XV. knowledge, which the wise and prudent of this world CHAP. have treasured up to themselves; nor according to the conceptions of the proud and lofty. 21. They may discern the face of the sky; but they will never know the signs of the times, until they come down to Christ where he is manifested, according to his own counsel: Take my yoke upon you, Matt. n. and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest to your souls. 22. The learned scribes and Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses, in whom they trusted; but these hypocrites clearly manifested that they regarded neither Moses, nor the Messiah of whom he wrote: for they disbelieved the former, and totally rejected the latter. 29. 46. Had ye believed Moses, said Jesus, ye would John v. have believed me: for he wrote of me. 29, 30. 14. vii. 51 52. 23. They professed great veneration for the ancient prophets, by garnishing the sepulchres of those whom their fathers had killed, and saying, If we Mat.xxi had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have Acts ii. been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets; while they themselves, denied the holy One, and the Just, of whom they were the betrayers and murderers; and by so doing, they made a jest of the oracles of the prophets, trampled upon their prophecies, and denied both the time and manner of their fulfilment. 24. It was the manner of Jesus to teach in the synagogues of the Jews, on the sabbath days. On one of those occasions, in his own country, where he had been brought up, he read the words of the prophet Isaiah: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the Luke iv. poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 25. In that day, and at that time, was this scripture fulfilled in their ears. So testified Jesus. But who, of all those of the synagogue, believed that this scripture was fulfilled in him? Or who of them believed that this was the acceptable year of the Lord, and that God had anointed and sent him to proclaim it? Not one. 26. They scorned to stoop so low as to acknowledge such a mean character, whom they so well 26-29. XV. CHAP. knew as the son of a carpenter, brought up among them, and with whose kindred and parentage they were so well acquainted, instead of that extraordinary personage whom they expected to come in great power and splendor as the Messiah.' Whence, say they, hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son ? And they were offended at him. Mat. xiii. 54, 55. Acts vii. 51. 27. But Jesus said, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy own country." But he testified to them of a truth, that many widows were in Israel, in the days of Elius, when there was great famine throughout the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto a widow of Sidon: and that many lepers were in Isracl, in the time of Elisha; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman, the Surian. And the true reason why their widows were not visited, nor their lepers cleansed, was, that they were a stiff-necked and gainsaying generation, who killed the prophets, and stoned those who were sent unto them. 28. But what effect had the truth on the descendants of those unbelievers? Truly, the same effect that it had on their stiff-necked and rebellious forefathers they always resisted the Holy Ghost: as their fathers did, so did they: For all they of the synagogue, when they heard the truth, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill, that they might cast him down head-long. 29. This was the manner in which the Saviour of mankind was treated in his first appearing; and there never was a time since man fell from his first rectitude to the present day, that the work of God was not objected against, and the testimony of his witnesses rejected by all hypocrites and unbelievers. 30. But the objecters and gainsayers of the present day, would flatter themselves that they are not unbelievers, and that, if they had been in the time, and enjoyed privilege of those wicked Jews who denied Christ, they would not have been partakers with them in their evil deeds; while there never were any gainsayers to the work of God, in any dispensation XV. of his grace, but what were of that perverse and CHAP gainsaying generation, who do always resist the Holy Ghost, by their objections and cavils. 31. The unbelieving Jews were always ready to charge Jesus of Nazareth with great pride and presumption, in applying to himself, and to the time then present, the title and dignity of the Messiah, and the fulfilment of that superior power and authority of his mission, spoken of by the prophets. They objected against him on every side-They objected, "We know this man, whence he is: but when Christ John vii. cometh, no man knoweth whence he is-Search and look for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." He chap.. had not only broken the sabbath, but said also, that 18. God was his Father, making himself equal with God.Art thou greater than our father Abraham ? said they; viii. 53. whom makest thou thyself?-For a good work we 1.33. stone thee not; but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 32. Thus those gainsayers denied not only the person whom God had anointed, but also denied his mission, together with the time, and place, and manner of his appearing. And while they spent their time in objecting and cavilling against the propriety of Christ's testimony, aiming to prove that this was not the appearance of the Saviour, whom the prophets had pointed out, they wasted the day of their visitation, and only proved that they were yet servants to sin; and that it was their choice and intention to continue such, under the hypocritical mask of professing to believe in Abraham, and Moses, and the prophets. 27, 52. 2 Pet. in. 33. In the same situation, and actuated by the same gainsaying spirit, are those who, at this day, would labour to prove, that the day of the Lord is not see Hag. yet come, and that Christ has not made his second i. 2. and appearing, but all things continue as they were; be- 3,4. cause they have not allotted for themselves, that the purpose of God should be accomplished in this their day, but in some future day; nor have they prepared their hearts to believe that the manner of God's work would be contrary to all the plans devised by their hu man wisdom. 34. And therefore, while they labour to prove that A a a CHAP. the time is not yet come for Christ to set up his kingdom on earth, they only eventually prove, that they are still under the dominion of Antichrist, that they are the willing subjects of his kingdom, and are the scoffers of the latter days, of whom the scriptures have testified. 35. And while they profess to believe in Christ, and in the time and manner of his first appearing, but deny this day, and reject both the time and manner of his second appearing, they evidently speak lies in hypocrisy. For had they believed in Christ's first appearing, they would believe in his second: for he testified of it. And had they believed in the prophets, they would believe in the fulfilment of their prophecies: for they have all prophesied and written of this day. 36. The words of the prophecies were closed up and sealed till the time of the end. At the time of the end the seals were to be taken off, and the time and the events were to be known by those who should then be in them. But it never was the purpose of God, to reveal these things to the wise and prudent of this world; but to such only as are candid and honest hearted before God, and are willing to stoop down to the times and terms of his own appointment: Psa. xxv. for, The secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him and he will shew them his covenant. 14. Mat. xi. 25. Ezekiel xvii. 24. 1 ai. liv. 37. Hence said the meek and lowly Jesus, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 38. And however humiliating and debasing to the pride of fallen man, the purposes of God may prove; yet they are unchangeable and will stand; and in their appointed times and seasons, will accomplish all that whereunto they are purposed, and none can disannul or hinder it. 39. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exand ivi. alted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it, 3, 4. THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING. PART VIII. PARTICULAR DOCTRINES ACCORDING TÓ CHRIST. CHAPTER. I. The Revelation of the Holy Ghost.* JEHOVAHL, the God and Father of our Lord Je CHAP. I. sus Christ, was known unto the patriarchs as the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and therefore as Jacob abode in the fear of his father, he could swear by none greater Gen.xxx than by the Fear of his Father Isaac. But as per- 55. taining to spiritual children, except in a comparative sense, or by promise, God was never known by the true attribute of Father until the Son revealed him. 14, 15. 2. Unto Moses the Lord declared saying, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath Exod. fi. sent me unto you-The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." Therefore until the genealogies of genera tions ceased, in the work of regeneration by Christ, The first appearing of Christ, in the simplest terms of language, is the Revelation of the Father, and the second appearing of Christ is the Revelation of the Mother; but for the subject under consideration we have preferred the title, The Revelation of the Holy Ghost," as the most forcible and striking of all other scripture terms, that can be applied to convey an understanding of the fundamental doctrines of Christ in the present day. In the scriptures the same things are very frequently expressed in very different words, and under different names and titles. And it is not very essential what terms are used to convey the truth to a lost world, provided it can thereby find an entrance into the heart, and by its superior light, dispel those louds of confused ideas, and false notions of God, by which Antichrist has long bewildered mankind. |