But now within thou dost begin, The Brazen Serpent this will clear; On every man, that's in In power to appear, your land, If they do judge thy written hand If they go on to act like him, And say they'll it forgive; For the expences of the law, The man thought he should save; To harden sin he did begin, And then upon his head it came- You harden it in your Land. Your nation it doth stand; To know from whence it came ? As on the man the load did come, His ruin for to be; Because the end of him was known, He was in poverty Brought by the law, thou well dost know His folly brought him poor; Because the thief, he well might know, And so the man his sorrows found, For to go on in every sin, And perfect so is now your Land, Your wounds I'll never heal While you go on to harden sin, And if this way they now go on, Will come on all, both great and small, As you're hardening sin in all, If now from ME thy writings be, Shall fast upon you come. My land is full of blasphemy, Then tremble now vain men; For I'll make clear, I tell you here, My offers all; for now I call, And do you all invite For to receive my offer'd love, But it you all do slight. For like the Jews you hear the news, And crown my head the same; For back the thorns you now do turn, IfI turn back the coming stroke, Your names like them must be forgot: To have ME come your Prince and King And your Redeemer to appear: But I'll redeem my Friends That now do bear for me the spear, As I bore it at first; And then my crown with me they'll share, For so it now shall burst." Adieu! my dear Miss Townley, I have only time to add my love, and good wishes, to yourself and all friends, and believe me, (Signed,) DEAR MISS TOWNLEY, sincerely yours, JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. June 3d, 1804. What a letter have you sent to me from a Minister, that hath done violence to his own understanding! first to say, there was no such thing as prophecies and then to conclude his letter by saying, he himself is a prophet. Here I shall place his words that were in his letter, that you sent me. "The christian however, my dear madam, is so strongly cautioned by his Divine Master against being deceived by false prophets, and false doctrines, that if he does surrender his understanding to enthusiasm, and make shipwreck of a sound faith, while in pursuit of fables, and lying wonders, he exposes himself, more or less, to the aweful fate of the false prophet. Rev. 20 chap. 10 verse,-Woe unto them that say, the Lord saith, when the Lord hath not spoken ; who pretend to spiritual gifts, which are neither granted, nor indeed necessary in this Era of the Church, &c. &c. I am an ambassador, an unworthy one, I confess, from Jesus Christ, if you disregard my warning voice; behold I am charged by him to prophesy unto you, that he will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." In the Postscript he recommends to your perusal, the 22 chap. of the 1st book of Kings. Now, my dear Miss Townley, out of his own mouth will I condemn him, as one of the false Prophets, he point ed out to you that Ahab was seduced by. Can a man presumptuously say, he prophesieth in the name of Christ, and boldly tell you, there is no necessity for spiritual gifts? Then he must be the prophet he mentions, to say the Lord saith, when the Lord hath not spoken. Then how can he be an ambassador from Christ, and a prophet in his name, without he be visited by his Spirit? Deeply are the words said to me, that the anger of the Lord, that, was kindled in me so greatly yesterday, the 2d. of June, was as much in consequence of his letter, that the Lord knew was coming, as it was for the bishop's, refusing to search into every truth; therefore the Lord worked in my heart, to place the Scriptures in that manner, and send them to you; and gave that strict charge, they should go in print. For the Lord knew what letters were coming from a man who saith Lord, Lord, and thinks because he is a minister he is an ambassador from Christ, and hath authority to prophesy in his name, with confidence and assurance: and this is the reason why the Lord has so threatened the clergy, for setting up their own wisdom, in opposition to the wisdom of God. But what did the Lord say, by the mouth of his prophets? Prophesy thou against these prophets, that prophesy out of their own hearts, and have seen nothing; and say the Lord saith, when I have not spoken. For I neither commanded him, neither did I send him, is the word of the Lord, now spoken to me. Therefore the threatenings of the Lord are so severe to the bishops, if they do not call the whole together, and let the cause be fairly tried who is the true prophet, he that denieth spiritual gifts, and says there is no necessity for them, but yet affirmeth in Christ's name he is a prophet unto you, and threatens judgments if you do not obey his voice. On the other hand, I am writing to you from the Spirit, that fatal judgments will fall upon you, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord F and follow after spiritual gifts, that you may know the Lord, if you follow on to know him. Now which are you to obey, God or man, judge ye? It is your cause they must take in hand, which of the two you are to obey; and whether all the ministers are prophets, the bishops must decide: or you will all find an Ahab's reign shall come. So let the cause be fairly tried, who is the Micaiah the true prophet, or who are the false prophets? For he has pointed to the very chapter that I have threatened shall bring destruction on your land, if they are seduced by false prophets. And now he hath told Townley, the ministers are the prophets, without spiritual gifts; and I have told them thou art the prophet with spiritual gifts. Then let the truth be tried; and this chapter must be mentioned: Ahab was seduced by false prophets, and was slain. And now he saith the ministers are the ambassadors of Christ, and they are the prophets of the Lord. Then now judge for yourselves, ye men of Israel; Ahab's false prophets were many, but the true prophet Micaiah was but ONE; so the false prophets must be the clergy, as he has made the clergy the prophets, and they are many; but I am ONE; and his letter has brought it to the very purport of my writings, and out of his own mouth he has cast the clergy for false prophets, by the chapter he alluded to, and made good my last books; for in them they are cast as false prophets; and it was said the shame of their nakedness would appear. "So here you see the rope of sand, That if as prophets they may stand: Then sure your Land must all be cast, Here I shall end for the present, as I fear this letter will be too late for the post, and I am ordered it must go to day, as the letter I wrote to you yesterday, and the letter I have sent you to day, must go in print together; so, my dear Miss Townley, I must bid adieu. You will hear from me again to-morrow with a full explanation of the whole. (Signed,) JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. |