all the priests in the world, cannot get them out, for as the tree falls, so it must lie for ever: so saith God's word. It is now clear, that as you were born in sin and conceived in iniquity, that you are now blinded by the god of this world to it, and dead in it. Therefore it is that you call truth lies, and lies truth; or as the word of God says, put darkness' for light, and light for darkness. And unless you become a partaker of the Spirit of Christ, you will live and die in your sins, and go to that place where hope never cometh; for God's word declareth, that If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And Jesus saith, Except a man be born again, he (protestant or papist) cannot see or enter the kingdom of God." Remember, they are not born of the will of man, nor of the flesh, nor of blood; but born of the Spirit, from above, of the incorruptible seed, by the word of God, that liveth and abideth for ever: and which at present you are ignorant and destitute of. May God quicken you, if it be his will, and open your eyes to see your state and danger, and flee to Jesus for refuge, or you will be lost for ever. None but God can convince you of your state, and unless he does, you would not be persuaded though one rose from the dead. You will find what I have said here a truth in your dying hour, and curse the blind priests and the devil that deceived you. You, say, Christ says, That the adversaries should charge the church with all manner of blasphemy, &c. Yes; but who is it that compose the true church? We read in God's word, they " are built up an habitation of God, through the Spirit," that they being many members, are but one body, and that Christ is the head of his body, the church; that they worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; that they are pardoned and justified through his blood and righteousness, imputed to them, and received by faith of the operation of God. In this robe, they will be presented before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, and without spot. Christ's church has not two heads; for that would be a monster, and divide the glory with the glory with Christ who hath said, My glory I will not give to another." Who is the head of your church? Not Christ, but the Pope of Rome, whom they say, derives bis succession from St. Peter, on whom the church is built, and not on Christ the Rock. There is no true account, that ever St. Peter was at Rome at all. There were three Popes at one time, anathematizing each the other, .so that you had three heads to your church at one time. What a monster! Besides, one Pope was a woman and was taken in labour in the midst of a procession, and brought forth a child whose name was Pope Joan, whom they call Johannes; this was a very holy head of the Romish Church. Indeed, the greater part have been the most profligate, wicked and cruel wretches upon the face of the earth. What millions have they and their holy Inquisition from hell, murdered, by racks, flames and torture, of God's dear children! Is this the head of the church of the meek and lowly Jesus? God forbid: rather say, the head of a set of howling, blood-thirsty wolves, that have been " drunk with the blood of the saints." Do they worship God in the Spirit? Is counting dumb beads for prayers, keeping dead crucifixes, sprinkling holy (as they call it) water, worshipping saints and relics, bowing down to images, although God has commanded us not to make any likeness of things in heaven, nor in earth, appertaining to his worship, nor to bow down to them, for God says in his word, "Him only shalt thou serve, worse idolatry is not to be found among the Hindoos, or the worshippers of the sun. " It was Peter that said by the Holy Ghost, That even brother Paul wrote many things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction. Who are the unlearned? Those that are not taught by the Spirit of God, such as your blind priests. It is the Spirit of Jehovah that is to guide the true church, into all truth, and not your blind priests; for they know not the truth. But the true church have an unction from the Holy One, whereby they know all things, and need not that any man teach them, but as that same anointing teacheth them; for all God's people are taught of God. Every one therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me, says Jesus, not to your priest for pardon; and none can come unto me, says Jesus " except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." The true church, is modelled in exact agreement with the word of God, where the Popish Church never was, for there it bears the black mark of 66 Anti-christ;" the 66 Scarlet Whore," on the seven hills, on which Rome is built; the Man of Sin, that sold indulgences to sin, to build St. Peter's at Rome; that sits in the place of God, and says, he has the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And some of them have styled themselves, the Lord God the Pope. Jestus IV, when he was to enter Rome in his papal dignity, a pageant of triumph was cunningly fixed upon the gate of the city at which he should enter, having written upon it this blasphe mous verse: "By oracie of thine own voice The world thou govern'st all, What blasphemy! The true church may differ in outward forms, but they all hold the head, Christ, and are compacted together by joints and bands; having nourishment minis tered, maketh increase of itself in love, not in blood, murder, fire and flame. Where in the word of God do you find a church composed of popes, cardinals, abbots, monks, friars, jesuits, abbesses, nuns, &c. These all came from human traditions, the doctrines and commandments of men; who by it, like the pharisees, have made void the law of God: they for the sake of cursed lucre, robbed widow's houses; and Christ calls them a generation of vipers, that could not escape the damnation of hell, because Peter said, he had forsaken all things, and followed Christ, which was only his boat and fishing tackle; and it arose from a boasting spirit, as it did when he said he would not forsake Christ. But, surely, you forgot that things were not persons. Christ commanded that no man should put away his wife but for adultry; hence the Holy Ghost says, "Husbands love your wives," as Christ loved his church, the bride, the Lamb's wife. Did he put her away, when he became a priest? No: it is said, He hateth putting away, and he hath left us an example, that we must follow his steps; that is, the true church. God hath said, "A bishop must be the husband of one wife;" and, a man must leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife; not put her away, for that would be hating his own flesh. Again, he hath said, Marriage is honourable in all;" then it is honourable for a priest: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Among these will be your priests; for their is not one in the Romish Church, old men excepted, but is living in secret adultery. The bloody bishop Bonner had six women. God says, that the church should give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, bringing in damnable heresies. Was it the church that commanded to abstain from meats, and forbade to marry? I would advise you to ask your priest, if he can find one on the face of the earth, that forbids to marry, except the Romish Church? I know he can not. If he can, I will then give up my point. Then what is your church, but one that hath brought in damnable heresies and doctrines of devils? Who is St. Jerome, as you call him? Nothing but an old popish monk. Is he to be a rule, when his writings are quite contrary to God's word? Certainly not; for God says, " To the law and the testimony, if they speak not according to his word, it is because they have no light in them.' Why do papist's call the Virgin Mary the mother of God, when he is without beginning of days or end of life, the eternal God, that inhabiteth eternity, and she a sinful woman? for if she were not, she could not rejoice in God as her Saviour. Some years ago, the remains of a convent, near to the place where I once lived, was dug up, and it was full of infants bones, that had been murdered in secret; no doubt they were the offspring of the adulterous monks and nuns, but concealed from the public eyes. You believe that the wafer, when it is consecrated by your priest, is turned into the very body of Christ, because he saith, "This is my body;" but he meant symbolically; if he did not, when he blessed the bread and it was turned into the very body of Christ, then there was one Christ on the table, and another Christ and his followers eating him, so that he ate himself. Therefore, it was not to be done in remembrance of him. Christ says, "I am the door;" then why does the priest not consecrate the wafer into a door, and try if he can get it down your throat. One is just as absurd as the other. As for the wine, the priests drink that themselves, and give the people water, although Christ said, Drink ye all of it; so that the people have but part of Christ after all. Indeed, the doctrines of the Romish Church, are a A FEW REMARKS ON 1 TIM. VI. 17-19 BY THE LATE JOHN RUSK. (Continued from page 282.) BUT I come to the fourteenth way, which is, walking in the midst of trouble. There are times when a child of God is much favoured, so that he has little or no cross, particularly in his first love; and the reason is, he has so much of the comfortable presence of his God: he sucks, and is satisfied with the breasts of Zion's consolations. But alas, he must be weaned from these, and this is trouble indeed; however, God is pleased to bring him down from the heights of Zion by degrees, and it is all to teach such to live by faith, and not by sense thus they are brought in time to live on strong meat, and to trust God more in the dark. And he does bring some of his chil dren into great straits, so that look which way they will, they are in the midst of trouble; see Jonah, Micah, Job and others: now this shews that a man is encircled in trouble, in body. soul, family, from the world, from hypocrites, from good men, from Satan, in circumstances, and as it ap pears, from God. Now in such a flight he walks in darkness, and has no light, or no comfort; add to all this, the wretchedness he feels within, his former light apppears the one talent, and he appears to be a hypocrite he feels as if he hated Zion, and every one else, and that he shall take an offence; the pride, malice, unbelief, rebellion, hardness, uncleanness, &c. of his heart is stirred up, and he feels as if the next step he takes, will be to open his mouth against the saints, and all that is good; for he feels himself nothing but deceit; he appears on the verge of the great transgression: this is a weak account of the midst of trouble, that such are called in, And the dangerous way that opposes him, is this, lest he should break through all bonds; this is tribulation, or a complication of trouble, all pressing him down, and it is intended to wake patience. Now is faith of any use here? Yes, it is faith, though weak according to feelings, that holds him up, for by faith he stands." Some people, not having a quarter the trouble he has, have destroyed themselves; but he is kept by the power of God, through faith kept from apostacy, black despair, self-murder, and the great transgression. No relief will he find, till this faith goes out in exercise on the Lord Jesus Christ; hence Paul speaks of running with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, who endured the cross, &c.; this is the only way, in times of great trouble. Micah found it so; read his viith chapter: also Hezekiah, Job, and others. And there is no other way cast up, which brings me to the fifteenth way, which is good works; for this is called a way hence Paul says, "We are created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained, that we should walk in them." Now, observe here, that if 66 you and I ever perform a good work, it is owing wholly and altogether, to our being in Christ Jesus; for as it respects the flesh, Paul declares of himself, and we are all by nature exactly alike, for as face answers to face in water, so does the heart of man to man;" I say, Paul declares, "In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing :" and again, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one; they are all gone out of the way." But we are made truly sensible of all this, feelingly, and the Lord Jesus can have compassion on the ignorant and on such as are out of the way; and he being a leader and com mander of the people, sets us in the way of his steps. I might greatly enlarge here, but as I have treated about good works in a book of mine, upon these words, They profess to know God." &c. I shall confine myself to these three; faith, hope and charity. Now suppose a man is destitute of these three graces, belonging to the new man, 1st. He has no real faith, and "without faith it is impossible to please God;" and whatsoever is not of faith, is sin: why then such a man never did a good work, for all sin is evil; it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against God. 2nd, Suppose he is without hope, why then he is without God; for Paul says, "having no hope, and without God in the world." Now when the young man in the gospel, called the Lord Jesus Christ, Good Master; and at the same time did not believe he was God, our Lord says to him, "Why callest thou me good there is none good but one, that is God;" so that God in these persons, is the centre of all good, and to be without God and have no hope, such never can do a good work. 3rd, Suppose he is without charity, why then he is no. thing, although he may give all his goods to feed the poor, and his body to be burned; but on the contrary, if he has these three things, he is fur. nished for every good word and work. Paul calls these "the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope:" and is that all? no, for he adds, (mark that) in our Lord Jesus Christ;" which exactly agrees with our being "created anew in Christ Jesus to good works." These things are out of the pharisees reach. Now opposition will attend this way also; for the best christian living upon earth, carries about with him a nature that is "to every good work reprobate;" so that when he would do good, evil is present with him: and the good which he would, he does not; and the evil he would not, that he does: this is when the old man is put on. But, blessed be God, this is not always the case; for the new man is at times put on, and then to work he goes, and works well. Thus one way is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; for by faith in him he performs every good work: his righteousness is ours by imputation, and faith puts it on. Against hope in nature, we believe in hope through grace, which is a good hope; and God takes "pleasure in them that hope in his mercy." Love to God, his family, his truth, &c. is well pleasing to the Almighty; and this is done in faith; for charity believeth all things, and faith works by love. This availeth with God: but neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails any thing. Thus we walk in good works. But I proceed to the sixteenth way, which is having judgement in our goings; this is a way also: hence the prophet Isaiah says, "In the way of thy judgments have we waited for thee," &c. There is not a soul living, except God's elect, that travel in this path; but they sit in judgment over themselves, from day to day, when in their right mind, all the year round; for there is a court held, a tribunal erected in the conscience of every vessel of mercy and it is right for us continually to come to books, by examination, honest confession of : what upon examination we find amiss; for in many things we offend; then, pleading the promises of God, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ; add to this, watching, to see what change is made in our feelings, and if no answer to prayer, then waiting for the Lord following it up; for the Lord loves importunity, and when he appears in our behalf, blessing, praising and glorifying his name, telling God's family of our backslidings, and the path we pursued, and how faithful the Lord was to us in appearing when our strength was all gone. Now this, briefly, is the way; but if this is neglected, we shall get hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and if we go on, never so long in this hardened state, we must come to books after all, and God will take us in hand for our neglect, and heavy work it is likely we shall have; the law will be armed with fresh terrors, Satan's fiery darts and accusations keenly felt, the world shall open their mouths, conscience shall well flog us, every sermon we hear cut us to the quick, and expectations of worse coming on; our life shall hang in doubt, and we shall be surrounded with fear. Every lively, honest, tender-hearted christian appears to condemn such; and they are brought sorely to know, that sin is an evil and a bitter thing. Some have neglected these. Solomon, David, the incestuous person, and others; all these had heavy work. Solomon, he had lost ten tribes, besides feeling the fire of jealousy, which he calls coals of juniper, that hath a most vehe. ment flame. David, his father, had heavy work, for his dreadful fall and neglect of this judgement; for the sword never departed from his house: the incestuous person was publickly put out of the church, and delivered unto Satan. So that, however some may trifle with sin, God will make us smart for it. Now this judgment is only in Zion, all others escape: for God only chastens his elect, and it is |