perform this; and therefore I told thee, in nine- Of FRANCE, and SPAIN, and every distant coast And that should be for the sake of the Jews, that I should destroy the nation that had their possession; for I said I gave it to the heathens, and they that called not upon my name; therefore it is said, in the second Psalm, "Ask of ME and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. And this I shall do for the sake of the Jews, to make them a nation, that are now scattered and have no country, if they now awaken, from the sign I have set before them. Because this calling is to the Jews, that have no prince, nor king, over them; but now I shall send them a Prince and a Saviour; which meaneth, if they believe in the SoN, they must believe in the FATHER; and then I shall save them with an everlasting salvation. But I now tell thee and all mankind, if I fulfil the Sign this year, to prove to the Jews that my Gospel is true; yet, if they now reject the Sox, as they rejected the FATHER; then their last error will be worse than the first; for I shall leave them without help, and without hope. Because the Sign which I have set before them, they must know that none but a God can foreknow, and have power to fulfil; for where is the woman of thy age, if she were married, could foretell that she should have a son, when she had no knowledge of being with child? In thy heart thou answerest, none. "Now come to my Gospel: Matthew xiii. 31. "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which, indeed, is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." "Know what I said in my Gospel: 46 'If ye had faith, as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Now this strength of faith I have given to thee; and things that appear impossible with man, thou hast believed is possible with God; then now let them see my parables further: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." As I likened the kingdom of heaven in parables; so, in like manner, I shall call thee back to the parable of the Child, when I ordered thee to call together thy judges, to prove thy writings, and inake public to the world, that whoever would, might come and judge for themselves; and when the people were assembled together, I ordered the box, where thy writings were placed in, to be put upon a table, but not to be opened, nor the cord broken till thou hadst brought in a little child in thy arms, which was Foley's Son, and I ordered thee to place him on the box, to stand in the midst of the congregation, with a bride cake in his hand; and then I ordered that all the company should kiss the child. Then know with what eagerness they all took the child, from one to the other, and kissed him; and though the company was large, know, the child smiled upon all, which was remarked by them, how a child so young would be taken by strangers, from one to the other, with a smiling countenance, and not cry. Know, I placed him as one of the judges; but no one knew for what ends I ordered this to be done, as the type and shadow were hidden from all. Then I ordered the cord to be cut, and to be cut in pieces; then know my answer: As they had cut the cord, so would the nations be cut, before that child was old enough to know good from evil: but the depth of knowing good from evil cannot be known by the child yet; but mark what hath happened upon the nations abroad, since January 1803, that this was done. Here is the first type of the CHILD standing alone, to make up the twelve. Now come to the second, when I ordered thee to call all thy witnesses together, to have the truth proved, of what they knew concerning my visitation to thee from the beginning; and then I ordered that strangers and unbelievers should be invited the second time to come forward; and, if they proved the visitation not from the Lord, then to their judgment I said thou shouldest give up; but know, they refused to come forward and pass their judgment. Then I ordered the writings to be proved by the witnesses; and the further judgment was given, from the truth they heard from the witnesses; then I placed the child the second time to stand as a judge with man; and with men he held up his hands, in the petition to have the power of evil destroyed, that my kingdom might be established in righteousness and peace. Here is the second type of the child, hidden from all, why I ordered this to be done. But now come to the third, which I have compared to thy awful trial; which, as I have told thee, a trial may be awful and serious, though the end may be glorious to them that believe, but awful and fatal to them that now mock: for the Child, first being brought in alone, I shall compare two ways; the one to my first coming: though I was received by my friends, yet I was rejected by my enemies: and, like the cord, the nation was cut in pieces, and the Jews scattered; but now I shall come to the other, to place the last to the first. Know, at the second meeting, the child stood with Harwood, who is an officer in your army: And now the warrior shall begin, if the Child is rejected; because I have told thee, like the child's standing with man, so the Child, that I have said shall be now set up as a Sign to the Jews, is like the FATHER and the SoN. And know, the FATHER of the CHILD is the Shepherd of his flock: and now the good Shepherd shall appear, by the power of the FATHER. For I now tell thee, this year thou wilt have a SoN, by the power of the MOST HIGH; and thy public Trial will not appear, for thee to be called forward in a solemn assembly, to testify the truth of the Child, before, thou canst go with the Child in thy arms, while the milk is in thy breast, that men may know thou hast not deceived. And then let the Jews appear, that they may judge for themselves; as I have told thee, this CHILD is to restore them to their own land, to be as a PRINCE of PEACE, and a KING over them: and when they have agreed together to kiss the Child and receive it, I shall fulfil as I have spoken concerning the Jews, both by the prophets and in thy writings." Strange Effects of Faith, page 53. "For I will have a strong army; Jews and Gentiles shall agree; And my Spirit goes before them, For my servants I'll awaken, And their hearts I'll fill with love; They shall find they're not forsaken By their heavenly Lord above." Know I said "I will come again in glory, As a Lamb that's newly slain." "And now I shall explain the meaning of the words, that thou hast been stumbling at; because thou sayest, a lamb that is slain is dead. And now I shall come to my Gospel: know I said, my flesh was meat indeed; and now I shall explain the meaning: As a lamb that is newly slain is meat to eat, so they shall find my words to be meat for all, and drink for all. The life that I laid down for men, was to come again in power, and to free them from their grand adversary. But could men simply suppose, that I should come as the mighty God, the everlasting Father, to dwell with men, and forsake the heaven of heavens? No: this was never my design. I took man's nature upon ME, to be a true judge for man, as I have explained to thee already; and therefore I spoke two ways in my Gospel: I said, my FATHER and I were ONE; before Abraham was I AM; that I was in the FATHER, and the FATHER in ME. But know, at another time, I said, the FATHER was greater than I: and this I spoke concerning the SoN, that I said should be revealed at my second coming." Luke xvii. 20.-" When he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come; he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here, or lo there: for behold, the kingdom of God is within you." "Now discern the words that I said, of the kingdom of God coming not with observation; neither should they say, Lo here, or there; for the kingdom of God is within you.” John xviii. 17.-"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." |