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throughout as the invention of men; and they know that all their mockery must be turned back upon their own heads, and all their Babels fall to the ground, if they allow thy tower to stand. And therefore let no one marvel how great the mockery is amongst mankind; for thou knowest not the hearts nor thoughts of men, how few believe the Scriptures to be the word of God, when compared with the multitudes of mankind in the world:

For they

Judge the Scriptures invention at the first;
Then how shall they allow the last,
For ME to make the Scriptures true,
And bring all mysteries to their view,
To shew my power at the last?
And from it they must judge the first;
And then their Babels down must fall.
For now I tell them, one and all,
I'll shew my power so in thee,
A GOD in power, men shall see,
Is a CREATOR at the last,
As you may see it nam'd at first;
And all my Bible I'll fulfil-

They'll see my power, they'll see my skill,
To bring the Atheists to the ground,
And own a GOD must now be found;
Or yet in power HE must appear,
Though they have mock'd to baffle here.
But now their mockery cannot last;
They'll see the day-light soon to burst,
Their every mockery to confound,
The way that I shall work all round:
For, in the ending, all will see,
I'll work a way to set thee free,
That no impostor cau appear;
Because the end I'll make so clear.
So they may draw their swords at first;
They don't discern how mine is plac'd
To turn it back on every head

That mocks the Scriptures, as I've said.

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So here I've answer'd of the first.
Now let their mockery be plac'd,
The way the words of men appear,
And then again I'll answer here."

It is the mockery that I have been informed of, from different places, that I am ordered to bring forward in this book.

In a letter received from a friend he says, "great is the mockery in Yorkshire. At Horbury they carried the effigy of Joanna through the village; then they shot at it seventeen shots; then placed it with the head downwards, and burnt it in a large fire, saying, she ought to be burnt; and the next day they carried another effigy, with two children, and repeated it the third day.

The same kind of mockery, I am informed, hath been carried on in different places in Somersetshire.

The ANSWER of the SPIRIT.

"This kind of mockery sheweth what I said before, of Deists and Atheists; whether they acknowledge their unbelief in the Gospel, or not, it is in mockery to the Gospel this was done, to mock my first and second coming. And this displays the hearts of mankind, to shew how the rage and malice of the devil is still worked on in them against the Scriptures, as well as my visitation to thee. For here men have a plea to plead for themselves: in coming forth against the Gospel, they make a pretence it is against my visitation to thee; then now I ask the professors of religion, to what purpose was my coming into the world, to make myself known amongst mankind, if I do not come again in power to fulfil my Gospel, according to my

words? For all men may see, from the manner of this mockery, where the shots are levelled at. Thou sayest in thy heart, that the shots have not reached thee; because I have made thee strong in faith, before their mockery was made known to thee; so that their shots will only turn back on their own heads; and their case calls for pity, is the language of thy heart. To thy thoughts I shall answer. Their case calls for pity, before I have made my Gospel clear; because I know of Satan's working every way; and therefore I have borne with the sons of men to this day, with all their blasphemy in every age; but now they shall know the end is at hand, that all the shots which they have levelled at thee were in like manner levelled at ME, which I shall turn back upon their own heads. And now I shall answer thee from thy own words, and thy own ponderings throughout, that I shall now call out to man: for I know how often thou hast meditated in thy heart, that if there be a possibility of thy being deceived, it is from thy belief in the Gospel that hath deceived thee; for there thy heart and faith were fixed, from thy early age; and it was the Gospel that drew thy heart from the world; because froin it thy faith was fixed that an inward direction might be given unto those who trusted wholly in the Lord: and, according to thy faith, directions were given to thee, to bring thee to a true knowledge of the Scriptures, whether they are right or wrong. But now I ask thee, how the Scriptures can be fulfilled, how the Gospel can be fulfilled, without the mockery and persecution of such men, as thou hast heard of, to cast out floods of lies against thee?

"Now come to my Apostles. 2 Peter, iii.

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chapter. How could the words of Peter be fulfilled, to prove the last days were come, if there did not appear these "scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? for, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation ?" And these men are daily increasing; for they are willingly ignorant of the word of God; and therefore the Spirit is mocked, that testifieth of the Scriptures, that the last days are come, wherein the Scriptures shall be fulfilled. And now men are fulfilling the words of Peter, in the Second Chapter, "denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction." And many are. following their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth is evil spoken of. Here thou mayest clearly see the truth of the Gospel, from what I said of the wheat and the tares to be separated at the harvest; and what my disciples said, after me, who these tares were, that would arise in the last days.”

2 Timothy, iii. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers." Now these men are come forward in their true colours, perfectly as described by Paul: "truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

"And now I shall answer thee, and the public at large, from the words which Besley hath printed, recommending an early communication with their respective pastors, for a right explana

tion of the numberless scripture texts so evidently distorted in the writings of Joanna and her confederates.

"Now I ask thee and all mankind, to what pastors can ye be recommended, to prove the truth of all these texts of scripture, which I have ordered thee to bring forward, any other way than I have revealed to thee, that my visitation is now to fulfil them? Should I answer a fool according to his folly, and tell him to apply to pastors and teachers of the Gospel, for a right explanation and meaning of them, would he not continue in his folly as before, and no more believe in the explanation of the teachers and the pastors, to believe the scriptures true, from any judgment formed by them, or any explanation given by them? This I tell thee, such men as Brice and Besley no more believe in their teachers and pastors than they believe in my visitation to thee; but this is pretending to have a form of godliness, to recommend them to teachers and pastors; this is done through hypocrisy, while he is denying the power of God and his Spirit. Then now let the pastors appear and convince these blasphemers, by their wisdom; or let them diligently search out the truth, to shame and confound them, by my power, and my word, which I have said I shall fulfil in thee.

"And now come to my Gospel. John vi. 39. "And this is the FATHER's will which hath sent ME, that of all which HE hath given ME I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent ME, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day."

"Now where are their teachers, or where are

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