if I do not kindle it by my words? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word preached. Will the servant be familiar with his master, before the master is familiar with his servant? Oh, let reason take possession of your hearts, and then you will see I must come as a familiar Friend, before I come as a refiner of silver, and a refiner of fine gold; and I must purify the sons of Levi. But as the flowers open in the bud, so must I open the eyes of your understanding; and as the dawn of the day breaks, so must I break in upon your minds.-And now come to reason, O man! What think What think ye of ME and my kingdom? Do you judge I am coming as an austere master, gathering where I have not strewn, and reaping where I have not sown? Am I coming to be feared as a Turkish emperor, or to be loved as a tender Father? Shall I bring in my everlasting Gospel of love and peace, with open arms to embrace you, and call you my brethren and friends, or shall I stand afar off from you? Shall I love them that love and honour ME? Or shall I despise my friends and slight their love, by a cold return of my love to them? Shall I come in the pomp of my own great glory, and bring no glory to my friends? Oh, simple men! what judgment do ye draw of ME and ny kingdom, that is to fill you with joy unspeakable and full of glory! Ye ought to rejoice in the God of your salvation, and praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness: for so my kingdom shall be established, and all tears shall be wiped away from your eyes, that are tears of sorrow: for tears of joy shall now come, when I come to reign amongst you.

But now I shall come to the purpose, as ye say ye know enough already of my coming. Simple, vain men! was I to come amongst you, there is not a heart fit to receive ME, but such as

H

have already received the word through thee; for if the day-light be too strong for your eyes, how can ye look at the fervent sun? If ye believe there is no communion with God, no fellowship with Jesus Christ, nor communion with angels, how shall I come amongst you? If ye despise the day of small things, how will ye bear the greater, when the pillars of the heavens will be shaken, and the foundation of the earth shall tremble, the seas roar and make a great noise, the sun to be darkened, and the moon turned into blood, before that great and terrible day that Satan is hurried down?

Thunder will roll from pole to pole,
And lightning fast will fly;

The earth's foundation then will shake,
And armies in the sky

Will then be seen by simple men;

Then how will you appear,

That have no light to guide the night?

Vain men, you all would err;

Your hearts would ache, when I do shake

This fabrick here below;

For what confusion then will break

Is more than you do know :

Thunder will roll from pole to pole,
And earth's foundation shake:
Remember when I died for all,
The temple's veil was rent,

The graves were opened of the just,

And saints to many seen

'Twas but the shadow of the last,

When Satan's doom do come;

For many days, judge as you please,

Will this confusion last;

And you would come all like dead men,

If I before don't burst

Upon you all, to shew the call,

What shortly will appear;

And by the knowledge of these things

Twill banish all your fears.

So you'll rejoice to hear the noise,
When thunder loud do roar;

Because your King you know is come,

His cross doth now appear

All stained in blood: behold the flood!

But see your King thereon.

His Government will then appear,

And your Redemption come.

But of what use would this produce,

If 'twas not known before?

There's nought but death would bring you forth,
So great would be your fear.

Besides, vain men, I tell you plain,

No wisdom could appear,

For ME to come in such a form,

And never warn'd you here.

O, simple men, your thoughts are vain;
Your God you do not know.

What! shall I now bring in my reign,
And all these wonders shew,

And not before to tell them here,
That it is hastening on?

But when I have secured my sheep,
This awful day will come;

Then will my sheep in triumph weep,
And all in flocks appear;

And all will read what I have said;
And FAITH rejoice in FEAR.
Because the storm, to them is known,
Will soon be gone and past;

And then my kingdom's all their own,
And there true joys will burst;
Because behind they'll surely find

I will not leave a foe;

And all my SHEEP will then prove kind,
And heavenly joys will flow."

די

These reasons, and many others, are assigned to me, why it is absolutely necessary that men should be warned of the coming of the Lord, before the great day appears, that they may be prepared to meet the Lord at his coming: and though the wisdom of the Lord appears foolishness to man, in giving the warning; yet the wisdom of man appears foolishness to me, in rejecting the warning, to think that this awful day will come upon the earth, and no warning to be given to men, to prepare their hearts to stand the day. I will only ask men one question: sup

pose the appearance of lightning and the sound of thunder had never been mentioned, or heard in the world, before this present day, and now a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning should appear, and some men and beasts should be destroyed thereby; if such a thing had never been heard before, but come as a sudden shock upon them, I ask whether they would not be alarmed? Would they not be ready to say that the end of the world was come, and the day of judgment was at hand, and be ready to die with fear, if such a thing had never been known before? Then they could not know the meaning of the thunder; perfectly so of the coming of Christ; they could not know the meaning of his coming, whether it was to destroy all flesh, or to destroy the power of the devil: as it is said, "Then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." But without its being revealed for what his coming is, to take the evil away, how could men's hearts be prepared to stand that day? Therefore it is the mercy of the Lord to give us the WARNING; and we ought to be thankful for the WARNING, instead of mocking it. But here I shall leave the readers to judge for themselves; and I shall come to another observation in his book, which he saith is a bulwark against ME; but I shall prove it a strong tower and rock of defence for ME.

In the 23d page he says, Let us look into the Scriptures of truth: Romans, viii. The Apostle saith, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: nor any separation neither: For whom he did fore-know he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. And agatn the apostle tells you, "Whom

he did fore-know, them he did predestinate; moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he also called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died: yea rather, that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God; who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Those are the solid truths, and a bulwark against Joanna."

To his words I answer, these are Scriptures which I firmly believe; and the fore-knowledge of God is the foundation on which I trust; for there is no man who can believe the Scriptures that doth not believe in the fore-knowledge of God. But now let us discern unto whom the apostle said, there was no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. We must observe that he said they were those who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: but we are commanded to try the spirits, whether they be of God or not; and St. John tells us whereby we shall know the spirit: Every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God." So if we are visited by a spirit that doth confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and took man's nature upon him, and suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might destroy the works of the devil, that spirit is of God; because the devil will not come in the name of Christ to give honour and glory to him. So, from the words of St. John, we are to try the spirits, and prove them, in what manner they come unto us. Now from my visitation in the beginning, when I was warned of what was coming upon the earth, the spirit came in the name of the Lord Jesus