CHAPTER XXVI.

OF JUSTNESS, AND THE GOINGS OF THE PEOPLE. OF THE CONFUSION, AND TROUBLED STATE OF MAN.

THE CAUSES AND THE EFFECTS.

1. Give ear, all ye people, and understand my words, all ye who walk in paths of life, and grope your way in time's dark vale below, saith the great JEHOVAH;

2. A God, the record of whose word, in dispensations long past, ye have; which record, by my Almighty and over-ruling power, hath been preserved unto the present day, as a couch to the frail, and lamp of true light unto the children of men, that the path before them might be plain, and the way in which they should walk not hedged up; that wickedness might not cover the earth, nor gross darkness the people.

3. Have these purposes, for which my sacred word was given, and preserved among the children of men, been accomplished according to my will? Or hath man perverted the order that was intended he should forever keep, as a safe-guard to his soul through time?

4. Remember, all ye inhabitants in time below, that your God remaineth the same, both in the past, the present, and the future. God is spirit, an eternal and everlasting substance of light, power and truth, filling all immensity and space, through endless worlds unknown; yet, a God that is near, and can be sought unto in mercy and loving kindness, by such as walk in obedience to his commands, and seek after Him with a sincere heart.

5. But where, saith your God, are the ensigns of your creation,

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or the credentials of that office for which you were created? Were you not required by these, always to be in a state that you could show forth, at any time, to that power which created you, the ensign of honor, and the credentials of glory? That the day in which you were created, might not be repented of, by Him who formed you to be an honor and a glory to Himself.

6. But they have sought, not to give honor unto Me, but to seek for themselves, honor from men. They have not labored to glorify my name, but have sought glory in their own shame; and I, their God and Creator, have not received tithes at their hands; nor offerings acceptable, have they brought before my face.

7. And the countless millions who have entered eternity for thousands of years, testify these solemn truths; That the whole world hath wandered afar off from the law and order of their creation, and made unto themselves other gods to worship than Me, the only true God and Creator.

8. But, as the inhabitants of the earth, for ages and ages, from the earliest period to the present day, have refused to bring forth offerings, holy and acceptable unto Me, or sound forth praises and thanksgiving unto my holy name, with clean hands and pure hearts, according to the age in which they lived, and have, from time to time, refused the most merciful offers at my hand, saith the Lord;

9. Yet, in the dispensations of my eternal goodness and mercy, to the objects of my creation, I have, in this your day, established a work, and set up my kingdom, which by Me was foretold in ages long past, that shall never have an end or be destroyed, so long as I suffer life and breath to exist upon the earth.

10. And this I have done, that the progressive order of my work, through all preceding dispensations, may be fulfilled, and accomplished, in this, the last and final dispensation of my grace to man.

11. But as it has been in all preceding ages of the world, so it is in this day, as respects mankind being prepared to work together with Me, their God and Creator, in my time; and not lay out their own way and time, in which they will work, or not at all.

12. I find, saith the God of Heaven, that mankind are replete with the same excuses in this day, that they were when I first sent my beloved Son upon the earth; and they are no more ready to believe that my Almighty hand hath established a work, and set up a kingdom on earth in a way that I declare it unto them, in

this age and day, than they have been in any age that has preceded it.

13. But I created man; and as I have given him warning in all preceding ages of the world, so will I, in this age and day, as a kind and tender father, give him solemn and sacred watch-words of warning of the awful state and condition in which he stands, sunk in sin and wickedness, and every kind of abomination, with cruelty, bloodshed and carnage, on every hand and side impressed.

14. In this awful and sunken situation, in which the inhabitants of earth, as a body, now stand before Me, do I, as a kind father, their watchful and eternal Parent, loudly proclaim in their ears, that every heart may understand, that the face of the Almighty is turned towards the earth, and that awful judgments are about to break forth upon the inhabitants thereof, if they repent not, and that speedily.

15. Give an attentive heart, and a listening ear to my word, saith the Lord; Do all ye merchant-men of the earth, keep just reckonings, give true weights and honest measures to your fellow creatures? Or does the love of gold and silver, cause deception, lies and fraud to be practiced upon your fellow mortals?

16. Do you live, from day to day, as you wish to die; or do you put the day and hour of death, at a great distance, hoping it will be more easy to prepare by and by? Do all ye who call yourselves the common class of people on the earth, keep the golden rule given by your Lord and Savior, which was, Do unto others at all times, as ye would that others should do unto you? for this is the law and the Prophets, said the Christ.

17. Do you hearken to the rulers of the land, by obeying the laws they do enact? Or do ye tansgress the same?

18. Do ye speak evil of the rulers of your people? Or do you give honor to the same?

19. Do ye observe and obey all they teach you, and yet follow no bad example?

20. Do you come at their call, and go at their bidding, to bathe your swords in the heart's blood of your fellow creatures? Or do you do it because you yourselves delight in deeds of blood, to prey like ravenous beasts upon your fellow creatures, to rend and tear in pieces the objects and image of my creation, saith the Lord?

21. Have not I plainly declared unto you, that vengeance is mine, and I will repay in my own time and season?

22. Do you consider, day by day, that for every deed you do, while in the body, against the laws of Christ the Savior, ye must answer in judgment, at my bar of eternal justice?

23. Do ye keep sacred my holy Sabbaths, by bringing forth offerings acceptable unto Me, with clean hands and pure hearts, according to the best of your understanding, not having aught against your brother?

24. Do you love God, your Creator, by rendering praise and thanksgiving to his holy name, with all your soul, might, mind and strength? Or is your strength far more engaged to heap up earthly gains, for selfish purposes, where moth and rust doth corrupt?

25. Do you rise early to praise the Lord your God, and give unto his name the glory due?

26. Do ye abstain from revelings, riotings, drunkenness, lasciviousness, wantonness and debauchery, and live a moral, temperate and sober life, meditating upon the law of the Lord by day, and resting in a state of justification beneath the providence of his protection by night?

27. Do you consider, that my All-seeing eye is continually beholding all the doings of the children of men? Or do ye think that I am a God who only spoke from Sinai's top, parted the red sea, sent fire down from Heaven, and sent the Lord Jesus Christ upon earth; and since then, have taken no knowledge or concern respecting the inhabitants of the earth?

28. It is true, saith the Lord, your sins and iniquities have separated your souls from the protection of your God; that is [the reason] why I appear at such a great distance from mortal man in this day: It is his transgressions that have carried him so far away from his God.

29. But they that will do as their Lord and Savior taught, when he was upon earth, will always be nigh unto Me, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people, in deed, and in truth; and unto such I will often draw very near, and teach them of my ways that they may walk in my paths.

30. The humble and contrite soul is near to Me; but the proud, the high, and the lofty, I banish far hence, for they are an abomination in my sight.

1. O ye people on the earth, who are as sheep having no shepherd! Why are ye thus confused, and broken to pieces, divided and subdivided, throughout your kingdoms? Why is the integrity of your hearts shaken, and your confidence in one another destroyed?

2. How can two walk together, except they be agreed? And what is it that destroys your agreement? Can you not search out the cause? Confusion is an effect proceeding from some cause. Did I not, when the children of men were building Babel, confuse their language, so that they could proceed no further in the unlawful enterprise which they had undertaken?

3. And hath not mortal man upon earth, in this day, gone as far out of the way, as the builders of Babel were in that day, considering how much greater knowledge, light and understanding, my Almighty hand hath suffered to beam forth upon the earth, in these last days, than there was at that early age?

4. Have not the children of men in this age, in their self-exalted imaginations, built castles into the air? Do not their senses soar