What is man, that I should be mindful of him, or the son of man that I should visit him?

10. Have we not created him to pursue a different path from that which he hath pursued, from the foundation of the world to the present day? Have I not declared that we created him in our own image, to be an honor and a glory unto us?

11. And shall we suffer him, saith the Lord, instead of doing us honor, to disgrace the name by which he was created,

12. By filling the earth with blood and violence, and covering her face with filthy stews of abomination?

13. By trafficking in human blood, and making merchandise of souls?

14. By grinding the face of the poor, and turning the right of the needy away?

15. By supporting the rich, the great and the high, who have got gain without right, in every kind of the most extravagant luxury; while those of their fellow creatures who labor daily with their hands for bread, are starving for want of the same?

16. Shall the earth groan unto Me, by reason of such injustice, and I not be avenged on her inhabitants, saith the Lord? Nay, nay, crieth my eternal justice.

17. I will visit her in mercy, if she will hearken; but if not, I will visit her in judgment, still more severe than I poured forth upon those stiff-necked, hard hearted and rebellious Jews, who crucified the holy Son of God, when he was sent forth unto them.

18. For I have suffered light, knowledge and understanding to be increased in the earth, and where ever much is given, there much, in return, will be required. And unto whomsoever light and knowledge is given, to do their master's will, and they do it not, the same shall be beaten with many stripes.

19. And where the true gospel light does shine into a soul, and they obey it not, for fear they shall be mocked and scorned, by their fellow creatures; double condemnation will fall upon that soul; and my judgments will surely visit them, unless they speedily repent, and obey the light which I have given them, saith the Lord.

20. Understand the word of the Lord your God all ye people; I did not send my beloved Son into the world for naught: I did not send him to make a show of the gospel without possessing the sub

stance.

21. He took on him the nature of man, with all its frail and fallen

propensities, that he might set him a true example, how to deny himself, by taking up a daily cross, against every evil propensity of his nature.

22. This, your Lord and Savior effectually did, by putting every enemy of the soul's best good and comfort, under his feet. He conquered the power of sin and death, by passing through the deepest of sufferings.

23. And by this means, he was always able to resist the temptations of every fallen propensity of nature, at the first presentment, and was never, in any instance, overcome; therefore, he was perfected through sufferings, and enabled to open the door of eternal salvation to every one, that would strip themselves for the race, and run for the prize, in the path which he directed.

24. But I never sent him on earth, either in his first, or second appearance, to save any souls in their sins. There can be no power given to do this, saith the Lord; my attribute of eternal justice forbiddeth it.

25. But every one, who would come into the order of my grace, must confess their sins, one by one, before my Witnesses; and labor to repent of the same, by leaving them off. And none can ever come into the true gospel of Christ, either in his first or in his second appearance, short of doing this.

26. And none can ever stand as true witnesses for Me, until they have done this, in sincerity of heart and honesty of soul, and have labored to repent, and cry to God that they might be forgiven for the same.

27. For the heart, defiled and corrupted with sinful abominations, is like unto a cage filled with every unclean and hateful bird; or like unto a whited sepulchre, that is full of rottenness and dead men's bones within, and it never can be cleansed, short of a full and free confession.

23. I AM, is a God of eternal justice, and will render to every one their just reward. I have in past dispensations of my grace to man, given him laws and statutes, agreeable to the age and day in which he lived, and in keeping them, he would always have been insured with my love and blessing, to protect him in his duty.

29. But few, very few, saith the Creator of all, have I ever found in any age of the world, who were willing to sacrifice their own ways and wills, with all their carnal enjoyments, to do my will and pleasure; therefore have they run in their own way, and not in the way of their God.

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF MY HOLY SPIRIT, AND THE MANNER OF MY WORK, AS OPERATING UPON THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN, THROUGH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

AGENCIES.

1. God calleth unto man, and reasoneth 22. Man warned to turn from his wickwith him.

edness.

6. Man justified in proportion to obedi- 24. His works merit a scourge at the hand

1. Draw near unto me, the Lord your God, O ye inhabitants of earth! Incline your hearts to understand my word, and turn your feet to walk in my paths.

2. Open your eyes to behold, and unstop your ears that you may hear, while I hold forth the sceptre of my mercy, and extend the arm of my charity, once more unto you; and teach you again of my laws, that you may walk in my paths.

3. While I command the holy Angels, whom I have sent forth with the vials of my wrath and judgment, to stay their hands for a short season, that the people may hear my word, and have a space to repent if they will, and prove unto Me, by the humility of their souls, that they really believe my word, and will hearken unto my voice.

4. The great I AM, who sitteth upon his throne on high, is a spirit of everlasting goodness and eternal brightness, operating through all immensity and space, and endless worlds unknown;

yet, I formed this earth for my pleasure, and placed the image of my likeness thereon for my glory.

5. And as one grain of sand to the sea shore, or as one drop of water to the rolling deep, so it may be reckoned, in comparison to the power, majesty and glory of Him who created it. Yet, in every individual whom I have created after my own image, is placed an immortal soul, or never dying part, which is of that eternal substance that gave it being; and this must, and will, eternally exist, clothed in happiness, or in misery, just in proportion as its own individual works shall merit, when weighed in the balance of my eternal justice.

6. And just so far as the inhabitants of the earth have kept the law of nature, with all its restrictions, which I did sound, through the mouths of my faithful servants, [and cause] to be recorded in the sacred volume, that man might know the will of God, his Creator, just so far shall they be justified in that order and state before Me, and no further.

7. And again, just so far as all those professing the Christian religion, have sincerely embraced it, in singleness of heart and sincerity of soul, according to the very best light and understanding given them, so far they shall be justified in my sight, and no further; saith He who sitteth upon the throne of eternal justice.

8. And again, hear ye my word; my spirit doth work in the hearts of the children of men, in various ways and manners. But understand, all ye inhabitants of earth, and rulers of the same; never, since the days of the Messiah, hath the spirit of that gospel which your blessed LORD and SAVIOR brought forth unto you, operated to cause you to shed each other's blood.

9. For did he not declare, both by precept and example, as plain as the open light of day, that his kingdom was not of this world, therefore his servants would not fight? And did he not furthermore testify, that his kingdom was a kingdom of peace, and that the subjects of it must dwell together in bonds of love and peace; at all times, do unto others as they wished others to do unto them, and so fulfill the law of true righteousness?

10. Consider, pause, and reflect, all ye nations, ye rulers, kings and people, who make a profession of the true religion of my blessed SON. Great, very great, saith the Lord, are the professions of the children of men upon earth.

11. But I am about to visit them for that which they possess, not that which they profess; for they who profess, and possess not, are

F

likened unto the man who built his house upon the sand, and the floods came, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was

the fall thereof.

12. And so shall it be, saith the God of Heaven, with the nations and kingdoms of the earth. And notwithstanding my word of warning unto them, many will say, Our God delayeth his coming; come, let us take our ease, and rest in our sinful abominations; perhaps it will be just as well with us, in the end, as with others.

13. We have often heard of great warnings and prophecies, purporting to be from God, but I do not know as there ever was any thing took place on the account, any more than common; so I think they are all a blasphemous fiction, of some vain mortal that wants to frighten the human race.

14. But I again declare unto the inhabitants of earth, saith the Lord, that although there have been those who spoke in my name, falsely, saying that I had sent them, when I sent them not; and those who have been suffered to taste a little of the true Oil of life and light, and, having no vessel suitably cleansed and prepared to receive it, have, by that means, run extremely wild, and done much harm, in causing the heart that was already hard with unbelief, as respects the invisible operations of my divine spirit, to become still more hard and unbelieving;

15. Yet, saith the Lord, none of these things change falsehood into truth, or truth into falsehood: a just weight, and a just balance alone can stand; and by their works shall they be known, who be false, and who be true.

16. I work by means of my own choosing, through both visible and invisible agencies. The fruit of the tree shall always stand as the criterion, by which the good qualities of that tree shall be known.

17. And where ever the spirit of my blessed Son does find an entrance into the hearts of the children of men, it operates in the following manner: They will feel a spirit of prayer, to cry unto Me, in deep tribulation of soul, that their eyes may be opened, to see and know whether they are, in truth, continually living up to the best light of their own consciences, or whether they are daily vio-lating the same.

18. They will feel their souls hungering and thirsting after spiritual food, anxiously desiring to be clothed upon with that true state of justification, that they can feel they are at peace with all their fellow creatures, and can meet their God in a state of true confi