Third.—The nature and character of the laws of adoption, or the invariable rule by which aliens are admitted into the kingdom as citizens.
Fourth.—The nature and character of the laws given for the government of all adopted citizens.
Fifth.—The character, disposition, and qualifications necessary for every citizen to possess.
Sixth.—The rights, privileges, and blessings enjoyed by the subjects in this life.
Seventh.—The rights, privileges, and blessings promised to the faithful, obedient subjects in a future life.
Dear reader, your future well-being in all time to come, depends upon your rightly understanding these seven subjects. Read, therefore, with serious attention, and your mind shall be opened to see things that you never saw before; things too of infinite importance, without which you can in no wise be saved. Let us begin by examining—
First.—The nature and character of the King. God is the King. In him exists all legal authority. He alone has the right of originating a system of government on the earth. He claims this right by virtue of his having made man and the earth he inhabits. Man, therefore, is indebted to God for his own formation and for the formation of the planet on which he dwells. He also claims the right of establishing his government among men, by virtue of his superior wisdom and power. If God had sufficient wisdom and power to construct such a beautiful world as this, with all the infinite varieties of vegetables and animals appended to it; if he could form such an intricate and complicated piece of machinery as the human tabernacle as a dwelling-place for the human spirit, then we must admit that his wisdom and power are immeasurably greater than that of man, and hence he is qualified to reign as king. An order of government, established by such an all-wise, powerful being, must be good and perfect, and must be calculated to promote the permanent peace, happiness, and well-being of all his subjects. The Great King is a very amiable being, full of benevolence and goodness, and never turns any person away empty, that comes requesting a favor which he sees would be for his benefit.
The King occasionally visited his subjects in ancient times, and once tarried with them for several years; but he received such cruel abuse from many of the people that he left them, and went to some other part of his dominions. Where the King is gone the people cannot tell. They have not heard one word from him for upwards of seventeen hundred years. He has been absent so long, that some of the people have doubted even his existence. They have argued that if he did exist, that some one would very likely have heard something from him in the course of so many centuries. Many millions however have some idea that he exists, and are constantly sending all kinds of petitions to him; but for some reason he sends no word back. No messengers are dispatched to the petitioners to give them any counsel upon any subject. It has become a very popular thing to send daily petitions to the King, and to appropriate one day out of seven for the especial purpose of sending in their petitions. The same petitions are frequently sent a great number of times. It is very unpopular however for any one to expect the King to make any reply to any petitions sent in. Any one pretending to have received a reply would be counted a base impostor; for, say they, the King has spoken to no one for the last seventeen hundred years; no one has heard from him since he conversed with his servant John on the Isle of Patmos. The King conversed very freely with his subjects in the early and middle ages; and some think it very strange that he has been silent so long. They have expended millions in building many costly and magnificent churches in honor of his name; but yet he has not deigned to grace one of them with a visit, neither has he condescended to send any tidings to them by a messenger or otherwise. He has not informed them whether he was pleased or displeased with their splendid edifices. His profound silence for so many centuries has caused many to think that he was, for some reason, very angry with the people; yet they could not see why he should be angry when the people were doing so much to honor him—when they were expending millions to hire learned men to preach and write in such an eloquent manner about him.
Reader, can you tell why the King should be so distant? Why he holds no communication with any of the people? Why he has not sent one sentence of consolation or counsel to them? Why he has suffered some fifteen thousand millions of the human race to fall into their graves, in the latter ages, without condescending to speak one word to any of them? There must be some cause for all this. There must be something wrong. The King never formerly served his people in this manner; and when he went away, he left word that if any of his people lacked wisdom or knowledge on any subject, they should send in their petition to him, and he would liberally send them the requisite information.
I will now tell you the reason why the King has kept silence so long. It is because he has had no subjects to converse with; all have turned away from him and advocated other governments as being the rightful and legal authority. They killed off and utterly destroyed every true subject of his kingdom, and left not a vestige of it upon the earth; and, to add to their guilt and wickedness, they have introduced idolatry in its worst forms, and utterly turned away from the true and living God. They have introduced a "God without BODY, PARTS or PASSIONS." They have had the audacity to call this newly-invented god by the same name as the God of the ancient Saints, although there is not the least resemblance between them. Indeed there could be no resemblance between them; for a bodiless god, without "parts or passions," could resemble nothing in heaven, on earth, or in hell. This imaginary modern god has become exceedingly popular. It is to him that a vast number of churches have been erected. It is not to the true and living God that they send forth petitions, but it is to this imaginary being. No wonder that they have received no communication from him! no wonder he has not honored them with a visit. As he has no "PARTS," he could neither be felt nor seen if he should visit them. Such a being could not speak, for he has no "parts" to speak with.