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taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain; therefore let no man glory in men. And now I ask thee, what glory he hath to boast of in men And yet I tell thee, in their craftiness they are now taken; which will be to their own shame and confusion; because the living must lay to heart what the dead hath done; because I have already revealed to thee in what manner the craftiness began, and by whom.

"And now come to the following chapter, which Hows was directed to.

"I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart: and then shall every man have praise of God."

"I shall answer the meaning of the words. It is not every man in the world that can or will have praise of God, in this judgment; but let them discern the words-The time is come, that the Lord hath revealed to thee "the hidden things of darkness, and made known the counsels of the heart." So that these men, who come forward to pass just judgment, as I have commanded by thee, to be clear in judging, and just in condemning, and to judge between man and man, as I have made known the counsels of the heart; these that assemble together to pass just judgment, in the manner I have directed, they will all have praise of God. And therefore he may say with Paul," It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. He that judgeth me is the Lord." Thus far the Apostle's words are verified in him; because, thou knowest, I have judged him from his temptations, from his persecution, and from the craftiness of the wise; and

as I have judged him, I will now justify him, if he condemn the wisdom of the world, by his own folly; to caution every one to be careful how they trust to the wisdom of the wise, who trust to their own wisdom. And now let him look to the chapter through-" That ye might learn in us, not to think of men, above that which is written. Let no one of you be puffed up, for one against another:"—for thus pride brought on the contention; because they were puffed up against him.”

The answer of the Spirit, why it was said that the Mysteries were hid from those I had been writing to in 1797.

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"Now I shall answer thee, why it was hid from them;-because of the pride of their hearts, who boasted of their wisdom, their learning, and their greatness; and I knew with what contempt they looked upon one that was so mean and low as they judged thee: and therefore they judged the Lord another such as theirselves, without considering that my ways are not as man's ways, nor my thoughts as man's thoughts: for as high as the heavens are from the earth, so far are my ways from man's ways, and my thoughts from man's thoughts. And therefore it was hid from them, to bring down the pride of men. Let them look to my humility, when I took man's nature upon ME: but how was my humility scorned by the rich and great, and by the learned, who boasted of their wisdom! Therefore, marvel not in thy heart, that I should bring their wisdom to the ground, by concealing from them any knowledge of my ways, or my goings, before I bring it like the noon-day sun before them, that they may acknowledge they could not trace my footstep: for to them it was hid, as in the great deep; and my path's past man's finding out: then, what have men to boast of? Know it is written, "Let not

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the wise man boast of his wisdom, nor the strong man boast of his strength; neither let the rich man boast of his riches:" for riches have wings and fly away and to him that I gave knowledge and strength of understanding, to trace my footsteps in many things, but see how soon he lost his strength, and became weak, like other men! And know the others, who boasted of their wisdomand learning, where is their wisdom gone now! Can men of wisdom plead in their behalf? In thy heart thou answerest, no: then let them come to my Gospel, and acknowledge that, without ME, they can do nothing; that every good and perfect gift must come down from the Father of light, in whom there is no variableness nor the shadow of turning: and, to prove the truth of the Scriptures, I said it was hid from them.

Isaiah, xxix. 13-16. "Wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people drew near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men; therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, he had no understanding?"

"This I tell thee men have been trying to do: they have been turning of things upside down; for they have been placing good for evil, and evil for good; they thought to hide their counsels from the Lord, thinking none saw them, or heard

them but as none can hide his counsel from ME, I have revealed their counsel to thee, and how they wanted to make thee say, he that made thee, and revealed my will unto thee, had no understanding. Thus men have tried to make the language of thy heart, that thou shouldest condemn thy Creator, as they have done; to say the Lord could never have formed things in this manner; because there was no understanding in his goings, in the manner thou art directed. And this is the language thou hast heard to day, from the man who calleth himself Ephraim; and who advised thee to make the devil thy friend; but I tell thee, such men's destruction is sure, without hasty and bitter repentance, I shall frustrate the tokens of such liars, and make such diviners mad, and turn their wisdom back upon their own heads, and make their knowledge foolishness. Isaiah, xliv. 25. For I tell thee, the most hardened sinner upon earth, that doeth the will of the devil in all things, thinking thereby to make him a friend, they will but find him the greater their enemy; because I shall give him full power over them. Therefore I tell thee, Satan's suggestions, to come in that manner and work upon the minds of men, thinking they shall be favoured by making Satan their friend, will only kindle my wrath and indignation against them, to give them wholly into the power of their adversary, which is the devil.

"So now let such fools take care, for I have shewn them what their end will be: for many such fools will now arise, Know in what manner Satan pleaded with thee, how great thou shouldest be in hell, if those worshippedst him; and so in like manner will he now plead with many, to harden them on in sin. Therefore it is written, "woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." So marvel not in thy

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heart that he worketh in men to persecute thee: and this persecution will increase.

"But now I shall come to the chapter, where these mad diviners are mentioned. From the words of the Prophet ye may see the end. Let men begin the chapter, and read it through.And now come to the last verse-" That saith of CYRUS, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid."-Here were things spoken of CYRUS, as a Shadow then to the Jews; but the Substance remains for THE END: the fulfilment of CYRUS was never yet accomplished. And to bring men to discern the Scriptures clearly, I have spoken many things of the Archdeacon and the Chancellor's being convinced of their errors, which thou hast been stumbled at; because they are no more, and were not convinced. But know I have spoken of them two ways; and one way thou hast seen fulfilled by the dead; and I now tell thee, the other way, thou wilt see it perfectly fulfilled, by an Archdeacon and a Chancellor, to blame their conduct, as I told thee they would blame theirselves. So what was not fulfilled in them, thou wilt see fulfilled in others: and so they will find from the words of the Prophet, in the xlv. chapter, what was not fulfilled by CYRUS will now be fulfilled. For now they shall look unto ME, and be saved all the ends of the earth. Thus will I go on, till the words of the Prophets are accomplished: for I said I came not to destroy the Law of God or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. And let them see what I spoke in the Gospel, of the Son of Man, of my Stewards, and of my Servants.

"And now I shall come to the words of the Prophet, and bring it back to the Jews and the Gentiles. Isaiah, liv. 5, 6," For thy Maker is thine husband (the Lord of Hosts is his name)

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