EARLY SHAKER  wRITINGS
RELATING TO SEXUAL ABSTINENCE AND SELF DENIAL.  

     FILE  3  of  4  contains:
SIX AUTHENTIC SHAKER EXCERPTS regarding...
The Seat of Sin;  Laws of Uncleanness;  Law of Grace requires Self Denial;
The Meaning of Taking Up the Cross;  Those who lead a Married Life;  The Walk of true Followers of Christ in the Primitive Church.

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  Last update: May 30, 2013

Excerpts from: TESTIMONY OF CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING

BOOK ONE: CHAPTER VIII.

The Principal Seat of Human Depravity.

1. IT is granted that sin is the first cause of shame; for, when Adam and Eve stood in a state of innocence, they were both naked, and were not ashamed.   But no sooner had they transgressed, than they felt shame, and made themselves aprons of fig leaves, to cover and hide something from each other.

5. And God said unto the woman, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception; thy desire (or lust) shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Gen. 3:16).

7. The Israelites lusted for flesh, and their punishment was to have their fill of it, till it turned into a great plague, and they died with it between their teeth. (Num. 11:33, 34).   As it is written, “he gave them their own desire; they were not estranged from their lust.” (Psalm 78:29, 30).

9. “And unto the serpent the Lord God said, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle — And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:14, 15).

11. The truth is, the words of God to the serpent, are to be understood in a figurative sense.  And the serpent here meant, (what ever might be the figure) is that old serpent the Devil, and Satan, who deceiveth the nations; for he it is whose works Christ came to destroy. (1John 3:8 & Rev. 20:3)

13. And if the “garden” and its “tree of life,” its “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” and its “serpent,” are to be understood wholly in a literal sense, as natural things, then where are those things at this time?

14. It is evident from the Scriptures, that the tree of life, in a spiritual sense, was not destroyed, but still remains.  As it is written, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.” The tree of life is that spiritual agency which ministers the way of life. (Rev. 22:14).

21. Hence it is written, “Mortify your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  But now ye also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth — seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds — in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.” (Col. 3:5, 8, 9 also chapter 2:11).

30. And such is the Lust of the flesh, that poison of the old serpent, which, from the near relation, and tie between male and female, soul and body, takes possesion of the mind, turns it against God, and all that is good, and makes it a receptacle of all that is evil; and thus the noblest capacity of man, originally, the seat of innocence and purity, is perverted, and made the seat of all iniquity — that being corrupted by the subversion of the original law of God, it changes that which in the beginning was pure and lovely, into the poison of the serpent, and the noblest affection of man into the seat of human corruption.  To which the following words of Boston will justly apply: (Four-fold State, p. 106, 107, 108).

31. “A disease affecting any particular member of the body is ill; but that which affects the whole, is worse.  The corruption of nature is the poison of the old serpent, cast into the fountain of action, and so affects every action, every breathing of the soul.

32. “It is the cause of all particular lusts and actual sins in our hearts and lives.  It is the spawn which the great leviathan has left in the souls of men, from whence comes all the fry of actual sins and abominations.  It is the bitter fountain; particular lusts are but rivulets running from it, which bring forth into the life a part only, and not the whole of what is within.

33. “Now the fountain is still above the streams; so, where the water is good, it is best in the fountain; where it is ill, it is worst there.  The corruption of nature being that which defiles all, itself must needs be the most abominable thing.

34. “It is virtually all sin, for it is the seed of all sins, which want but the occasion to set up their heads, being in the corruption of nature, as the effect in the virtue of its cause.  It is the cursed ground fit to bring forth all manner of noxious weeds.

35. “As the whole nest of venomous creatures must be more dreadful than any few of them that come creeping forth, so the sin of thy nature, that mother of abominations, must be worse than any particular lusts that appear stirring in thy heart and life.

36. “Look thou into thy corrupt nature, and there thou mayest see all and every sin in the seed and root thereof.   There is a fullness of all unrighteousness.  There is atheism, idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, and whatsoever is vile.  The sin of our nature is of all sins the most fixed and abiding: it remains with men in its full power by night and by day, at all times, fixed as with bands of iron and brass.

37. “Pride, envy, covetousness, and the like, are not always stirring in thee.  But the proud, envious, carnal nature is still with thee; even as the clock that is wrong is not always striking wrong, but the wrong set continues with it.  It is the great reigning sin, (like Saul among the people,) higher by far than the rest, commonly called one's predominant sin, which never loseth its superiority over particular lusts, that live and die with it and by it.

38. “Surely then, the word should be given against this sin, as against the king of Israel, ‘Fight neither with small nor great save only with this.’  For” (as the writer justly concludes) “while it stands entire there is no victory.”

Published by the Shakers in their book,   “Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing”
1823 & 1856

Excerpts from: TESTIMONY OF CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING

BOOK TWO:  CHAPTER I.

The Figurative Import of the Mosaic Dispensation.

1. THE express purpose of the law, was to search out and condemn sin, root and branch.  “For until the law sin was in the world; and death by sin reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”  That is, of Christ Jesus, through whom salvation should be obtained. (Rom. 5:13, 14).

2. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.”  As it is written, “I had not known sin but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet, or lust.” (Rom. 3:20 & 7:7, also, Cruden on Concupiscence and Lust.).

3. And, although the law went to search out and condemn sin, yet it could not save the soul from its reigning power, until Christ Jesus, the first born in the work of Redemption should appear.  And therefore the law was “added because of transgressions,” that the “offense might abound” till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. (Gal. 3:19 & Rom. 5:20).

6. “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?  Can the fig tree bear olive berries? either a vine figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”   “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Jas. 3:11, 12 & Matt. 7:16-18).

7. “The fruit of the Spirit is love;” pure and perfect love. “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” (Gal. 5:22 & Mark 12:29-31).

8. “And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”  This comprehended the spirit and real intention of the whole law, and was all that God required.

9. But man in his natural and fallen state, is held under the dominion of other objects.  And as the law was added because of transgressions, that the offense might abound, and was given to the Israelites as a schoolmaster, to teach them the nature and purity of the promised Messiah's kingdom, it was necessary to point out particularly what kind of fruit this spirit of love would naturally produce, and what would as naturally flow from the want of it. (Gal. 3:24).

10. The tree is known by its fruit. Then, if man was the uncorrupted fruit, or offspring of pure and perfect love, he certainly would discover no other fruit in all his life and actions.  But both the law of Moses, and the Prophets, plainly discovered that the tree and the fruit are both corrupt, or in other words, that man in his fallen state is a corrupt creature, and descended from a corrupted and degenerate stock. (Deut. 32:5, Isa. 1:4, Jer. 2:21 & 6:28).

12. And not only so, but with repeated and solemn injunctions: “Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them; that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out; thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.” (Lev. 20:22, Deut. 6:17 & 18:9).

13. The law pointedly condemned every fleshly gratification; such as lying with a beast — lying with another's wife — defiling an unmarried virgin, etc., and, in many cases, it punished such with death. (Lev. 20:15, 16, 10 & Deut. 22:21-24).

14. Stoning to death was the penalty for such like abominations.  And if a man took a wife and her mother, or if the daughter of any priest committed whoredom, such were to be burnt with fire. (Lev. 20:14 & 21:9 Ex. 20:5).

15. Idolatry, giving seed to Molech [using artificial instruments to gratify lust], man lying with man, as with a woman, witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, disobedience to parents, &c., were condemned by the law as capital crimes; the spirit of the law was therefore holy, just and good, condemning nothing but sin. (Deut. 17:2-7, Lev. 20:2, 27 & 24:16, 17 & Deut. 21:18).

18. Observe: “The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient; for the ungodly and for sinners.”  The spirit of the law was, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself.” (1 Tim. 1:9, 10).

21 And, as this statute respected the only motive and manner in which a man and woman were tolerated to cohabit, it sufficiently showed that the very order of nature was corrupted, and that it could never enter that new creation, of which it is said, “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth.” (Rev. 21:27).

22. There was no possible case, in which a man and woman could lie together, with seed of copulation, in the work of the flesh, and hold their union with the congregation within the camp of Israel.  The very act cut them off, and exposed them to the reproaches of those who were unclean without the camp; it separated them from the camp.  Nor could they be again accepted until they were cleansed; for nothing unclean could abide in the camp. (Num. 19:20, 22, Deut.23:10, 11, Num. 12:14 & Heb. 13:13).

23. And, lest the serpent should try to cover his head under a cloak, by some false gloss upon the act of copulation, which is the generative act, the nature of man's seed is ascertained in its simple state, before appropriated to the purpose of copulation, and is there pronounced unclean.  So that every act of the flesh, even for procreation, was pronounced unclean.  Nay worse, it is expressly said, that, “Every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.”(Lev. 15:16-18).

24. And, concerning the act of sexual connection itself, the law said “The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, in the works of the flesh, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.” This was going at once to the ground work of man's depravity. (also Lev. 15: 32).

25. And that something more than uncleanness accompanied the generative act, the act of begetting and conceiving seed according to the flesh, is evident from the statute respecting women after child-bearing, by which they also fell under the penalty of excommunication. (Lev. 12:2-7).

27. And, in order to be restored, she was required to bring a burnt offering, and a sin offering, to make an atonement; a sin offering unto the Lord made by fire.  And with all their offerings they were commanded to offer salt. (Lev. 2:13).

28. The whole of which was nothing short of signifying, in the most pointed manner, that all such carnal and fleshly things as were contrary to the pure nature of God, should be kept at a distance from the true seed of promise, and be finally offered up and consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, which is the incorruptible word of God, and the salt of the earth in the children of the regeneration, and the new birth. (Mal. 3:2, 3, Luke 12:49, Eph. 6:17 & Mark 9:49, 50).

29. If therefore, this conception-sin, and this birth-sin be overlooked, and made something contrary to what God hath signified it to be, it is in vain to look any further for a distinction between good and evil; seeing that “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

30. The patriarchs did not overlook it, when they held their separate tents.  Moses did not overlook it, when by the command of God from Mount Sinai, he solemnly charged the people, saying, “Come not at your wives.” If something there had not been offensive to God, why was this charge? (Gen. 18:6, 9 & 24:67 & 31:33 & Ex. 19:10, 15).

31. God did not overlook this as inoffensive, when he commanded that a woman should “not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary of the congregation, for the space of forty, or even eighty days;” and when he commanded that she should “bring a burnt offering, and a sin offering, to make an atonement.”

32. David did not overlook it, when he said, “There is no rest in my bones, because of my sin — For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease — Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin — Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalms 38:3, 7 & 51:2, 5).

33. Jesus did not overlook it when he said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh;” — And, “The lusts of your father ye will do.” — Nor did Paul, when he said, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” — Nor did James, when he said, “When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin.” (John 3:6 & 8:44, & 1Cor. 15:50 & Jas. 1:15).

34. It is written of the Lord God, that “his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deut. 32:4).

37. Therefore, let that which God has counted both sinful and unclean, be both sinful and unclean; that God may be just, and every man a corrupter, until he fulfills the very spirit of the law, by loving God supremely; and till no inferior object can take possession of the highest seat in his affections.*{Footnote: *Affections may be considered in a three-fold sense.  1. Natural affection. 2. Vile affection. 3. Heavenly affection.  Pure natural affection belonged to man, only in his first innocent state; vile affections belong to all Adam's fallen posterity; heavenly affection, which is the purest of all, belongs to those who come into the regeneration.}

38. Thus the true end and purpose of the law will be answered, and it will not be said in vain, “The law was our school-master to bring us to Christ.” And, although it be a severe and mortifying school-master to the pride of fallen man, yet it is a true and faithful one.

The Mosaic Law, wherein it was Fulfilled by the Law of Grace, through Jesus Christ.

1. “THE law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  And Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it; not by observing its external rites and ceremonies; but by loving and serving God, as the supreme object of his affections; and by teaching the same to others. (John 1:17 & Matt. 5:17).

3. Therefore, let those who disregard the law, because they imagine they are under grace, at least be careful to examine their fruits, or works, by the law of grace.  “Faith without works is dead; — For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law.'' (Jas. 2:20 & Rom. 2:12).

9. But in vain will the fatal wound of man's depravity be covered over, by the superficial ornaments of an empty profession of grace, when “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing!” (Ecc. 12:14).

10. In vain will souls groan for deliverance from the bondage of sin, till they drop into eternity, while, by some plausible reasonings to enjoy a momentary pleasure, they willingly conceal the very core of their corruptions. (See Matt. 23:27).

13. And hence came those perpetual offerings for sin, in which God had no pleasure; but they were added that the offense of sin might abound, until the cause should be removed by Christ the true seed, in whom only, the promise of final redemption was made. (Heb. 10:5, 6).

15. In every respect, the law given by Moses, went to search out the root of man's depravity.  Many things pertaining to the same nature, besides those that were actual, all fleshly emotions, sensations and desires, and all issues, voluntary or involuntary, which are the product of the fleshly nature, were counted either as sinful, or unclean, or both; and were to be expiated according to the statutes of the law. (Lev chapter 15).  The voluntary, and unnatural crime of self pollution, was ever an abomination in the sight of God; and so also was that of defiling themselves with their own sex. (Gen. 28:7-10, Rom. 1:26, 27 & 1Tim. 1:10).

16. Such was the involuntary issue of that unclean nature of man, which chanced him by night; which polluted every thing that it touched, and which (however modestly accounted for, as a mere bodily infirmity) was cognizable by the law of God, as a fruit of man's fall, and subjected the filthy dreamer to excommunication from every thing sacred, until washed and purified according to the law.  Such also was the “issue of uncleanness” in the female, which excluded her from touching any hallowed thing, during the time of her separation, and also required a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, to make an atonement for her, before the Lord.  These and such like fleshly things, although they were the workings of an inferior nature, independent of any act of the mind, were, nevertheless rejected by the law, as contrary to that purity both of mind and body, which man was originally created to possess.

21. This passionate and lawless instinct, this lawless passion, was blind to the law of God, and even to the order and law of nature, and was without regard of the objects of its choice or refusal; so that it moved with equal freedom to any object that could afford it the gratification of its own agreeable and corrupt SELF; whether that object was animate or inanimate, brutal or human.  They “committed adultery with stones and stocks.” (Jer. 3:9).

22. All this is most strikingly evident from the law of Moses, as well as from the Prophets. (Lev. chapters 18 & 20).   And after Moses had given a numerous list of the abominations, which all sprang from one and the same source of human corruption, he adds, “For all these abominations have the men of the land done.” (Lev. 18:27).

23. And, to show that the natural seed of Abraham had the same corrupt inclinations of other nations, it is again added, “And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.” (Lev. 20:23 & Deut. 9:4-6).

27. And therefore, until the reigning power of that lawless corruption was taken out of the way, how could the soul love God supremely, and his neighbor as himself?  For “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:39, 40).

30. As it is written: “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”(Rom. 10:4).  Not to such as believe only; but he became “the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him.” (Heb. 5:9).

31. Thus far, we have opened, from its true origin, the nature of man's loss, and the fundamental cause of his depravity and separation from God, and the design of the law to search it out from its true origin:   not superficially, nor in disguise, but faithfully, and with that plainness which the importance of sacred and solemn truth demands.  It is the only TRUTH that ever will, or ever can, make souls free. (John 8:32).

32. And here we add a few very just observations from a respectable writer. {Wilberforce on Religion. Bost. Ed. 1803, p.17,18.}   They disclose in some measure, a spirit of willingness and candor to acknowledge and expose the root of evil; and on the contrary, a general principle of disguise to conceal it.

33. “But though these effects of human depravity,” says the writer, “are everywhere acknowledged and lamented, we must not expect to find them traced to their true origin. Causa latet, vis est notissima:” that is: The cause lieth concealed, the effect is notorious.

34. “Prepare yourself to hear rather of frailty and infirmity, of petty transgressions, of occasional failings, of sudden surprisals, and of such other qualifying terms as may serve to keep out of view the true source of the evil, and — may administer consolation to the pride of human nature.

35. “Far different is the humiliating language of Christianity.  From it we learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original, degraded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties — that he is tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically, and to the very core.

36. “These are truths which, however mortifying to our pride, one would think (if this corruption did not warp the judgment) none would be hardy enough to attempt to controvert.

37. “How, on any principles of common reasoning, can we account for it, [this corruption] but by conceiving that man, since he came out of the hands of the Creator, has contracted a taint, and that the venom of this subtil poison has been communicated throughout the race of Adam, every where exhibiting incontestable marks of its fatal malignity.

38. “Hence it has arisen, that the appetites deriving new strength, and the powers of reason and conscience being weakened, the latter have feebly and impotently pleaded against those forbidden indulgences which the former have solicited.

39. “Sensual gratifications and illicit affections have debased our noble powers, and indisposed our hearts to the discovery of God. — By a repetition of vicious acts, evil habits have been formed within us, and have riveted the fetters of sin.  All [of humankind] without exception, in a greater or less degree, bear about them, more visible or more concealed, the ignominious marks of their captivity.

40. “Such, on a full and fair investigation, must be confessed to be the state of facts; and how can this be accounted for on any other supposition, than that of some original taint, some radical principle of corruption?  All other solutions are unsatisfactory, while the potent cause which has been assigned, does abundantly, and can alone sufficiently account for the effect.”
So says Wilberforce: and that with the greatest reason and truth.  Then let it be so.

41. To this subject we shall only add, that although the ceremonial law was given to discover the root and fountain of all evil, yet it never did, nor could it ever remove the cause.  And although the law stood “only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed upon the people until the time of reformation” (Heb. 9:10), and could never make the comers thereunto perfect; yet it was never intended to be taken out of the way, nor destroyed, until the filthy nature which it was intended to expose, is destroyed by the fire of the gospel —   substituting something more excellent and permanent in its place. (Heb. 10:1-10).

42. “For verily I say unto you,” saith Jesus Christ, “till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matt. 5:18).

Published by the Shakers in their book,   “Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing”
1823 & 1856

Excerpts from: TESTIMONY OF CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING

BOOK THREE:  CHAPTER IV.

The Cross Maintained by the Primitive Church.

1. ALL who believed the doctrines taught by the Apostles, and were reclaimed from the open practice of vice, were received, and counted as believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, how much soever they differed in many things.

3. The Gospel that Christ taught, was a Gospel of self-denial and mortification to a carnal nature; which is called the cross of Christ.  “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, (said Jesus,) is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:38).

4. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.'' (Matt. 16:24, 25 & John 12:25).

5. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.'' (Luke 14:26, 27).

9. But this was not the case. Jesus said to his kinsmen: “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”  And to his disciples he said: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” (John 7:7 & 15:18-20).

10. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

13. And herein the words of Christ to his Father, concerning his followers, were strictly true: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14).

14. The word which Christ gave to those whom he had chosen, was, “follow me”; and, in following him, they walked even as he walked, and denied themselves as he did.   Here was the cause of every offense, of every evil suspicion, and false construction upon their lives and conduct.

15. The Pharisees came to Jesus, tempting him, and saying unto him, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” as though his doctrine led to a licentious variety: for it seems they had no better esteem of it. (Matt. 19:3-12).

16. He answered and said unto them, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female; and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave unto his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? What, therefore, God hath joined together let not man put asunder.  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?”

18. He saith unto them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away, committeth adultery.”

19. By this he exposed the hidden cause of putting away their wives, and marrying others.  His disciples understood him, and said, “If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.”

20. Jesus approved of their understanding, and manifested it to be a gift of God, by observing, — “All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.  For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

21. Let it be observed, that, as there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake, these are the very ones who are able, and who do receive this saying, “It is good not to marry;” and “therefore they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matt. 22:30).

24. He felt it his duty to reprove hypocrites; and to teach those who had ears to hear, what was necessary to be done, in order to obtain the kingdom of heaven.  And when he said, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it,” he left it with themselves either to choose or refuse.

25. And when he said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple,”—  Was it either their souls or their bodies that were to be hated?   In no wise.  But it was that selfish disposition, and fleshly, earthly tie of a corrupt nature, which rivaled God's claim to the principal seat of man's affections; this he taught his disciples to hate.

26. He came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.  “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17).

28. Christ Jesus was not of this world; and therefore it was not his concern to give laws to govern, or set an example, to regulate them in that state.  His being at a marriage in Cana, and turning water into wine, was for a better purpose.  As it is written, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”  This was the true end and design of his being there. — Not to confirm the practice of the world, but to confirm the faith of his followers. (John 2:11).

29. And what was that glory which he showed unto them, but a manifestation of his own glory, and the glory of his Father, in which he was to come with all his holy angels, at the marriage of the Lamb?  For Jesus himself was not yet glorified. (Rev. 19:7).

30. And his turning water into wine, was nothing less to his disciples, than a seal of the certainty of the future accomplishment of his own marriage; and a figurative manifestation of that wine which he afterwards promised to drink with them in his Father's kingdom. (Matt. 26:29).

33. When he graced with his presence the assemblies of publicans and harlots, and ate and drank with them, did he thereby encourage them in injustice and whoredom?  For his enemies seem to have had no better sense of his life and conduct, who called him, “a winebibber, a gluttonous man, a friend of publicans and sinners.” (Matt. 11:19).

34. But shall we not rather say, that he took those opportunities of being with them, in order to teach or show them, by his example, a better way of living?  For he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Matt. 9:13).

35. And what more shall we say, when he graced with his presence the dark abodes of the spirits in prison, who were disobedient under all the long-suffering of God in the days of Noah?  Did he encourage them to continue in their disobedience, or did he preach unto them repentance? (1Pet. 3:19, 20).

36. For the like reason Jesus wrought the miracle at the marriage, i.e. to establish the faith of his disciples in following him, which would lead them away from this darling custom of the world.    It is an undeniable fact, that Christ Jesus and his Apostles did actually deny themselves of all the carnal works of the flesh — that they had nothing to do with the works of generation, and neither married nor were given in marriage, as did “the children of this world.”

38. Instructions were given by the Apostle of the Gentiles concerning married bishops and deacons, that such should be the husband of only one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well, having them in subjection. — That the husband should love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (1Tim. 3:2-12, Titus 1:6, 7 & Eph. 5:33).

43. In the first verse of the seventh chapter, he answers them very pointedly, saying “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”   In the next verse he speaks by permission, saying, “Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband.” and so on. (1Cor. 7:1-9).

44. Then again he pointedly says, “I would that all men were even as I myself; but every man hath his proper gift of God, [or measure of faith,] one after this manner, and another after that.*
{Footnote: * A more corrupt idea could not be invented than to make God the author of all the different manners of faith and practice that exist among the professors of christianity; we cannot, therefore, admit, as genuine scripture, those words which are corruptly used to support such an idea.  To supppose that one good christian hath a proper gift of God to marry, and live in the habitual gratification of his filthy nature, and another to take up his cross and follow Christ, would imply a duplicity in the deity, unworthy of the divine character.  God is one, and his people are one, and have but one manner of faith, and live one manner of life, and that is a life of self denial, and abstinence from every thing that defileth.  See Eph. iv. 1Cor,xii, and Matt. xxv.15 }  I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.   But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.”

46. “It is better to marry than to burn,” says he. — He well knew their licentious dispositions, and that it was better for them to be contented with one wife, than to burn in their lusts one towards another, or defile themselves with mankind, as some of them had formerly done. (Rom. 1:26 to end & 1Cor. 6:9).

47. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire destroys the very nature and power of lust, which is the cause of that burning; so that he that is dead to sin, cannot live any longer therein, being delivered and made free from that burning of the flesh, which is the first and moving cause to sin. (Rom. 6:2).

48. As long, therefore, as any were under the necessity of making any provision for the flesh, it was an evidence that the affections and lusts of the flesh were not yet crucified, nor destroyed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, with which the Apostles and all the true and real followers of Christ were baptized.  As it is written, “They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.” (Gal. 5:24).

Permissions and Instructions to Those who Choose a Married Life.

1. CONCERNING those who were married, the Apostle said, “Let not the wife depart from her husband.   But, and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” (1Cor. 7:10-15).

2. And, by permission, he said, “If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.  And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.   For the unbelieving husband is (or may be) sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is (or may be) sanctified by the husband.  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.  A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God hath called us (believers) to peace.”

3. This instruction applies to the truth of Christ's words, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?  I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. — And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Luke 12:51, 52 & Matt. 10:36).

5. Thus the unbelieving husband may be sanctified by the wife, the wife by the husband, and the children by the parents— the unbeliever may be won by the chaste conversation of the believer.   As it is written, “For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?  Or, how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” (1Cor. 7:16, 25-27).

6. Concerning virgins, the Apostle gave his judgment, as one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful: saying, “I suppose, therefore, that this is good for the present distress.   Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.”

8. By marrying, they might avoid a great deal of persecution; but it was not to avoid persecution, but to avoid fornication, according to their sense of the matter, that the Apostle said, “Let every man have his own wife.”

10. This is plain from the words of Christ, “There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10: 29, 30).

11. Here persecutions are put instead of father and wife, and every necessary blessing is preserved, both in this world, and that which is to come.  Here was the doctrine of the cross: —  a stumbling block to the cruel Jews, who could no longer see any way to uphold wars and fighting, for the want of a posterity of murdering Cains, to involve the earth in blood and oppression:  — a rock of offense to the licentious Greeks; and a mortifying stain to all flesh.  Let it be particularly noticed, that the wife is required to be forsaken in order to gain the reward; but in this reward, although an hundred fold is returned, yet the wife is left out; which clearly shows that this relation of wife has no part in Christ. (Isa. 8:14, 15 & Rom. 9:32, 33).

14. “But if thou marry, said the Apostle, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she has not sinned.”  This evidently applied to such as had not sufficient faith to bear a full cross, i.e. the earthly minded.  But, “nevertheless (adds the Apostle,) such shall have trouble in the flesh.”  The truth of this latter position is so abundantly proved by experience, that it entirely excludes the propriety of any contradiction.  But the Apostle has here so clearly pointed out the state of those who marry that it seems as if the most blinded (by nature's darkness) might see the truth.   “Such shall have trouble in the flesh,” and thus, such are indisputably in a state in which they cannot please God.  “For they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (1Cor. 7:28 & Rom. 8:8, 9).

15. “But I spare you,” said he.  This agrees with what he had told them before, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.  But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none: and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” (1Cor. 3:2 & 7:29-31).

16. Observe: they that have wives, shall be as though they had none; and they that use this world, as not abusing it.  Can this be said, where the silent grave has enclosed the one and left the other in desolate widowhood? or where the souls of both inhabit eternity?  Or can it be said, where the tombstones over their bodies have sealed their separation from all the works of time? By no means, for then none can suppose that they can “use the things of this world.”  The Apostle alludes to the time for which Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done IN EARTH, as it is in heaven. (Matt. 6:10).

17. And this time had already come to the Apostle, and to all the true followers of Christ, as he tells them in the same epistle, when speaking of the idolatries, and fornications, and murmurings of the Jews, for which they were destroyed; saying, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition,” [the followers of Christ,] “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1Cor. 10:11).

19. “But,” saith the Apostle, “I would have you without carefulness.  He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:” [His noblest and principal affections are there.]   “But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.”   The wife is put in the place of the Lord, as the first object of his affections. (1Cor. 7:32-34).

20. “The unmarried woman (i.e. the virgin for Christ's sake,) careth for the things of the Lord,” [upon whom she places her affections,] “that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.”  She places her first affections upon her husband, instead of the Lord.

21. The same pointed distinction is made by Jesus Christ; not only when he says of his disciples, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world;” but in answering the Sadducees, who denied, and knew not that he was the resurrection, he said, “The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.  Neither can they die anymore; for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:27-37. Compare John 11:25, 26 & 15:4-7 & Col. 2:12 & 3:1, 2 & 1John 3:1-3).

22. Christ declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  If his words have any meaning, then the children of the resurrection are in his life, and live in him; hence it follows conclusively, that all who are in Christ, neither marry nor are given in marriage. And it is equally proved, that all who marry are not in Christ, but are in the life of the world. (John 11:25).

23. After the Apostle had pointedly shown the Corinthians the distinction, between what belonged to the world, and what belonged to the Lord, so careful was he lest they should stumble at the truth, that he added: “And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” (1Cor. 7:35).

24. In his epistle to the Galatians, he showed the cause of this distraction.  It was the lust of the flesh, by which they were bewitched.  They held, as it were, the flesh in their right hands, and the truth of Christ in their left; and the spirit could but feebly plead against the flesh; hence they could profess to believe one thing, and practice another, and never practice what their own faith taught them. (Gal. 3:1, 3).

25. But the Apostle prescribes to them the remedy, when he says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (Gal. 5:16, 17).

26. Generation and regeneration can no more be blended than can death and life, for the life of the one, is the death of the other; hence the Savior testified that “He that will save his life shall lose it; but he that hateth and loseth his life, (the generative life of this world,) shall find and keep it (the regenerative life) unto life eternal.”  For the generative life is the living principle of this world, by which beings are begotten and born into natural life.  But the regenerative life is the living principle of the superior and heavenly world, by which souls are born into the heavenly or angelic life and thereby become “like the angels of God in heaven.”  Therefore, no faster than the natural, generative life dies, can the spiritual, regenerative life possibly take effect in any soul.

28. Of this number St. Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have diligently followed every good work.  But the younger widows refuse; for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.” (1Tim. 5:9-12).

32. Be that as it may, it would be very unreasonable to suppose, that a widow having true faith, who was a widow indeed, and who stood in need of temporal support, could not receive help because she was not yet sixty years old. (Acts 6:2-4).

35. And in a strict sense, this number only was properly called the Church, as is evident from the words of the Apostle that follow: “If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” (1Tim. 5:16).

38. It was for these and such like reasons only, that the Apostle said, “I will, therefore, that the younger widows marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.  For some are already turned aside after Satan.” (1 Tim. 5:13-15).

43. But were all the nations baptized?  Did all receive their testimony?  Did all follow the same example?  In nowise.  It is evident throughout the writings of the Apostles, that there were many unto whom the preaching of the cross was foolishness.  And even many who believed, or professed to believe in Christ, walked directly contrary to his example.  Of this sort St. Paul wrote, in his epistle to the Philippians. (1Cor. 1:18).

44. After having exhorted them, “Brethren, be ye followers of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye have us for an ensample: he adds, for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” (Phil. 3:17-19).  The same depravity of faith and manners is observable under the ministry of Jesus.  Multitudes followed him because they were fed with the loaves and fishes: but when he told them about eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, and that this was the true bread which came down from heaven, many, even of his disciples, were offended, and walked no more with him.

CHAPTER VI.

The attainments of the Primitive Church.

1.WHATEVER they were called, who professed faith in Christ, whether believers, disciples, brethren, christians, churches, or saints; none, strictly speaking, were the true followers of Christ, but such as received his word and continued therein — were baptized with the Holy Spirit — were led by that Spirit, and followed the very example of Christ Jesus in all his moral perfections.

2.  Christ came to bring salvation from sin, and to release souls from the bondage and condemnation of it; and he taught his followers how to obtain that inestimable prize of true felicity and eternal life.  And this salvation, which is the very essence of all moral perfection, was attainable only by keeping all his commandments, as he kept the commandments of his Father.  As Jesus said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10).

3.  Hence his true followers who copied his example, could freely testify to others, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1John 1:3-7).

4.  “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood (that is the life) of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

5.  “He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:  hereby know we that we are in him.  He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he” [Christ Jesus] “walked.” (1John 2:4-6).

6.  “Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he” [Christ Jesus]  “is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” (1John 3:7, 8).

7.  “No man hath seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.  Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” (1John 4:12, 13 & 5:2, 3).

15.  Christ, the second Adam, who was manifested as the beginning of the new creation in Jesus, and by whom all things were made and created, did not come to condemn mankind, but to redeem and save them from that which was their loss and separation from God, and to create them anew in his likeness. (Heb. 1:2 & Eph. 2:10).

18.  God did not hate the world, but “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

19.  He created man at the beginning for his own honour and glory; and in his first creation, as he was made in the image and likeness of his Creator, there was nothing in his soul, or body, that was offensive to the pure nature of God who created him.  But man receiving by his disobedience, a foul and rebellious spirit against God, which lusted to envy, it was this that ever stood in opposition to God's holy and pure law, and was the object of his just indignation. (Jas. 4:5).

20.  By this, the soul, with all its noble affections, was led captive by the devil into sin; but ever remained the object of God's love, and became punishable only as it yielded to the influence of sin. (2 Tim. 2:26).

23.  In the beginning “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good;” and He has never found any fault with his own work; but, as Man had corrupted himself and the earth, by reason of sin, therefore God promised to create new heavens, and a new earth, wherein should dwell righteousness. (2Pet. 3:13).

24.  When therefore, the law went to condemn any property, which was necessary in the natural creation, as sinful or unclean, either in male or female, it was not because there was any evil in the thing simply considered in itself; but because it was corrupted, and the soul must be redeemed from that corruption before it could ever come into the new creation. (Heb. 4:15).

25.  The Son of God himself, the Redeemer of mankind, although he was not of this world, yet he was found in fashion like other men, touched with a feeling of their infirmities, and tempted in all points as they were, subject to hunger, and weariness, and stood in need of temporal sustenance.  But he “knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”

26.  “And it is enough,” said Jesus, “that the disciple be as his master, and the servant as his lord.”  “But every one that is perfect, shall be as his master.”  And in his prayer to his Father for his disciples, he says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. — Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (Matt. 10:25, Luke 6:40 & John 17:14, etc.).

27.  And hence the words of the Apostle, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thes. 5:23).

30.  And, by receiving his word, and abiding in it, they received his Spirit, and had power to become the sons of God, and joint-heirs with Christ in his kingdom — were freely justified by his grace; and were no longer under the guilt and condemnation of the law.  As it is written, “There is therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  They are made free from the law of sin and death, by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1-10).

32.  Hence it is written: “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin” [original, by a sacrifice for sin] “condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

33.  “For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally” [fleshly] “minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace: Because the carnal” [fleshly] “mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

34.  “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;” [Christ and sin cannot dwell together; where he has the lead and government of the mind, the body is dead and inactive to sin;] “but the Spirit is life [alive] because of righteousness.”

35.  This answers to what the Apostle had before stated, when he showed what it was to be crucified and dead with Christ.  “Knowing that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin” [not the natural body, nor any part or property of it] “might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.   For he that is dead” [to sin] “is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:6-13 & Gal. 5:24).

36.  “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin; but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof: Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead; and your members instruments of righteousness unto God.”

37.  “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace?” [Gr. Mh genoito.]  Let it not be. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom. 6:14-16).

39. “The law was given because of sin, that the offense might abound,” (i.e. might be made manifest,) and served as a schoolmaster, until faith and obedience, grace and truth, were made manifest by Jesus Christ.  And after Christ came, those who received him by faith, and became his by obedience, were no longer under that schoolmaster, but were under grace. (John 1:17).

40.  But who were released from that schoolmaster?  Those who continued to commit sin, as some pretend, with a gracious reluctance?  Nay, in no wise.  For the law was given by reason of sin, and the testimony of the scripture, is plain and pointed: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may he stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19).

41. And again: “Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”  Therefore we conclude, that whosoever liveth in sin, whether he be called Gentile, Jew, or Christian, he is yet under the guilt and condemnation of the law, and hath no part in Christ — hath not seen him, neither knoweth him in the power of his resurrection. (1 John 3:4, 6 & Phil. 3:10).

42. And, as the law of Moses was given to convey the knowledge of sin, that all the world might become guilty before God, “therefore, by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in his sight.”  But by Christ, all that believe, are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Rom. 3:20 & Acts 13:39).

43. “Christ is become the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth;” and “he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him.”  Therefore, there is no difference; all who believe and obey him, are equally justified in his sight, and equally accepted of him, whether male or female, bond or free, Jew or Greek;  and “the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them, because they walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 10;4 & Heb. 5:9).

44.  And it is through the Spirit they do mortify and crucify the deeds of the body, and live unto God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” and are not under the law, but are made free, and set at liberty, being the children of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:13, 17 & Gal. 5:18, 24).

45.  What, then, because they are made free from the law, by the Spirit and cross of Christ, shall they therefore live any longer in the gratification of the flesh?  Nay, in no wise;  their liberty, and their peace, is through the cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto them, and they unto the world. (Col. 1:20 & Gal. 6:14).

46.  Hence said the Apostle, “Ye have been called unto liberty: only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  For all the law is fulfilled in this one word; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Gal. 5:13, 14).

47.  For the greatest reason then, because the Spirit of Christ dwells in them, by which the whole law is fulfilled, the Apostle concludes, “Therefore, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” (Rom. 8:12).

48.  And as the tree is known by its fruit, so the Spirit by which the primitive Church was led, was evidently distinguished by such fruits as are briefly summed up by the Apostle, namely love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [Gr. continence]: against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:22, 23).

Published by the Shakers in their book,   “Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing”
1823, & 1856