was hard for them that had been their comrades, to drive them entirely out of the land, and it would notdo to leave them remain anywhere in all the Celestial country. For they would continue to practice mischief and disturb the peace of the Land of happiness; also their crimes were such that justice -demanded that they should not only be cast out, but punished for their transgressions. Therefore it was determined by the King that they should be cast out; and in council with his Son and Spirit, three in one, it was agreed that the Son should arm himself and go : path single handed to the field, and bring the battle speedily to a close. So he got in his chariot and rode forth into the midst of the battle, and held in his right hand thunder and lightning, and also had with him chains sufficiently many and strong to bind all the foes. And riding forth thus in majesty and great glory, the rumbling of his chariot wheels shook the whole land where they stood, and caused Satan with all his host to tremble ; amongst whom he cast forth his thunders and lightning, discomfiting and wounding them. He bound them in chains and dragged them at his chariot wheels, and cast them forth from all the Celestial country into a great dungeon, which he had previously prepared for him and all his host, where they are confined; but being dark spirits, they yet roamed the air by the King's permission, but are forced to carry their punishment and dungeon with them, whithersoever they go. And now being cast down from their former lofty habitation over the battlements of Heaven, they conspired together, taking council, to see what way they best could avenge themselves on their great Conqueror. So therefore being assembled in conference together after much deliberation it was unanimously agreed that it would be best to not attempt to face their dreaded foe again in battle array, or yet to meet his shining army of flaming warriors by whom they had been put to flight in the Celestial land. But as they had understood that he had formed creatures that he called man, who were a little lower than they were ■ before they fell, and they were them that stood yet, having been made weaker than the inhabitants of the Celestial land, and as it was understood they were free agents, being left to their own free will to do whatsoever they would, good or evil, to attack them in some way or other, would be safer than any other manner tbut they could adopt, and would be most likely to meet with suceess. It was therefore determined that the attack should be made on them by either force, persuasion or deception; and as they knew that man was exceedingly well-beloved by

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"King Alpha enters the field in a fiery Chariot, discomfits "his foes ,Aviththnnder and K^Mning . page 2G their Sovereign, it would be very grevious to him, for them to disobey him, and yield obedience to his enemies. Satan who was now called the King of Darkness, and Abadon having been the first to revolt against the King of Zion, was considered the most suitable person for this great undertaking. He then went forth in search of the place where they dwelt, and finding the earth, he soon found the delightful garden wherein he entered, and in order to conceal his purposes from them, being a spirit, he emerged himself into a beast called the serpent, that was more subtle than any other beast of the field, and whom they would therefore be more likely to hearken unto. Now the last one that was placed in the garden by the King, was the female, and was weaker in body and mind than her male companion ; therefore the King of Darkness attacked her first, inquiring whether the King of Light allowed them to eat of all the trees of the garden, to which she replied, of all the trees of the garden they might freely eat except one, and their King had strictly forbidden them to eat thereof, telling us that the day we eat thereof we should surely die. She knew not that it was their greatest foe to whom she was talking, and that his aim was to destroy their happiness forever, and bring them in subjection to him instead of their rightful sovereign. Thendid this vilest of the vile one, speak through the subtle serpent and dared to contradict the words of the Almighty and great and good King, who had once conferred upon him the exceeding great honor of dwelling in his glorious presence and enjoying exquisite happiness, and which his own wickedness alone had now deprived him of.

Saith he, ye shall not surely die, for your King doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil. Then did this subject of the wondrous King of the highest Heaven, believe the words spoken by the King of the bottomless pit through the subtle serpent, in preference to those spoken by this kind and good Sovereign who had placed them in the garden, and given them freely all the things that were then on all the earth, with the exception of this one tree, which the King of Darkness told the female would make them wise, and bring them more upon an equality with their King, his Son and Spirit ; then did she contrary to the just command of their most exceeding kind and good King, put forth her hands and partook of the fruit of the tree of which he had forbidden them to eat, and she did eat and gave unto her male companion, who loving her, received it at her hands and did also eat. Then was the law of this good King broken, and their eyes were opened, so that they beheld their own shame and nakedness, which was far from being the intention for which they had eaten the fruit, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons to hide their nakedness. Now it came to pass, that in the cool of the day after they had thus transgressed, they heard the voice of the King of Light as he walked in the garden. But now, alas, it was not with them as heretofore, for they once could have been glad to see and hear him, and went forth with joy to meet mm at his coming, but now it was far otherwise with them, for they knew they had disobeyed his just command, and therefore they were afraid and ashamed to meet him, and hid themselves from his presence amongst the trees of the garden.

Then did the King call unto the male, saying unto him, Adam, for that was his name, where art thou ? Then said he, I heard thy voice in the garden and was afraid, and hid myself because I was naked ! Then spoke the King, to his disobedient subject, saying, who told thee that thou was naked, hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee not. Then instead of confessing his fault, he began to make excuse, saying the helpmate thou hast given to be with me, she gave unto me, and I did eat. Thus accusing his Sovereign of being the cause of his transgression, by giving him his helpmate, and laying the blame chiefly on her. He signified that had she not been given unto him > lie would not have broken the law. Then did the King inquire of the other, why she had done so ? She also began to make excuse, saying the ssrpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Then said he to the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all the beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto the man he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat ; therefore cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life, thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou returneth unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.

So now gentle reader, you plainly may discover how greatly these two had transgressed, in breaking the just laws of such a kind sovereign, who had favored them so greatly, yet although they had thus transgressed, he did not deal with them as their crime deserved, but had mercy upon them, and suffered them to still remain on his earthly dominion ; but not to enjoy the exceeding great pleasure and happiness he had intended them to enjoy, had they kept his Kighteous Law, but now as they had broken it, he in justice to himself drove them out of the delightful garden in which he had placed them, and which their own disobedience alone had now deprived them of. Therefore as they had now become alienated from the King of Light and subject to the law of Sin and Death, which was the law of the King of Darkness, who had allured them from their rightful Sovereign, intending thereby to establish his dark kingdom on earth which is the realm of the King of Light and Glory. Then did the King of Light appoint his servant Conscience as a dictator to them, to remind them of their duty to him their rightful Sovereign. So Mr. Conscience made known to them how greatly they had sinned, in breaking the j ust laws of their most merciful King. He also showed them that it would have been just in their Prince to have not only driven them out of the garden, but off of the face of the earth, and confined them in prison, bound in chains of darkness, to dwell for endless ages. And yet he did not so deal with them, but gave them the earth and the fullness thereof to possess, both they and their children after them, for whom he yet had a tender regard, and intended to make them completely happy on condition of future obedience, which he signified when he made the promise that the seed of woman should bruise the serpent's head, who was the one that beguiled the woman to break the King's decree, and who still did desire. them and their offspring to continue in disobedience to their King, which he too far succeeded in doing.

But the promise that was made by the Eternal King of the highest Heavens in due season, was fulfilled to the great joy and comfort of his faithful servants who were not yet born. So after Conscience had showed them their very great error in disobeying their King, they humbled themselves, and were glad that their kind Sovereign had not forsaken them utterly, and left them entirely in the hands of their grand adversary, who had strove to ruin them and all their offspring, who was to inhabit the earth, and be the subjects of the King of Light. Now these two were yet alone, but it had been decreed by their King that from them there should be a very numerous race, to inhabit the face of the earth. Accordingly they began to multiply, and their first offspring were two sons, and as their parents had lost the nature of the King of Light, through their disobedience, and partook of the nature of the King of Darkness, so it was natural for them also to partake of the same nature, and in process of time, as they began to approach to manhood, the first being a tiller of the ground, the other a keeper of sheep, they both brought forth their offering to the King of Light. The older of the fruit of the earth, the younger of the firstling of the flock. The first adhering to the King of Darkness brought not his sacrifice with a perfect heart, therefore it was not accepted, but the other cleaving to the King of Light, brought his with a perfect heart, and it was accepted. The older of these two was named Cain, his brother's name was Abel.

Cain was offended because his brother's sacrifice was accepted and his was not ; then did the King of Light condescend to converse with him on the subject, and said if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? but if thou doest evil sin liest at thy door. All of this did not suffice to please him, and his countenance was sullen from tine to time, until it came to pass that, as he and his brother were together in the field, he arose against him and slew him. The King beholding from his Throne what was done, said forthwith unto Cain, where »is thy brother Abel ; he answered and said. I know not, am I my brother's keeper ? Thus agreeing with the King of Darkness, who was a liar from the beginning, and the Father of lies. But he could not deceive the Allwise King of Light, who saw him when he committed the deed, and knew all about it, for his eyes are over all things ; nothing can be hid from him. He said unto him, what hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, and now art thou cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hands ; therefore when thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth. Then did he begin to see he had sinned greatly, and he began to entreat the favor of the King, confessing his sin, and saying that his punishment was greater than he couid bear, and lamenting all that the King had said should come upon him, so that great as his crime was, the King had compassion on him, and said, whosoever slayeth Qain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold; so he put a mark upon him, lest any finding him should slay him, so he went out from the King's presence and dwelt in another part of the eartb, and there his children increased and became very numerous. But they hearkened to the King of Darkness and became subject to him, forsaking the King of Light. The other children of his Father cleaved more to their rightful Sovereign, so that there became, as you, reader, may see, two kingdoms, namely: the Kingdom of Light, and the Kingdom ot Darkness.

Now kind reader, you may plainly see that the glorious King of Light and Grlory, has taken great pains to set all things in order for the comfort of the inhabitants of his Kingdom. So that in the beginning they lacked nothing to make them completely happy ; and what they now lacked was not according to his will, but they had brought it on, by their own disobedience ; yet he bestowed his bounty largely upon them that served him not, but instead to his and their own enemy. Now this King of Darkness, whom many of them were so foolish as to serve, had never done them any good, but on the contrary much evil, for through obeying him, they had brought on all the troubles they suffered ; so that now it it easy to determine which of these Kings it is best to serve, whether the King of Light, from whence flows all good, or the King of Darkness from whom all evil comes. I hope dear reader, that you will make up your mind speedily if you have -not already done so, to serve the glorious King of Light. Now to you it may seem strange, that those of whom we are speaking, did not serve him, but strange as it may seem, the chief part of them rebelled against him. But the children of the Kingdom of Darkness increased greatly in the land, and filled the earth with violence- The King of Light saw that the wickedness of man was great, and the thoughts of his heart were to do evil, and therefore he repented that he had made him, and placed him on the earth, and it grieved him sore at his heart ; therefore he said he would destroy man whom he had created off of the earth ; both man and beast, and creeping things, and fowls of the air, for it repents me that I have made them.