XV.

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.

24.

Mat. xi. 25.

Ezekiel

> vii. 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 iri ilted 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.

CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING.

PART VIII.

PARTICULAR DOCTRINES ACCORDING TO
THE PRESENT APPEARING OF

CHRIST.

J

CHAPTER. I.

The Revelation of the Holy Ghost.*

CHAP.

I.

EHOVAH, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 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- 53. 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. ži 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 generations 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 clouds of confused ideas, and false notions of God, by which Antichrist has long bewildered mankind.

CHAP.

Ι.

Exod. vi.

3.

Luke x.

22.

none of the true attributes of JEHOVAH were ever known.

3. Hence God said unto Moses, "I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of GOD ALMIGHTY; but by my name JEHOVAH WAS I not known unto them." Whatever names or attributes were applied to God before Christ appeared, they were only significant of the substance, which never was really and truly known until the Father was revealed by the Son.

4. Hence said Christ, "No man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.Jolini 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

5. Therefore the true attribute of Father, in the Deity, was never known until it was revealed by the Son and as the mystery of iniquity was only in part revealed by the Son; so only in part could the mystery of God be by him revealed in that day.

6. But it has been promised that in the days of the Rev. x.7. voice of the seventh angel, when he should begin to 2 Thes. sound, the mystery of God should be finished; because then should that wicked be revealed, and taken fully out of the way, and consumed by the Spirit of the Lord's mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming.

7. Every thing must have a beginning before it can be finished. Hence the mystery of God began to be revealed in the days of Christ's first appearing, and is finished in his second. When the Father was revealed in and by the Son, in whom dwelt the fulness 1 Tim.. of the Deity, it was a great mystery.—Great is the Col. . 2. mystery of Godliness, God manifested in the fleshThe mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

16.

8. God was named by the name of JEHOVAH, and owned as the Creator of all things, for ages before the name of Father was named; but the true attributes of JEHOVAH, which imply the full perfections of the Deity, the first and the last, began first of all to be made known by promise. Thus the

I.

prophet Isaiah, Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son CHAP. is given his name shall be called-The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

9. This particularly alluded to Christ Jesus; and although the Word states it in the present tense, yet there were in truth and reality, no such attributes pertaining to God, whereby he was actually revealed, until the Son was actually born; but his name forever, and his memorial through all generations, was GOD ALMIGHTY, until the work of regeneration commenced, and the Father was actually revealed in and by the Son.

Isai. ix. S

xxviii.

19, 20.

10. Christ Jesus had the Father dwelling in him, and had received the Holy Ghost, and as he was sent into the world; so he sent his disciples into the world; saying, "Go ye therefore, and teach all na- Matt. tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And as the Holy Ghost was sent into Jesus, by which he revealed the Father; so the same was also given to his followers.

20.

18.

11. As Christ Jesus was the Son of God, the first Rev. i. 5. born of every creature in the new creation, and the 1 Cor. xv. first begotten of the dead, and was therefore the first James i fruits of them that slept; so those who were, through him, begotten by the word of truth in that day, were a kind of first fruits, of his creatures, or creation, which was exhibited only in the line of the male.

4.

Rev. xxii

12. But when the vision of St. John came to be Rev. xiv. fulfilled, the perfect first fruits unto God and the Ezekiel Lamb appeared, complete both in the order of the male and female; which was included in the vision ". of the holy waters, with very many trees on both sides of the river, whose leaf (it was said) should not fade, neither should the fruit thereof be consumed.

13. The invisible things of God from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by Rom.i. the things that are made, or created; even his eter- 20. nal power and Divinity. Therefore, although many things, from the beginning of the visible creation, were declared beforehand, and suddenly fulfilled in a

CHAP. figure; yet nothing was known of the Creator, in I. reality, until their actual existence.

1-8

14. And although many things were seen, and spoken, and prophesied of, concerning the Divine perfections of JEHOVAH; yet in reality and truth, those perfections could not be known, until their actual accomplishment and revelation by Christ, in the fulness of times, in his first and second, appearing. For if the fulness of the perfections of JEHOVAH had been revealed in the days of Christ's first appear. ing, there would not have been another day spoken of; and until the fulness of time, it was in the mind of infinite wisdom to keep them concealed.

15. Hence God speaks by the prophet Isaiah, Iaai.xlvi "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob-which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay them. selves upon the God of Israel."

16. "I have declared the former things from the beginning-I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;-before it came to pass I shewed thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them."

17. "I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, And thou didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning— lest thou shouldest say, Behold I knew them :—for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb."

18. And because the heart of fallen man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and because he is a very treacherous dealer, and a transgressor from the womb; therefore it is, that the hidden things of God were not given unto man to know, any faster than in the fulness of times, appointed in the order of God's unchangeable purpose.

19. Hence it was of greater benefit to mankind, that the time, place, and manner of Christ's second appearing should be totally concealed from them, than the revelation of it would have been. While such stiff-necked corrupters are endeavouring to limit the