CHAP.
XV.

Psa. XXV. 14.

Mat. xi. 25.

Eze. xvii. 24.

Isa. liv. i,

would believe in the fulfilment of their prophecies: for they have all prophesied and written of this day.

39. 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 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, for if these had been revealed to such, they would have abused and perverted them; but they are revealed 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: for, The secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have & lvi. 3, 4. dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

THE TESTIMONY

OF

CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING.

BOOK IX-PART I.

THE ORDER OF DEITY, AND THE CORRESPONDING ORDER
OF CHRIST, REVEALED.

CHAPTER I.

THE REVELATION OF THE ETERNAL AND DIVINE SPIRIT.

Gen. i. 26

27

Wis. Sol.

11,23.

Heb. i. 3.

GOD, is the eternal unity-the Creator of the heavens and earth, CHAP. I. "and all the hosts of them," the supreme Spirit and Intelligence; the original Prototype of all intelligent formations in their creations; for these are declared to be the express image of this eternal unity. The existence of a supreme Creator is shown by the creation. Of all the visible works of creation, man is the superior. He alone is able to use all natural elements to subserve his purposes, and to conquer and govern all other creatures. Yet many other animals are superior to him in size and physical strength; but his superior power arises from his rational intelligence, which is invisible, and only known by its effects.

2. But man, with all his superior powers, cannot originate a single atom of the material world. And hence it is evident that man did not create himself, nor was it ever in his power to originate that intelligence which makes him superior to all other visible beings. Therefore, man's intelligence must be derivative; and, as no derivative can equal the original, his intelligent power must be derived from a superior intelligent power. Hence, as the intelligence of man is invisible, it is conclusive that the intelligence from which it is derived is invisible.

3. From these premises, it is evident that man is the only real representative of the supreme Intelligence in the visible world. Therefore, as man is an organized being, (otherwise he

CHAP. I. could not be the repository of intelligence) it is self evident that the source from whence this organization is derived, is a supreme organization, from whence are derived all organizations in his creation. This is what we call God, or Deity. But the spiritual element, power, and intelligence of this supreme Being, extend to infinity. In this manner God works by agencies, and thus his name is in them, which is clearly set forth in Exodus, xxiii. 20, 22, and other places.

John, xx. 17.

Gen. xxx.

53.

Exod iii. 14, 15.

Exod vi. S.

Luke, X.

22

4. The male and female order of this creative and superintending Deity, is clearly seen by all the works, which proceed from eternal Power and Wisdom. For all the existences in the creation, came forth and are propagated in the order of male and female. Hence, it is impossible that this universal order should have been derived from any other source than the supreme creative Intelligence.

5. The manifestation of this order is not derived from the Scriptures, but from the works of creation; nevertheless, the Scriptures are a true and faithful witness of its reality. Therefore a few Scripture revelations are here stated, to show their harmony with the manifest works of God; and, on succeeding pages of this work will be found, still more full and explicit statements and evidences on this interesting and important subject.

6. Jehovah, 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 than by the fear of his father Isaac. But as pertaining 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.

7. Unto Moses the Lord declared saying, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto youThe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of JacobThis 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, none of the true attributes of JEHOVAH were ever fully known.

8. 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 known until the Father was revealed by the Son.

9. Hence said Jesus 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. No man hath seen God at

any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the CHAP. I. Father, he hath declared him."

10. Therefore the true attribute of Father, in 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.

John, i. 18.

11. But it has been promised that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he should begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished; because then should that wicked be Rev x. 7. 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.

12. 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 will be finished in his second. When the Father was revealed in and by the Son, in whom dwelt the fulness of the manifestation of Deity, it was a great mystery. Great is the mystery of Godliness, God manifested in the flesh. The mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

2 Thcs. ii.

7,8.

1 Tim iii.

16.

Col. ii.. 2.

13. 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 Prophet Isaiah, Isa ix. 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: his name shall be called, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. That is, the everlasting Father of the new creation, and the supreme manifestation of God therein.

14. 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 manifested through Jesus; 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. 15. Christ Jesus had the Father dwelling in him, and had received the holy anointing Spirit, and as he was sent into the world; so he sent his disciples into the world; saying, "Go ye Mat.xxviii therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 19, 20. the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.' And as the Holy Spirit descended upon, and abode in Jesus, by Luke, iii. which he revealed the Father; so the same was also given to his 22. followers.

16. As Christ Jesus was the Son of God, the first born of every creature in the new creation, and the first begotten of the

CHAP. I. dead, and was therefore the "first 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 in the line of the male.

Rev. i. 5.

1 Cor. xv. 20. James, i ,i. 18.

Rev. xiv. 4.

Eze. xlvii. 12.

Rev. xxii.

2.

Rom. i. 20.

Isa xlviii. 1-8.

Jer. xvii. 9.

17. But when the vision of St. John came to be fulfilled, the perfect first fruits unto God and the Lamb appeared, completed, 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.

18. The invisible things of God from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, or created; even his eternal power and divinity. Therefore, although many things, from the beginning of the visible creation, were declared beforehand, and suddenly fulfilled in a figure; yet nothing was known of the Creator, in reality, until their actual existence.

19. 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 appearing, 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.

20. Hence God speaks by the Prophet Isaiah, "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 themselves upon the God of Israel."

21. "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."

22. "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." 23. 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.