by John Thomas

“ Adam, having been formed in the image, after the likeness of the Elohim on the sixth day, remained for a short time alone in the midst of the earthborns of the field. He had no companion who could reciprocate his intelligence; none who could minister to his wants, or rejoice with him in the delights of creation; and reflect the glory of his nature. The Elohim are a society, rejoicing in the love and attachment of one another; and Adam, being like them, though of inferior nature, required an object, which should be calculated to evoke the latent resemblances of his similitude to theirs. ”

“ Now, I respectfully inquire, will a man who understands the signification of circumcision of the flesh, and the nature of circumcision of the heart jeopardize his reputation for soundness of mind by saying that infant-sprinkling, even if a spiritual practice, was divinely appointed in the room of circumcision in flesh or spirit? That the immersion of a man of the same faith and disposition as Abraham's is connected with circumcision, I have shown; to such a man, immersion into the glorious name is the tohen of his justification by faith, as circumcision of the flesh was to Abraham. ”

“ Hence, at successive periods, the earth has become the area of fierce and pandemoniac conflicts; its tragedies have baptised its soil in blood, and the mingled cries of the oppressor and the victim have ascended to the throne of the Most High.
Skilled in the wisdom which comes from beneath, he is by nature ignorant of that which is "first pure, and then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." This is a disposition to which the animal man, under the guidance of his fleshly mind has no affinity. ”

“ If the stone had been poised in a man's hands ready to smite the image, we might look for an earthly conqueror to overthrow the dominion of the Autocrat, as he will overthrow the rest. But the power that wields the stone is plainly declared in the interpretation. It is the God of heaven Who pulverizes the image, and sweeps its chaffy dust away by the whirling tempest which wrecks the kingdoms of the world and transfers them to His saints. The kingdom of the stone grinds to powder whatsoever it falls upon, and then becomes a great mountain, or empire of nations, and fills the whole earth. ”

“ Yea, verily, it is impossible that it can always be desolate and subject to the horns of the Gentiles. If it were, the kingdom of God could never be established; for the Holy Land is the territory of the kingdom. To all, then, who believe "the things of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ," how intensely interesting must the future destiny of this country be! Well may it be said by the prophet, "Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." ”

“ Believe the truth for its own sake, and obey it; and if you stand alone, be of good courage. There is more real satisfaction in knowing, and being able to prove, the truth, and in contending single-handed for it, than in all the honour and enjoyment derivable from the applause of men, or the abundance of the world's goods a man may possess.
If the righteous "scarcely be saved" what scope is there for the ungodly and the sinner; and if judgment began at the house of God in the persecutions it endured, "what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? ”

“ I will bless all nations in thy seed; the Christ. As Abraham had died without receiving these promises made to him also; and as Isaac knew they were to inherit together; the promise of "all these countries" to him was equivalent to an assurance that he should rise from the dead; when he would see his father and the Christ in possession of the land; and his descendants increased to a great multitude, and then become a mighty nation exclusively occupying it; and all the nations happy and contented under the dominion of Christ. ”

“ It is a principle which annihilates all human sophisms and traditions about "the salvation of all mankind"; the "predestination of some to salvation, and of others to damnation by a stern, inexorable necessity"; "physical regeneration before death"; "the disembodied existence of immortal souls in heaven or hell for ages before the resurrection"; the "damnation and salvation of infants, idiots, and pagans"; "purification by death and resurrection without previous remission" -- and much more unscriptural, irrational, and absurd jargon of the schools and systems of the age. ”

“ An untried faith is a dead faith, being alone. Faith without trial finds no scope for demonstration, or evidence of its existence. Thus, it is written, "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God: thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, 0 vain man, that faith without works is dead? ”

“ The eye of faith sees the fairest spots of earth veiled in thick darkness. Its hope is not in "the earth"; for man can neither regenerate himself, nor society. Any organization of the world fabricated by human wisdom, must perish; for men have neither knowledge, wisdom, nor virtue enough to build a social fabric conducive to the honour and glory of God, or to the general happiness of mankind in their several relations of life. Our hope is in the Ancient of Days. "The earth" may "help the Woman," and consume the dominions of the Horns ”

“ May the spirit of the truth enter into them, and lead them into its liberty and fraternity; that at the coming of the Son of Man in celestial majesty and power, they may share with him in his joy, and inherit the kingdom of God with eternal glory. ”

“ Being accepted as a ruler and a deliverer, he and his prophet, accompanied by the elders of Israel, presented themselves before Pharaoh. Moses announced himself as the bearer of a message to him from the Lord God of Israel, saying, "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness". This demand astonished Pharaoh exceedingly. "Who", said he "is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their works? Get you to your burdens." ”

“ To have permitted Adam and Eve to become deathless and to remain so, in a state of good and evil such as the world experience, would have been a disproportionate and unmerciful punishment. It would have been to populate the earth with deathless sinners; and to convert it into the abode of deathless giants in crime; in other words, the earth would have become, what creed theologists describe "hell" to be in their imagination. ”

“ BEHOLD THEN THE CONSUMMATION! Mortal and corruptible beings like ourselves become Elohim, mighty in strength, and framers of new worlds, of which the planet we inhabit, even in its present state, is a grand and glorious specimen. "Behold", says Jesus, once an infant at the breast, powerless in death, but now endued with all power, "I make all things new." He will educe from the things which exist, a new and magnificent world, as a fit and appropriate habitation for his companions, redeemed by his blood from the sons of men. ”

“ Are generations of men, rebellious against God, and destroyers of the earth, to occupy it successively through an endless series of ages? Are men to repeat the history of the past for ever? Is the earth always to be cursed and sin and death to reign victorious? ”

“ The truth is, Austria and the Pope are natural allies; and are as intimately related as the eyes and mouth of a man are to the man himself. Their fortunes are inseparable. The fate of one is the fate of both, even perdition by the burning flame of war.
The army of the Frog-power has seized upon Rome, and the false prophet will not return, because he regards the Frogs as his real foes. ”

“ It is as impossible for a man ignorant of God's word to have faith, as it is for a man to believe another guilty of an alleged crime who knows nothing at all about the matter.
But, one may say, there are multitudes who believe in Christ who are very ignorant of the scriptures. Yes, they believe in Christ as Turks believe in Mohammed. But this is not the faith defined by Paul. The mere belief that Jesus is the Son of God is not believing in him. To believe in him is to believe what God testifies concerning him. The faith of the "religious world" is like a stool with only one leg. ”

“ War, famine, pestilence, flood, earthquake, disease, and death, are the terrible evils which God inflicts upon mankind for their transgressions. Nations cannot go to war when they please, any more than they can shake the earth at their will and pleasure; neither can they preserve peace, when He proclaims war. Evil is the artillery with which He combats the enemies of His law, and of His saints; consequently, there will be neither peace nor blessedness for the nations, until sin is put down, His people avenged, and truth and righteousness be established in the earth. ”

“ The dark vapours and thick clouds of the sky, curling in dense and lowering masses, suddenly hiss forth the forked lightning, and the heaven is rent by the deafening roar of the voice of God. Hail, and fire mingled with hail, pour down upon them, and they are destroyed from the face of the land. ”

“ Oh! we believe that thou camest from God, because no man could do the miracles thou doest unless God were with him; but we do not believe a word in a kingdom in Judea under thy rule. We have no idea of thy coming to this cursed earth again to reign in Jerusalem, and to sit as a priest upon a throne there. This is nothing but the day dream of those who take thy words, and the sayings of the prophets, as if they were to be understood in the carnal, or literal sense. ”

“ It is not now an existent reality; for, though it once existed under a constitution, which hath waxed old and vanished away, its elements are dissolved from their previous combination, and remain dispersed. Their restitution is, however, a matter of promise, attested by two immutable things -- the promise and the oath of the living God. His kingdom and empire on earth are a great truth, but not an existing fact; they are visible only to the eye of faith, and are required by their founder to be received in the "full assurance of hope," with rejoicing and confidence to the end. ”

“ A corrupt and vicious press is the ignoble and servile apologist of its treachery and blood. It flatters the grim assassins of the people, the soul of whose institutions is the ignorant stolidity and cruel superstition of a dark and iron age. Its sympathies are with profligate kings, blasphemous priests, and savage generals; while no epithet is too vile or opprobrious for those who, having endured to the uttermost the debasing and ruinous Oppression of their destroyers, seek to break their bonds, expel them from their thrones, and to diffuse truth and science among the people. ”

“ The sentiments are as blind as the propensities when intellect is unenlightened by divine revelation. The truth of this is illustrated by the excesses into which mankind has plunged in the name of religion. Mohammedanism, Romanism, Paganism, and the infinite varieties of Protestantism, are all the result of the co-workings of the intellect, and sentiments, under the impulse of the propensities. They are all the thinkings of the flesh, predicated on ignorance, or misconception, of the truth. ”