While others were gone to dinner, I went to a brook, got a little
water, and then came and sat down on the top of a rock hard by the
chapel. In the afternoon the people gathered about me, with several
of their preachers. It was judged there were above a thousand people;
to whom I declared God's everlasting truth and Word of life freely
and largely for about the space of three hours. I directed all to the
Spirit of God in themselves; that they might be turned from darkness
to Light, and believe in it; that they might become the children of
it, and might be turned from the power of Satan unto God; and by the
Spirit of truth might be led into all truth, and sensibly understand
the words of the prophets, of Christ, and of the apostles; and might
all come to know Christ to be their teacher to instruct them, their
counsellor to direct them, their shepherd to feed them, their bishop
to oversee them, and their prophet to open divine mysteries to them;
and might know their bodies to be prepared, sanctified, and made fit
temples for God and Christ to dwell in. In the openings of heavenly
life I explained unto them the prophets, and the figures and shadows,
and directed them to Christ, the substance. Then I opened the
parables and sayings of Christ, and things that had been long hid.
Now there were many old people who went into the chapel and looked
out at the windows, thinking it a strange thing to see a man preach
on a hill, and not in their church, as they called it; whereupon
I was moved to open to the people that the steeple-house, and the
ground whereon it stood were no more holy than that mountain; and
that those temples, which they called the dreadful houses of God were
not set up by the command of God and of Christ; nor their priests
called, as Aaron's priesthood was; nor their tithes appointed by God,
as those amongst the Jews were; but that Christ was come, who ended
both the temple and its worship, and the priests and their tithes;
and that all should now hearken unto Him; for He said, "Learn of
me"; and God said of Him, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased; hear ye Him."
I declared unto them that the Lord God had sent me to preach the
everlasting gospel and Word of life amongst them, and to bring
them off from all these temples, tithes, priests, and rudiments of
the world, which had been instituted since the apostles' days, and
had been set up by such as had erred from the Spirit and power the
apostles were in. Very largely was I opened at this meeting, and
the Lord's convincing power accompanied my ministry, and reached
the hearts of the people, whereby many were convinced; and all the
teachers of that congregation (who were many) were convinced of God's
everlasting truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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