CHAP.
XIII.

or members are required by any law or custom in the Church, to go beyond their abilities, or to act contrary to their own faith. But all are equally holden by the unity of the Spirit and their covenant, to conform to the established principles and rules of the Church, or they cannot keep their union.

34. Sixth. As the Gospel is perfectly free, and the free exercise of conscience can in no wise be retarded; therefore, all who believe in the Gospel of Christ's present appearing, ever remain in perfect liberty, without any breach of order, to use and improve their own temporal interest as a separate possession, or to unite with others of the same faith, in one joint union; either of which must be according to their own faith and discretion, provided they maintain the true faith of the Gospel.

35. Seventh. The order and regulation of the Church, in all spiritual matters, is entrusted, by the unity in the gift of God, to the Ministry and Elders, or elder brethren and sisters, of each community and family. To them also is committed the charge of sending out ministers to preach the Gospel to the world of mankind.

36. None of the Ministry hold any title to lands or property, as individuals, more than any other members; nor have they any pensions or salaries; but whatever they need for their support at home, or expenditure abroad, they receive at such times as they need it.

37. The concern and regulation of the temporal matters of the Church is entrusted to the Deacons, appointed to that office by the joint union of the body. To them, their assigns and successors in the Gospel, appointed to the like office, is entrusted the whole of the joint interest of the Church, to support and maintain the same in behalf of the Church, and their heirs in the Gospel forever.

38. And their office and care it is, to have the principal concern in dealing with those who are without; and to provide all things necessary for the comfortable support of the Church, jointly and equally, according to the number and need of each family in the Church.

39. Besides the first order of Deacons and Deaconesses, there are also Deacons and Deaconesses in each family, whose care is to see that every member in the family, from the eldest to the youngest, enjoy their just and equal rights, according to their several needs, of all temporal things possessed in the family.

40. In the order and government or regulation of the Church, no compulsion or violence is either used, appproved, or found necessary. So that, according to our faith, in the full and perfect establishment of Christ's government among his people, no kind of corporal punishment is or can be exercised on any person, among those who stand in the first order of Gospel liberty.

41. Neither Ministers, Elders, nor Deacons, nor any others, either in spiritual or temporal trust in the Church, are appointed to their several callings by their own individual choice, nor by a majority of votes among the people; but by a spontaneous spirit of union, which flows through the body, by which every useful talent is brought into exercise for the time being, for the benefit of all concerned.

7.

CHAP.

XIII.

42. Unto every member of the body is given a measure of the 1 Cor. xii. Spirit of Christ to profit withal, in which, by a faithful improvement of their created talents, every member becomes prepared, and thus grows up into a fitness to fill that place and order, in the spiritual house of God, for which they were created; and their real qualifications appear and become mutually useful to the body, so that every improved talent and gift of God, given to individuals, thereby becomes a real gift of God to the whole.

43. As there can be no arbitrary appointment of members in the human body, to which the body of Christ is compared, and no one member can be appointed to fill the place or office of another, but each member fills its proper place and office, by a spontaneous influence and a mutual concurrence of every other member; so is the appointment of members in the Church of Christ.

44. But as the human body has a leading part, which is the head, by which all the other members of the body are directed, and as the head directs and governs by the general consent of the members, so it is with the Church or body of Christ.

45. The revelation and gift of God is given to the Ministry, as the head of the body, in relation to lots of office and trust, and other matters of importance; and through these, communicated to the other members. Yet nothing is considered as established in the Church until it receives the general consent and united approbation of the body; and thus, by the body, in union with the head, every thing important is established.

46. And each member of the body throughout, is also dependent on another. The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no 1 Cor. xii. need of thee; nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of 21, 22. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to

you.

be more feeble, are necessary.

47. Such as are entrusted with the greatest care, are the greatest servants; and such as feel care, concern, and labor for the welfare of the whole, are verily the servants of all, and are the more highly beloved and esteemed for their works' sake, and 17. counted worthy of double honor.

48. Those little, simple, and very comprehensive words of Christ Jesus. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me, were received and established among the people of God, as a foundation and lovely

1 Tim. v.

Mark, viii.

34.
Luke, xiv.

26, 27.

principle, from the time they first heard and received the Gospel of Christ's second appearing, unto the present day.

49. Hence no true member of the body sought to obtain the pre-eminence, or to usurp authority over another; but each to build up, and support the welfare and comfort of the other, and consequently all were busy, peaceable, and happy; and every blessing, spiritual and temporal, ensued, as naturally as rays of light flow from the sun, or the fruits of harvest from the heat and moisture of summer.

50. From the year 1780, until the present time, 1856, including a period of seventy-six years, there never has been an instance of any brother going to law with brother, in any case. Nor has there been any such thing as a general council, or even a Church meeting, to settle any difference among the members; because there never were any differences, or debates, or divisions in the Church, that ever required any such thing.

51. The very Spirit of the Gospel, which was received from God, through Mother Ann, and through the first witnesses of her testimony, was that from the beginning, by which all the true and honest-hearted who received it, became of one faith, of one heart, and of one soul; and which in its certain consequences, was productive of peace and good will, humility and temperance, condescension and obedience, order and harmony, with every other fruit of righteousness, and eternal life.

52. Such in reality, is the nature and consequence of that testimony which we received and obeyed from the heart, and have, according to our understanding, carefully and conscientiously maintained and supported from the beginning, and in the practice of which we now live, at this present day.

53. And such is the nature of the work of God, in all its corresponding parts, both visible and invisible, and such the certain effects, which are manifest in all its fruits, that it cannot be imitated, so as to stand, by any human wisdom or power on earth, separate from the Spirit and power of the living and true God.

54. Since the testimony of the Gospel of Christ's second appearing, was first opened in America, from the year 1780, to the present period, there never has been any such thing as a Church Creed, or Confession of Faith committed to writing, to limit or bind the Church from a further increase.

55. All the affairs, in the order, government, or regulation of the Church, are transacted according to the present circumstances, or an immediate and present gift of God; and everything is strictly observed from a principle of faith, implanted in the heart of every individual, jointly and severally.

56. Their Confession of Faith, if it may be so called, is to show their faith by their works, in doing justice and loving

mercy; being fully persuaded, that where there are no doers of the very works of righteousness, there is neither a true faith nor a true Church, nor any fruits or evidence by which the true Church may be known or distinguished from the false, by those who are without.

57. It may be observed, that the Covenant which was entered into by the Church, was kept and maintained as an internal law, during seven years; and it was afterwards committed to writing, in form, on account of those who were without, and to convey an understanding of the faith of the Church in relation to a united interest; and to confirm it beyond dispute, as the mutual faith and practice of the Church, to all whom it might concern, it was signed by the members at large.

58. But this form of the Covenant, is not the Covenant itself. The internal spirit and substance of the Covenant is more than ever was, or ever will be written with paper and ink, being the fulness of the law of Christ, written by the Spirit of God, in the heart, and on the mind of every true member of his Church; and is by them kept and maintained as an internal law of liberty, justice, and equity. And although the spirit and substance of the Covenant is not contrary to the form, yet it is exclusive of, and entirely distinct from any written form whatever.

59. Thus the promise of God by his Prophets, concerning Christ, is fulfilled: I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 60. Christ, in his first and second appearing, has made manifest the whole spirit and substance of the law, in the two tables of the New Covenant; and the two Anointed Ones, or two firstborn in the new creation, have finished this work, between whom the covenant of eternal life is established; hence the spirit and substance of this new Covenant, in its fulness, is written in the hearts, and on the minds of all their spiritual children.

61. And therefore, in the gathering, building, increase and establishment of God's spiritual house, all the members of the Church, both male and female, as his sons and daughters, brethren and sisters of one family, according to their lots and several abilities, possess and enjoy one mutual interest, and one united inheritance, in regard both to the things of time and eternity.

62. However humiliating to the pride of fallen man, the present work of God may be, in disannulling their human systems, and forms of worship; yet the work has commenced, and will be accomplished. Already have we ourselves suffered the wreck of all our own carnal works and inventions; yet we have had, and

CHAP.
XIV.

still have, the greatest cause of thankfulness to Almighty God, for that work which is accompanied with the real and abiding treasures of salvation and eternal life; and have therefore Heb. x. 31. received joyfully the spoiling of our goods, and have received, even in this life, an hundred fold, according to the promise of Christ.

63. And certain it is, that by those means which seemed foolish to the wisdom of this world, has God, according to his own unchangeable purpose, completed the foundation of his spiritual building, and established that law of order, harmony, peace and righteousness in the earth, that will stand forever; and which, in its increasing operations, will, in the end, be an everlasting blessing to all nations.

CHAPTER XIV.

Isa. ix. 7. PROPHECIES AND PROMISES FULFILLING IN THE PRESENT INCREASING WORK OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.

KNOWN unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world; and as far as possible, invisible spiritual things have been revealed by the things that are made; therefore said the Lord by the Prophet Hosea, I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the Prophets.

2. Christ Jesus, the first who received the substance of the promise, seemed often at a loss for means to convey an understanding of spiritual things to souls that were lost in their sins: and therefore he had recourse to similitudes, and compared spiritual things with natural, as the most striking means of conveyance. "Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?"

3. When Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a grain of mustard-seed, to leaven hid in three measures of meal, or to a net cast into the sea, he could not mean that there was any resemblance in the case to the view of the natural eye. And therefore, it must be a false imagination that will look for the spiritual object to appear in the natural form, or shape of those things to which it may have been compared.