These are our propositions or conditions of peace, and upon these terms, said the townsfolk of Mansoul, we will submit to your king. But when the captains had heard this weak and feeble offer from the town of Mansoul and their high and bold demands, Shaddai's noble captain, the captain Boanerges, gave to them the following speech. Oh, you inhabitants of the town of Mansoul, when I heard your trumpet sound for a parley with us, I can truly say I was glad. And when you said you were willing to submit yourselves to our King and Lord, then I was even more glad. But when you laid the stumbling block of your iniquity before your own faces, by your silly conditions and foolish complaints, my gladness then turned into sorrows, and my hopeful beginnings of your return had languished into fainting fears. I figure that old ill-paws, the ancient enemy of Mansoul, had drawn up those proposals you now present to us as terms of an agreement. but they are undeserving to resound in the ear of any man who pretends to serve Shaddai. We therefore jointly, and that with the highest disdain, refuse and reject such things as the greatest of iniquities. But, O Mansoul, if you will give yourselves into our hands, or rather into the hands of our king, and will trust him to make such terms with and for you as shall seem good in his eyes, and I dare say they shall be such as you shall find to be most profitable to you, then we will receive you and be at peace with you. But if you don't care to trust yourselves in the arms of Shaddai our King, then things are as they were before, and we also know what we have to do. Then the Lord Mayor, that is the old Incredulity, cried out and said to Mansoul, We're out of the hands of our enemies, as you see we are now. Who would be so foolish as to release the staff from his own hand and place it in the hands of whom he doesn't know? I, for my part, will never yield to so unlimited a proposition. Do we know the nature and character of their king? It is said by some that he will be angry with his subjects if they only step out of line a fraction of an inch. Others say He requires of them much more than they can perform. For these reasons, it seems the wisest course, O man's soul, to take good heed what you do in this matter. For if you once yield, you give yourselves up to another, and so are no more your own. Thus, to give yourself up to an unlimited power is the greatest folly in the world. For now you indeed may repent, but can never justly complain. Do you indeed know when you are his, which of you he will kill and which of you he will save alive, or whether he will not cut off every one of us and send out of his own country another new people and cause them to inhabit this town? This speech of the Lord Mayor undid everything Captain Boanerges had said, and threw their hopes of an accord flat to the ground. Therefore the captains returned to their trenches, to their tents, and to their men as they were. The mayor then returned to the castle and to his king. Now Diabolus had waited for his return, for he had heard that his officers had been at their particular places of defense. So when he had come into the chamber of state, Diabolus saluted him with, welcome my lord, how it matters betwixt you and they today. So Lord Incredulity, with a low and flattering bow in salutation, told him the whole of the matter, saying, thus and thus said the captains of Shaddai, and thus and thus said I. When told of Incredulity's tidings, Diabolus was very glad to hear it, and said, my Lord Mayor, my faithful Incredulity, I have tested your fidelity above 10 times already, but never yet found you to be false. Once we polish over this brunt of battle, I promise to promote you to a place of honor, a position far better than to be Lord Mayor of Mansoul. I will make you my universal deputy, and you shall, next to me, have all nations under your hand, yes? And you shall shackle them so they may not resist you, nor shall any of our servants walk with more liberty, but those who shall be content shall be content to walk in your chains. Now the Lord Mayor came out from his visit to Diabolus as if he had obtained a favor indeed. Therefore he went to his habitation and great spirits and thought to feed himself well enough with those hopes until the time came that his greatness should be enlarged. But now, although the Lord Mayor and Diabolus had thus well agreed, yet his repulsive answer to the brave captains of King Shaddai put Mansoul into a mutiny. For while old Incredulity went into the castle to congratulate his lord with what had come to pass, the old lord mayor, the one who was mayor before Diabolus came to the town, that is, my lord understanding, and the old recorder, Mr. Conscience, received intelligence of what had occurred at Ear Gate. To be continued. Now the questions for today, today's episode, the first set, it says, last week Mansoul brought forth terms and conditions of their surrender. In a nutshell, they were, one, they still wanted the old governors under Diabolus to be in charge, Incredulity, Mr. Forget-Good, and Willbewill. Two, that no lustful soul be cast out of man's soul and that they could do what they want. Three, that every right and privilege they enjoyed under Diabolus would continue to be theirs. And four, that no new law, officer or executioner of law or office shall have any power over them without their own choice and consent. Why does Captain Boerner just call their proposals silly conditions and foolish complaints? Why does he further call them, quote, the greatest of iniquities, end quote. Read 2 Timothy 2.19 to help you answer. Webster's Dictionary from 1828 defines incredulity as, quote, the quality of not believing. disposition to believe, a withholding or refusal of belief." In the sixth paragraph, how does what Lord Incredulity says help you to understand unbelief against the truth of Jesus Christ? And finally, incredulity is promised a high universal promotion in Diabolus' kingdom. What does Diabolus' promise tell you of the devil's strategy and ultimate goal? Read Genesis 3, 1-5 to understand Satan's strategy and read Isaiah 14, 12-14 to understand Satan's ultimate goal.