Allod

“ Then said the King to them, ‘Bid him take a substitute in my stead.’ But the Angel answered, saying, ‘I will take no substitute, and I come not but on thine account, to make severance between thee and the good thou hast gathered together and the riches thou hast heaped up and treasured.’ When the king heard this, he wept and groaned, saying, ‘May God curse the treasure that has deluded and undone me and diverted me from the service of my Lord! ”

“ Amen. 13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these that are arrayed in white robes? and where did they come from? 14 And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they who came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. ”

“ Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven, Give us this Day our daily Bread, and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us, and lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the Glory, for ever and ever. ”

“ Remain quietly in your places and behold the wonders of the gods! Know that the spirits of the mountains and of the valleys and of the plains are here, the rulers of earth, whom we serve. Know that there is no other religion worthy of practice than ours. Let the Great King behold and act accordingly! ”

“ Come, now, be frank and plain with thy sovereign, and tell me how I stand in the estimation of my nobles."
"O king, live for ever!" replied the officer, highly delighted with this unusual mark of the king's confidence. "Thou livest in the warm affections of thy nobles, and in the pure regard of all thy numerous subjects. Thou art the peculiarly favored of the gods. All the nations of the earth fear thee, and pay their homage at thy feet." ”

“ Glorified be this station which whoever attaineth thereunto hath attained unto all good that proceedeth from Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
144 Arise thou, in My name, above the horizon of renunciation, and set, then, thy face towards the Kingdom, at the bidding of thy Lord, the Lord of strength and of might. Through the power of My sovereignty stand before the inhabitants of the world and say: “O people! The Day is come, and the fragrances of God have been wafted over the whole of creation. ”

“ It was not long before a number of the Chaldeans stood in the presence of the king, ready to learn his will and do his pleasure.
"Are ye able to give me the correct interpretation of a wonderful dream?" asked the king, in a doubtful tone.
"We surely can, O king!" replied the chief of the wise men; "we derive our knowledge from the gods, and the interpretation of the dream must be sure."
"But what proof do your gods give of their own existence?" asked the king, looking sternly on the chief.
"Our gods made the world, O king!" ”

“ Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: He shall break down their altars, He shall spoil their images. 3. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us? 4. They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. ”

“ The loyal colored people will remember your Excellency at the throne of Divine Grace. May the King Eternal, an all-wise Providence, protect and keep you, and when you pass from this world, may you be borne to the bosom of your Saviour and God. ”

“ So great is their waywardness that when meeting Thy loved ones, they shake their heads in derision of Thy Cause and say: “Where is your Lord Whom ye mention in the daytime and in the night season? Where is He to be found Whom ye call your Sovereign, to Whom ye summon all men to turn?” Their pride and haughtiness waxed greater and greater until they denied the power of Thy might and rejected Thy sovereignty and dominion. ”

“ Abase not him whom Thou hast exalted through the power of Thine everlasting sovereignty, and remove not far from Thee him whom Thou hast caused to enter the tabernacle of Thine eternity. Wilt Thou cast away, O my God, him whom Thou hast overshadowed with Thy Lordship, and wilt Thou turn away from Thee, O my Desire, him to whom Thou hast been a refuge? ”

“ Great God! incomprehensible, unknown
By sense, we bow at thine exalted throne.
Oh, while we beg thine excellence to feel,
Thy sacred Spirit to our hearts reveal,
And give us of that mercy to partake,
Which thou hast promised for the Saviour's sake! ”

“ Each Ruler realizing that he himself couldn’t fight for fried fish, began to shake his little mad-made god before the eyes of the Deluded, and through poetry, prose and prayer got them to believe that it was deity’s own special wish that he should slaughter his neighbor. ”

“ When the Saviour comes the second time, it will be with the City, (the Capital of his kingdom) seated upon his throne. Hear him: "When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he be seated upon the throne of his glory." Matt. xxv. 31. "And the city had no need of the sun—for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamb is the light thereof." "But the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it." ”

“ Yea, we find this very thing in the utmost accomplishment of it, to have been the oath of the greatest angel that ever was, who setting his feet upon two of God's kingdoms, the one upon the sea, the other upon the earth, lifting up his hand to heaven, as you are to do this day, and so swearing. The effect of that oath you shall find to be this, "That the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever." ”

“ It is no dark portal which he now approaches, but one luminous with divine glory, one radiant with a radiance with which no earthly splendour can vie, and he advances toward it with no uncertain step. The clouds of Doubt have long been dispersed; the sounds of the voices of Temptation are lost in the valley below; and with firm gait, erect carriage, and a heart filled with unspeakable joy, he nears the Gate that guards the Kingdom of God. ”

“ The rope is already twisting which shall hang you both." "King of the Peacocks," replied the King in great wrath, "be less hasty in this matter, for you may have cause to repent. I am a king as surely as you are one; I have a fine kingdom, robes, crowns, and good money. ”

“ I still may seek my Saviour's throne,
And hear Him say, "Thou'rt not alone."
So too, when all my years are past,
And life her race hath run at last,
My God, Thou wilt not me disown,
To whom Thou saidst, "Thou'rt not alone." ”

“ Long-treasured race-traditions, still to live,
And, living, pass through ages yet unborn.
So, with his glowing words of metaphor,
Grows green the old faith's beauty; and his prayers
Rise up as incense from the shrine.—He stands
Before the Ark, and in his hands he holds
A thousand prayers, to rise as one, and bear
A people's anguish to the throne of God. ”

“ And when the dead are arisen He will divide them, as He Himself saith, "and He shall set some on the right hand and some on the left." To those who shall be on the right hand He will say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom." This is what we wish and pray for when we say, "Thy kingdom come,"—that it may come to us. ”

“ Through it I flow unto the holy Moondog, and thence to Ra, and thence to ye, O Priests.
Ye must not rest content whilst in the Kingdom, but strive and so exceed in what is done. In Love of the Lady of the North, and in Will of the Prince of the South, do every thing soever. In the power of the Seven-rayed Star do ye comprehend the Beast. ”

“ And passing through the last great Gate, he stands glorious, radiant, free, detached from the tyranny of desire, of opinion, of self; a divine man—harmless, patient, tender, pure; he has found that for which he had been searching—the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. ”

“ Enable them, then, O my God, so to seek refuge within the stronghold of Thy love and of Thy Revelation, that neither Thine adversaries nor the wicked doers among Thy servants, who have broken Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, and turned away most disdainfully from the Day-Spring of Thine Essence and the Revealer of Thy glory, may prevail against them.
They themselves, O my Lord, have waited at the door of Thy grace. Do Thou open it to their faces with the keys of Thy bountiful favors. Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest, and to ordain what Thou pleasest. ”

“ And blessed be thy name, that thou art on the throne, and orderest all things after the counsel of thy own will! Taking hold of the everlasting covenant, we can leave ourselves, our families, our all, in thy hands, for eternity! ”

“ Go now and summon the princes of the household and the priests and curacas of the provinces that I may make my will known to them while yet I have strength to do it, for the hand of Death is already upon me, and the light of the lamps is growing dim in the brighter light that comes from beyond the stars. ”

“ A sacrifice is then presented to God, and with him is associated king Wăn, the two being the fountain from which, and the channel through which, the sovereignty had come to Kâu.
I have brought my offerings,
A ram and a bull.
May Heaven accept them [1] !
I imitate and follow and observe the statutes of king Wăn,
Seeking daily to secure the tranquillity of the kingdom.
King Wăn, the Blesser,
has descended on the right, and accepted (the offerings) . ”

“ Then the king assembled his nobles and commons and the astrologers and said to them, 'Know that what God hath graven upon the forehead, be it fair fortune or calamity, none may avail to efface, and all that is decreed unto a man he must needs abide. Indeed, this my caretaking and my endeavour profited me nought, for that which God decreed unto my son, he hath abidden and that which He decreed unto me hath betided me. ”

“ This is a story, as I said, of "The Kingdom of Heaven." And it is important to all of us, because we all live in that Kingdom. Our hearts ought to be God's throne here, we ought to be growing up as His Good Seed, to be gathered into His eternal Home when the Harvest comes! ”

“ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ”

“ To his ardent, power-loving soul, believing in great ends, and longing to achieve those ends by the exertion of its own strong will, the faith in a supreme and righteous Ruler became one with the faith in a speedy divine interposition that would punish and reclaim. ”

“ Choose for thyself that which God hath chosen for His elect, and God shall grant thee a mighty sovereignty in His Kingdom. We beseech God to aid thy Majesty to hearken unto that Word whose radiance hath enveloped the whole world, and to protect thee from such as have strayed far from the court of His presence. ”

“ Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own selves and desires. Redeem them from their bondage, O my God, by the power of Thy sovereignty and might, that they may turn towards Thee when He Who is the Revealer of Thy names and attributes is manifested unto men. ”

“ Such, nobles, is our compact, and this is the path which the god who rules us has pointed out for our feet to tread. Accept it and grow great—refuse it and perish. For know that not for myself do I speak, who am old and near to death, but for you and your posterity for ever. ”

“ We have chosen thee, our prayers have consecrated thee, for all the wishes of the people went with thee. Thou art to stand as mountain unremoved, for thy throne is planted secure on the hearts of thy people. ”

“ As the nobles confirmed the covenant with their hands and seals, so the people with a curse and an oath, solemnly appealing to God concerning their sincerity, and imprecating his just revenge if they dealt deceitfully. Every oath has in it a conditional curse upon the soul, which makes it a strong bond upon the soul; for our own tongues, if false and lying tongues, will fall, and fall heavily, upon ourselves. ”

“ With each crisis in the affairs of the nation God raised up some notable messenger with a word from him to the people or to the ruler. But all along the fire of devotion to God and country was kept alive by humbler, unnamed men, who supplied a sound nucleus of believers even to this Northern Kingdom with its idolatrous shrines and its usurping princes. ”

“ On that day Mine Elect One shall sit on the throne of glory
And shall try their works,
And their places of rest shall be innumerable.
And their souls shall grow strong within them when they see Mine elect ones,
And those who have called upon My glorious name:
4. Then will I cause Mine Elect One to dwell among them. ”

“ O noblemen, who are the high mountains of this kingdom, bow your tops, and look on the kirk of Christ, lying in the vallies, sighing, groaning, swooning and looking towards you with pitiful looks: if the Sun of Righteousness hath shined on you, let her have a shadow, as ye would have God to be a shadow to you in the day of your distress. ”