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MEN'S JUDGMENT OF THE PROPHETS NOTED. 459

Can God and man together stand,
And point you to the word?
I ask you how you'll now command,
To prove ME as your Lord,
For to appear the truth to clear,

If you the truth deny,

And say the words are spoken here
Did ne'er come from on high?
Then now my Bible I've call'd forth,
And bid men answer here,
If they can see the ways of ME,
The Law and Gospel clear?
For both together I shall bring,
I tell you, in a line;
Then answer ME, ye sons of men,
If I appoint no time
For to fulfil my every will,

And so make good my word?
'Tis all beyond the learned's skill
For to direct the Lord.

Now from the words are plac'd by men
I bid them all to see,
Against their learning they contend;
But who can answer ME?
Now mark the word that's on record,
I'll answer thee again."-

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The words that I am to observe are the contents of the chapters, placed by the wisdom of men. The contents of Micah iv. are thus placed : The establishment of Christ's kingdom: the peace of it: and the victory of the Church. Chap. v. The birth of Christ foretold: his kingdom: his complete conquest over his enemies. Zechariah ix-Zion is exhorted to rejoice for the coming of Christ, and his peaceable kingdom. Chap. xiv-The coming of Christ, the grace of his kingdom, and the restoration of Jerusalem.

" Here stands the wisdom of man, placed and approved of by the learned; but now answer ME, уе learned, when my kingdom was established in peace? when I had the victory over all my enemies? when Zion rejoiced at my coming? when my complete conquest was? Look to yourselves, all ye inhabitants of the earth, and see if these things were ever accomplished, which the judgment of men hath

placed to be accomplished. Is my kingdom established in peace? Is Jerusalem restored? To all these things you must answer, No: They are neither accomplished to the words of the prophets, neither are they accomplished to the judgment of men. So men are risen up in judgment against their own judgment, and in spirit against my Spirit; for I tell you all, I am come in Spirit to throw open my Bible before you, to bring all things to your remembrance; to shew you I went through my first office, to bear all the persecution of my enemies; but tell ME, O ye sons of men, when did I come in Might, Majesty, and Power, to have the victory over my enemies, as it is left on record for man? But know, O man, all these things I promised to accomplish; and now I tell you all, if they perished in the wilderness, through unbelief of seeing the promised land, and the Jews perished in my days, through their unbelief, according as it was written by the prophets before; (for all their destruction stands on record) then know, O vain men, your destruction stands on record the same, when I come to make a final end. Now come to my Gospel, and compare it with the Law. Matthew xxvii. 21-Which of the twain will ye that I release unto you? they said Barabbas. John iii, 29-He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom.Now I shall answer thee from the Gospel, of the enquiry made by Pilate-Which of the twain will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas, or Jesus? and now the enquiry is made by thee, which of the twain shall I now release? or which of the twain will men wish to continue; as I have already told thee, the time is come that my Bible must be fulfilled, and no longer stand as a divided kingdom between the POWER OF GOD and the powers of darkness; the kingdom must now be established for ONE; and which of the twain ? is my enquiry, which of the twin, hath been thy enquiry, Satan's power to be destroyed, and my power established; or Satan's

JOANNA'S JUDGMENT OF THE GOSPEL. 461

power to remain, and my power over the whole earth to have the hearts of all men in my possession to be destroyed, as it hath to this day? This is the enquiry made by thee, if men understand what they read; and the answer of thee, and of all thy believers is-Satan's power destroyed, and Christ's kingdom established. But the answer of the unbelieving world is like the Jews of old, who cried out, Barabbas! Just so is the language of the world, that the murderer of mankind may still go on. But now come to the Gospel of St. John-He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom. Then it must be known unto all men, I am the Bridegroom, that hath placed this desire in the woman's heart, and in the hearts of all believers, that wish ME to come as the Bridegroom. Now before I go further with the explanation of my Gospel, let thy judgment appear, what thy belief is of ME, and of my Gospel; then I will answer thee again. Thou knowest the different judgments drawn by man, and now let thy judgment appear."

From the judgment I have heard of mankind, many have affirmed, and thousands are the believers, that our Saviour was no more than a mere man, born after the flesh, as others were; yet they believe he was a good man, and a prophet. This is an idea it is impossible for me to believe; as it appeareth erroneous and madness to believe he could be a good man, and a prophet, without being the Son of God, when it is affirmed by St. Luke i. 28, of the angel's visitation to Mary, and assuring her she should have a Son, that should be the Son of God. Read on to Ver. 35; weigh the chapter through, in what manner she affirmeth her being with child at the time her cousin Elizabeth was with child with John the Baptist, equally strange as the birth of Isaac. After this confirmation by Mary, it is said Matt. i. 19, 20-When Joseph found she was with child, he thought to have put her away privily; but the angel appeareth to him, and tells him not to fear to take Mary, his wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. The angel appeareth to the shepherds, as they were watching over their flock by night, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and tells them there is born in the city of David a Saviour, that is Christ the Lord; he shewed them the sign by the star; and the star went before them till it came where the young child lay, and they found him as the angels had told them. In Matthew ii. you find, when Herod was worked upon to destroy the child, though with false pretences that he might come and worship him, it is said the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and ordered him to arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, till the death of Herod. Here the angel makes known to Joseph the deceitfulness of the heart of Herod; and by this wondrous working preserves the life of the child that was born for the salvation of man. The truth concerning Herod was soon proved by his killing all the children, that he might be sure to destroy the Son of God, if Joseph had not been warned before. In Matthew iii. 16, it is said, when our Saviour was baptized, they saw the heavens open and the Spirit of God descending like a dove, lighting upon him, and a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." - Now when we weigh all these Scriptures together, and the different witnesses they were affirmed by, and the miracles that were wrought by our Saviour, to confirm the whole; there is no man can believe the Gospel without believing he was the Son of God, according to all the words that our Saviour spoke of himself. When we take a survey of the Gospel, and consider in what manner all was testified at his birth, we see, like a length of chain, the whole is united together, according to the words of Simeon -" Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, the light to

JOANNA PROVES THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 463 lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." It was revealed to Simeon by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Now where is the man endowed with a grain of reason, who can see all these wonderful assertions made by so many witnesses, and by so many miracles, affirmed by our Saviour himself, to join the whole together; where is the man who can part them asunder? To me it appeareth madness; and yet of such madmen there are thousands in the world, who believe all those witnesses to be false, and our Saviour's assertion of himself to be false, as to his saying He was the Son of God: He cometh from God, and HE goeth to God; and before Abraham was, He saith, I AM. In all these words our Saviour confirms the words of the witnesses who testify of him, and the truth of the prophets who prophesied of HIM; and though the whole is joined together as a complete building, yet I know many will throw down the fabric, while they allow at the same time he was a good man, and had power to raise it up again by his miracles; to be worshipped as the Son of God, when they say he was not the Son of God. This I speak of the Arians, whose belief I call erroneous, and sheweth how man is void of reason; for if men would come to reason, and see how the whole is joined together, they would see it was a fabric they could not throw down; or raise up in any likeness, unless it be to the complete building. We must consider what God is: and though he gave Moses the spirit of prophecy, and worked so many miracles by his hand, yet Moses never said he was the Son of God; neither would the Lord suffer the children of Israel to know where his body was, that they might not worship him; for he forbad every worship to the body of Moses, as he was but an instrument in the hand of the Lord. Now if men would call reason to their assistance, they would soon be convinced, that the Lord would never

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