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Lord here teach his people his righteous and holy ways and paths to walk in? as in Isa. ii. Micah iv. And the stone that smote the great image of gold, of silver, of brass, and iron, and clay, that they became like chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote this great image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. Dan. ii. xlv.

Is not this stone, that becomes a great mountain, that filleth the whole earth, Christ Jesus? And so through him the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of Christ.

Here you may see this stone, or mountain that filleth the whole earth, will dash to pieces, and grind to powder all that is not of its holy and pure nature, and with its holy divine nature fill the whole earth.

The Lord saith, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.' Isaiah xi. And is not this holy mountain Christ, who destroyeth the devil and his works, the destroyer? And them that take hold of my covenant, saith the Lord, even them will I bring to my holy mountain,' &c. Isa. Ivi. 6, 7, and chap. ii. 2.

And he that putteth his trust in me,' saith the Lord, shall inherit my holy mountain.' Isa. lvii. 13. For thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.' Isa. lvii. 15. Therefore is it not good to wait upon the Lord, and trust in him?

Concerning such as eat up God's people like bread, and such as make Idols and Images, and worship them, are without the true understanding, and are fools that hate knowledge; and such as go into Adultery and Uncleanness, are void of the wisdom of God, and true understanding; and God's fury is upon all such as do not call upon his name.

DAVID saith, Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread? Psalm xiv. 4. Here the workers of iniquity, as they eat bread, they eat up God's people; that is, they devour them. Are not these devourers men-eaters?

And again in Psalm liii. 4. the Lord saith, The workers of iniquity eat up my people like bread. But God did give his people corn from heaven, and man did eat angels' food.' Psalm lxxviii. 24, 25. And

David said, 'The wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.' Psalm xxvii. 2.

Here you may see these wicked men-eaters, and enemies of the righteous, stumbled and fell, when they came to eat up the flesh of the righteous; so they fell short of their devouring prey. Psalm xxvii. 2.

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Solomon saith, Whoso committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh understanding; he that doth it, destroyeth his own soul; a wound and a dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away.' Prov. vi. 32, 33. And they that want understanding, the wicked woman draweth in; but he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the chambers of hell.' Prov. ix. 16 to the end.

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And therefore Job saith, The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.' Job xxviii. 28. And Solomon saith, He that is slow to wrath, is of a great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit, exalteth folly.' Prov. xiv. 29. And understanding is a well-spring of life to him that hath it.' Prov. xvi. 22. But the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the congregation of the dead.' Prov. xxi. 16. Evil men understand not judgment.' Prov. xxviii. 5. And the strange woman deceiveth the simple ones, and the youth, who are void of understanding; her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.' Prov. vii. And therefore it is good to keep and walk in the spirit of understanding, by which you may depart from evil, and keep out of the snare of the whore, and the congregation of the dead.

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And the Lord said concerning the Jews that rebelled against his spirit, My people are foolish, they have not known me, they are sottish children, they have no understanding, they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.' Jer. iv. 42. Is not this the condition of many Christians, as well as the Jews?

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The prophet saith, Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.' Must not God's fury come upon these men-eaters, that eat Jacob the beloved of God, and devoured him, and made his habitation desolate. Jer. x. 25. And David saith, Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name; for they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.' Psalm lxxix. 6, 7. God's fury will be poured upon such that devour the righteous, and lay waste his dwelling place.

And you may see in Jer. li. They that are founders of graven images, or molten images,' are brutish by their knowledge, which are the works of error, and shall perish.' And the Lord saith, A drought

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is upon her waters, namely Babylon, and they shall be dried up, for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.' Jer. 1. 38. Upon such God brings droughts and famine, who disobey and forsake the living God, and dote upon their idols and images which they make. And the Lord frustrateth the tokens of liars, and maketh the diviners mad, and turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish.' And hath not this been seen and fulfilled? Isa. xliv. 25. And the Lord saith, They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their hearts on their iniquity, and there shall be like priest like people, and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their doings.' Hosea iv. 8, 9. And the Lord saith to Daniel, The wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.' Daniel xii. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him, and the Lord taketh care for them that fear him, as in Exod. i. 21. Therefore it is good to live in the fear of the Lord, which ye must if ye would know his secrets.

The cause of drought, and barrenness, famine and plagues, for disobeying the Lord, and grieving his Spirit.

THE cause of drought, barrenness, and famine. The Lord turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground, and turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.' Mark, it is for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Psalm cvii. 33, 34.

And you may see them that disobeyed the Lord and forsook him, and because of the wickedness of their doings, the Lord will smite such with consumptions, and fevers, and blotches, and blastings, and milldews, until they perish. I will,' saith the Lord, 'smite them with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart, and the locust, and the worms shall consume and devour their fruits; and the heavens that are over thy head shall be as brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. And the Lord will make the rain of thy land powder and dust; and will smite thee with the blotches of Egypt, and with the emiroeds, scab, and itch that thou canst not be healed.' And this is the portion of them that disobey the Lord, and forsake him, as in Deut. xxviii. you may see more at large, and how the curse followeth the wicked and disobedient, in city and field, and upon themselves and their flocks, and the fruits of their lands, yea, the plagues and the

judgments that he poured upon Egypt, he poureth upon them that disobey him, and grieve and rebel against his spirit.

And the Lord sent the prophet Gad unto David, when he caused Joab to number the people, and said unto him, 'Shall seven years of famine come upon the land, or wilt thou fly three months before thine enemies, whilst they pursue thee, or that there be three days pestilence in thy land.' 2 Sam. xxiv. And did not this action of David bring death and destruction of seventy thousand of the Jews, through David's hearkening to the temptation of satan, as in 1 Chron. xxi. but David repented, and the Lord staid the hand of the destroying angel, that Jerusalem was not destroyed?

And did not the Lord call for a famine, and it came upon the land seven years? as in 2 Kings viii. 1. And was not this because of their wickedness?

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And in Jer. xi. 22. doth not the Lord there punish Judah for idolatry, and saith, that his sons and daughters should die by famine.' And in Jer. xiv. 12. there the Lord said to the Jews that disobeyed him, When they fast I will not hear them, nor accept their offerings;' but said, I will consume them by famine, and by pestilence,' &c. And likewise you may see in Jer. xv. how the Lord saith concerning the rebellious and disobedient Jews; and for the wickedness of Manasses he threatened them with death, captivity, and famine, &c. And likewise you may see in Jer. xviii. 21. how the Lord threatens famine and judgments against the Jews for their revolting from the Lord; and in Jer. xliv. 13. see how the Lord threateneth the disobedient by famine and pestilence. And the Lord threateneth his plagues and judgments concerning Babylon, and saith, A drought is upon the waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.' And therefore let all that disobey the Lord, and make graven images, and idols, and worship them, beware of these judgments. Jer. 1. 38. And Ezekiel, he declareth the judgments upon Jerusalem for their rebelling against God, how that they should die and be consumed with famine and pestilence, in Ezek. v. 12. And likewise in Ezek. vi. you may see the judgments upon Israel for their idolatry; the Lord saith, he would pour his fury upon them, and they should die by pestilence and famine.' And the Lord saith, he would leave a few of the Jews that should escape from the pestilence and famine, and that these Jews that escaped might declare their own abominations among the heathen.' Ezek. xii. 16. And in Isaiah xiv. you may see how the Lord threatened the Assyrians with famine and pestilence. Thus saith the Lord, because of mine house that is waste, yea, every man runneth to his own house, therefore the heaven over you is staid from dew, and the earth is staid from her fruit; and I called for a drought

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upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of their hands.' Haggai i. 10, 11.

Here you may see the reason of the judgments of God, because people mind their own houses, and business, and wills, more than the Lord's.

And did not the three years' famine and six months come upon the children of Israel, because of their turning from the Lord, and rebelling against his law and spirit in the days of wicked Ahab and Jezebel, who set up their idolatry, and persecuted and killed the Lord's people? And did not the Lord shut up heaven, that they had no rain nor dew for three years and six months in the land of Israel? as in Luke iv. 25. 1 Kings xvii. 9.

And you may see in Rev. xviii. what plagues, and famine, and judgments the Lord poureth upon the false church, mystery Babylon, the great whore, that hath whored from the spirit of Christ, and killed the Lord's prophets, and drunk the blood of the saints and martyrs, who sat as a queen; but plagues, and judgments, and famine, and destruction is their end, with the dragon, beast, and false prophets, and their followers. And therefore let all be warned that rebel against the spirit of God, and so turn from the Lord into sin and wickedness, such cannot expect to escape these plagues and judgments, that God and his prophets, Christ and his apostles, have pronounced against them in the holy scriptures of truth.

Concerning such as overcome the Beast, and Dragon, and Whore, and False Prophet.

Rev. xi. 7. THE beast shall overcome the two witnesses of God, and kill them.' Rev. xiii. 7. And the beast shall make war with the saints, and overcome them.' Rev. xvii. 17. But the lamb shall overcome the beast and his followers.'

Rev. xiii. 21. And Christ saith To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.'

Rev. xii. 11. And the saints overcame the dragon by the blood of the lamb, and the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives to the death.'

Rev. ii. 26, 27. And he that overcometh and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, saith Christ, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter

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