Angels, as the objects of my mercy, my favor and my protection. 21. For I have come, saith the Lord, to cleanse the earth from her awful abominations, by the fire of my truth, and the sword of my testimony; and when my heavy and desolating judgments roll on, then would her inhabitants gladly learn righteousness, by doing my will. 22. But my eternal justice, from the earliest ages of the world, hath always given the objects of my creation a due and timely warning; for I delight not in the destruction of any soul; but I would, that all turn to Me and repent, and be saved from their sins. Luke, xvii. 26. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Chap. xiv. 26. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Sec. 23. Again, reflect and consider, all ye children of men, who think you are in any degree, following the divine precepts and examples of your Lord and Savior. 24. There can be nothing more plain, or any requirement more positive, than that which was sounded from his own mouth, when he was upon earth; and is contained in the two last verses. 25. No man can ever come to the Son of God, or be a follower of the same, except he first hate, and forsake, that which he most dearly loves; and then labors in tribulation of soul, until he hath gained a love to my holy requirements, which will far surpass all other loves. 26. And again, I say unto you, what do mankind love, while in a state of nature, as their own unsubdued passion of lust, and its coherents? Nothing, the voice of truth from every heart must declare; for so have the works of man proved, saith the Lord, from the foundation of the world to the present time. 27. But the use that man hath made of the righteous requirements of my Holy Spirit, hath not altered the requirements, and never can ; they remain holy and sacred, to the endless ages of eternity. Luke, xiv. 20. And another said, I have married a wife: and therefore I cannot come. There were none that positively refused to come to the feast, but he that had married a wife. Chap. xvi. 15. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts : for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Sec. 28. Thus saith the Lord your God, unto all who name the Christian religion, I have commanded my mighty and holy Angel, whom I have sent forth to earth, to read this roll, for mortal hand to write, to have here inserted the foregoing declarations, which were delivered by my blessed Son, when upon earth, the first time, as divine requirements to the children of men; as these alone, are sufficient to condemn the whole world, in its present state of sin and wickedness. 29. Though many of his sayings, still more plain than these, have never come down to the age in which you live; but by them ye shall not be judged; ye shall only be judged by that which hath been always before you, that ye might look upon at any time ye chose, and shape your lives accordingly. 30. There is nothing that ever proceeded from his mouth, that will, in the least, contradict the spirit of any of the foregoing declarations of his. 31. Now, O thou vain and mortal man, in what part of the gospel recorded in the sacred volume, dost thou find a cloak that is able to cover thy wars and bloodshed, with all thy filthy works of darkness? 32. And again, even in that part of the sacred bible that ye call the law, and the Prophets, can ye find a passage, or a clause, that will justify the awful abominations and horrid crimes, that have stained the earth for hundreds and hundreds of years past? 33. Where is there one single sentence, between the lids of the sacred record, that can, in the least, justify the deeds of bigoted priests, and wicked clergy, in shedding the blood of millions of their fellow creatures, in the most cruel and barbarous manner, that their fiendish passions were able to invent; and that too, under a pretence of trying to bring them over to embrace the christian religion; which plainly declares, upon its whole face, that no violence can be used, or blood can be shed, by any who are its true subjects. 34. And the souls of millions now in eternity, cry unto Me for vengeance to visit the earth, for their innocent blood that was spilled thereon, by wicked priests and clergy. 35. And I will, saith the God of Heaven, visit, upon all generations, who shall follow their footsteps in shedding blood, to suppress what they call heresy; [yea,]I will visit them in great wrath, and in sore displeasure shall my hand of judgment rest upon them, both in time, and in eternity. 36. And I will hunt them in my vengeance, and destroy them in my fury, saith the Lord, as they have destroyed the innocent before them, to gratify their own bigoted natures of lust and ambition. 37. This, I declare, with my own mouth, to the nations of the earth, saith the God of Heaven, is as far from the spirit and the letter of that gospel preached by my holy child Jesus, the Prince of Peace, either in his first, or his second appearance, as the lowest depths of hell, are from the highest mansions of true felicity and enjoyment, in the heavens above. 38. And so shall it forever remain on my eternal record, by which every soul shall be judged, at my bar of eternal justice, saith God, the Creator of all, and the dispenser of true justice, in his own due time and season, to every human being. CHAPTER IX. MY SOLEMN WORDS OF WARNING TO THE INHAB- 1. Thus saith the Lord, I will condescend, in my infinite wisdoni and goodness, to reason with the objects of my creation, as a man would reason with his friend. This I condescended to do, in early ages; and shall the great I AM, in this, the latter day of his glory, be less mindful of the dangerous situation under the veil of darkness, which the many millions of souls now upon the earth, are resting? 2. Have not light and knowledge been suffered to increase, upon the earth, since the days of my first anointed One, whom I sent forth to earth to proclaim a free salvation, (not a compulsory one,) that all, whosoever would, might take of the waters of life freely? Surely, knowledge and understanding have increased. But did I not fore-show, even in the days of the Messiah, that I had not yet completed the order of my new, and spiritual kingdom? 3. And did not my holy influence, (or spirit,) move upon the prophets, and upon the apostles, (or followers in truth of the Messiah,) to speak of that day in which Christ should appear the second time; and clearly intimate, the humiliating position in which he would appear in the latter day? Truly, the records contained in your bibles, bear Me witness. 4. And was not a long and gloomy period foretold, by the same spirit, which would take place, between the two bright and last dispensations of my eternal goodness, sent forth to earth by the Two Anointed Ones, the King and the Queen of Zion? 5. Surely, this record is also before you. And was it not foretold, that a great declension, and a falling away from the true gospel, would take place, after the mission of my beloved Son, was the first time finished on earth? Truly, these things were clearly intimated by the spirit of prophecy, through my faithful servants. But what have all my solemn warnings, in past dispensations, availed man? Hath he not always been blind to his own best good and interest? Hath he ever hearkened to my solemn warnings, when they were sent forth, and changed his manner of life; so that my hand of mercy could be extended towards him? 6. Have mankind, in general, ever hearkened, so much as did the Ninevites, at the solemn warnings of Jonah, whom I sent to denounce destruction upon their city within forty days? 7. And did they not humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes, from the king on the throne, to the meanest servant; and lament, and bewail their forlorn condition, and cry mightily to Me, that I would spare their city? 8. And was not my anger appeased by their humility, insomuch that I hearkened to their cry, and prolonged the days that preceded their destruction, so long as they remained penitent and humble, and walked in the way of a true reformation? 9. And when they had ceased longer to keep their vows which they had made unto Me, in their supplications, and again turned to their former wickedness, did I not accomplish, in full, the words which I sent, by my prophet Jonah, that complete destruction should visit their city? 10. Truly I did, saith the Lord; and the great over-ruling First Cause, Jehovah, upon his throne, is the same Almighty power, yesterday, to-day, and forever; whose goodness faileth not, and whose judgments do not slumber. 11. But according to my infinite wisdom, all things are dispensed H |