ABOUT BEING PRESENT AT THE TRIAL. 187. "For all is true before our view, " And mysteries we've discern'd When I do strong appear; They'll know from HEAVEN And nothing have to fear. the WHOLE was given, Then thou must go, I tell thee so, And then that day thy friends may say EARTH, We know our foes must yield; Because the foe that day, they'll know, Will feel MY POWERFUL HAND- 'Tis but the Sealed I can spare, So now if Men presume to come, I'll tell them all their final doom, My fury they will hear; No friends to ME, they all shall see, My Kingdom here for to appear, Then how can I, who dwell on high, If I screen Man, who against Me stands, I must screen he, as well as they, He'th had his reign, I tell you plain, Isaiah xlvi. 10-" Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my council shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." -Now go back to the beginning. Genesis ii. 18--And the Lord God said, it is not good for the Man to be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Chap. iii. 13, 14-And the Woman said, the Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Weigh deep the three following verses, then come to Matthew v. 18-For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Now I shall answer thee, as thou hast put one verse before the other, the last first, and the first last, just so stands my Bible, and just so was my heel bruised before Satan's head. But when I come in power to Man, And I'm your HELPMATE here. BEING PRESENT AT THE TRIAL, I tell you plain, ye sons of men, If they had known they had murder'd ME? And now this answer let them hear, 189 After this communication was written, the Spirit seemed to leave Joanna, and there was no further communication till half past six o'clock; the thoughts of her awful Trial seemed as though it was over her head, and greater than she could bear; and was answered with these words: Thy Trial there's no Man could bear, And so thy doom thou'lt shortly hear." Joanna being very faint, Townley persuaded her to take a little port wine. It was in a tea-cup, and she said to herself, when the wine was brought, " May I drink deep into the Spirit of Christ!" She was immediately answered, "Wilt thou break that tea-cup as thou didst break the glasses? then I will take thy Trial from thee; for thou wilt break thyself off from me." These words cut her to the heart, and Joanna thought she would sooner die as a martyr, than ever desert the Lord or his cause; so that she was, fearful of letting the cup fall. As we were writing, she took up the book of the Flock of Sheep, and opened it at the place of Osmyn, which affected her heart deeply. Now, Joanna, thee I'll answer, Let thy doubts and fears be gone; Thy ruin to appear; I say, thy hand in MINE does stand, THE LIMITS OF SATAN'S FOREKNOWLEDGE. 191 Oft to indite, when I'd not speak, The letters waiting here, For thou to send unto thy friends, But thou didst not appear And answers gave to thee. So where's the Man shall dare condemn A heart that acts like thee? Now I'll go on, from man to man, Letters came from Mr. Hirst, and Mr. Senior, on Friday, August 10, 1804, which Joanna did not answer till this day. Yesterday, she said the letters must be answered, but as no conmunication was given her she could not answer them, so we did not write till half past six o'clock, and the Spirit of the Lord broke in upon her, and gave her an answer to Mr. Hirst's letter, which was finished this morning. 'After that, she had no communication till this evening, after the melancholy had seized her spirits; and one part of her melancholy sprung from our telling things of gipsies and people's telling of fortunes, which had been true; this worked a jealousy in Joanna's heart, that as knowledges had been given to them from a wrong Spirit, and thinking of ner awful trial, how she should appear if there was a possibility of her being deceived; but as soon as the question was put to her, of breaking herself off, she trembled at the thoughts and burst into tears, and thought she would sooner die than run that fatal hazard. Now, Joanna, thee I'll answer: How cans't thou with them compare; In them he'll speak, in them he'll break, For now I'll answer thee: |