41 the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the council of peace shall be between them both." "Now this was not fulfilled in my days; therefore I said that the Gentiles were more blind than the Jews; because the Jews looked to these promises to be fulfilled, when the MESSIAH came: and therefore they rejected ME and my Gospel, not understanding that there must be a BOOт and a BRANCH both to come from the Spirit of the Lord. Know I said of a grain of wheat, it is first cast into the ground to die away; and then it ariseth and bringeth its increase. In this manner the Scriptures are placed; but how could I express my love to mankind, how could I say my delight should be with the sons of men, that I should bring in a happy and glorious kingdom for them, and destroy the works of the devil for their sakes, before I had tried the love of men? Can men simply suppose that I should return in love to mankind, to bring in everlasting blessings to man, and to establish the earth with every blessing, and redeem them from every sorrow, can men simply suppose that I should do this, while I stand as a crucified Saviour, or as a malefactor to be despised and rejected of men? In this manner I cannot return, before the BRANCH springs from the ROOT, to be esteemed and beloved of men, to be worshipped as a Prince and a Saviour. How can I confound the devil and fallen angels, to cast them out for their rebellion, and bring in redemption to men who stand out in rebellion the same, were the day of judgment to come in this manner? Then it must be fatal for man, or my honour must be lost, if I do not prove the blindness in men, and that the temptations of the devil were the cause of their persecution, through unbelief; because they did not discern in what manner the Prophets spoke of the Root and the Branch; that the Root should be cut off to die away like a grain of wheat; because I came to die for the transgression of man; and so I said, in like manner as the wheat returned to bear its increase, the increase again must come from ME, And now I shall make the scriptures as plain as the noon-day sun before them-that, from the ROOT, the BRANCH shall come to bring in the branches in men. "Now come to the Prophet: Zechariah ix. 9. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee: HE is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 35. "Then come to my Gospel: Luke xix. 30, 31, "Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set him thereon." "Now I shall answer thee from my Gospel, and from the words of the Prophets. When I rode to Jerusalem upon a colt, whereon never man sat, my disciples thought that the fulfilment of the Prophet's words would then take place; because they found it in the manner I had told them. This filled my disciples with joy; therefore they began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. But see how their joy was rejected by the Pharisees, and 43 likewise by the Jews; therefore I told them, instead of these blessings being then established, to fulfil the words of the Prophets, destruction should come upon them." Verses 41, 42. "And when he was come near, be behield the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side." "Here let them look to my Gospel, and what followed after they had put ME to death, and preferred a murderer before ME: so the murderers came upon them; and they had got their own choice, which hath followed them to many generations. But now I shall turn back to the words of the Prophet: for, like my riding to Je rusalem, they will see my coming now. "And let their blasphemy appear, If any truths in them were found, Could be in thee, as men do see; By arts contriv'd from hell. These wonders they will clear the whole, If any truth in them did lie The end will make all clear. So now weigh deep; thy foes may weep, I tell them, like a murder'd sheep- "Now I shall come to what was put in the Newspapers; and begin with the King's Jester. From thy observation, I shall answer of the third murder being committed; and I tell thee, the third murder hath been committed. The first was when I gave up my life for man; and my love for man hath been murdered to this day, by the unbelief that is in mankind. The second murder was in my Disciples, and all that were put to death for my sake, for bearing testimony of ME and my Gospel: this was the second murder committed by men. But now I shall come to the third: thy character is murdered, by bearing testimony of my visitation to thee; and they are crucifying ME afresh, to put ME again to an open shame. But now I tell thee, like the king, they shall go no further; for now will I make myself known amongst mankind, by the manner of my visitation to thee. I have directed thee in this manner, to keep thee from any man's coming into thy presence, to prove that this visitation is from the Lord. And now let all their infamous books appear, that have been written against thee, and the Spirit that directs thee; and then I will prove the truth of my words, that the third murder hath been com 45 mitted. And now come to the words of the Prophets, that I ordered thee to put in the newspaper." Isaiah Ixiii. 5.-" And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto ME, and my fury, it upheld ME." "Now I shall answer thee from these words of the Prophet and see the truth of the words, that there was none to help, none to uphold; for neither threatenings, nor invitations, promised blessings, nor threatened judgments, have made any one to come forward, to help or uphold. If they judge it of God, they ought to uphold the word; if they prove it not of God, they ought to help to pull it down, by searching into every truth, as they were directed; but this no one hath stirred to do. "Then now my own arm shall bring salvation unto ME; because my hand, that is stretched out upon thee, shall be stretched out still: for my fury, it shall uphold ME. Know I have told thee my hand is stretched out in love to thee, and with cords of love have I drawn thee; but now I ask thee, where is the man who can answer for himself, in keeping silence, when it is known in what manner my hand is on thee? Therefore I will tread down all their wisdom, all their knowledge, and all their boasting: for now I shall come to the purpose with all men; if they speak according to the thoughts which came into thy mind, that men would say, "We said she was under the influenee of the devil, and now it is proved"-should this be the language of their hearts, I should soon bring the strength of their wisdom to the ground. Let them look to my Gospel, and see what they were who were possessed with the devil; let them look to their Bed |