evidence something of joy for the success and prosperity of the wicked at lest to profess joy in that case for fear of hazard or inconveniencies once being there they will not stand much to speak proudly and testifie against the People of God in affliction and to blame them thus that it is all justly come upon them they were all so proud that they could not stand indeed when once they be at this to reproach the People of God thus without all debate when they see their gear going for the Covenant and Cause and Work of Reformation if they get opportunity of any thing that is ado they will even find in their heart to take a clat of it Indeed when once they be at that with it they will take a clat of an honest mans gear when it is going for the honest Cause without debate they will not spare to stand in the cross-way to cut-off those of his that doth remain Wo them I nothing doubt if they be cuting-off any thing of the Work of God that remaines but they will discover any that they know hidd that they think will come into the calk for that work If they do all the rest doubtless when they come to their own companions and have taken a rant they will drink to the confusion of the Covenant and all the Phanatiks Now ye see there are many ways of joining interests and issues with the Enemies of God and gang from less to more from one degree unto another till God in his righteous judgment lay-on the last stone as their plague it may be ye are but standing on the other side to day yet and if ye be speaking nothing for the People of God ye are speaking as little against them Wel are ye standing on the other side else in God's righteous judgment ere some few years gang about ye will be drinking to the confusion of the Covenant and all that will adhere to it Fourthly There is a way that men prefer their natural life to the Cause and interests of Christ by doing that which is positively sinfull and that by giving obedience to sinfull Acts and Laws for fear of personal hazard is such a thing as I know to be iniquous and sinfull but there comes out such a Law from the Supream Magistrat that such a thing must be done or then be liable to such and such hazard and for fear of that hazard I give obedience to that iniquous Law and that way seek to save my life with prejudice to Christ and his Cause This was the case of the three children that were put to it at Babylon but they did not obey there came out a wicked Law against them that whenever they heard all the bagg-pipes blow they should without any more fall down and worship the idol that Nebuchadnezzar had set up or then take it upon their peril to be cast into the firy fornace O! but the three children made a fair and honest choise Be it known to you all Gentiles quoth they if the bagg-pipes should blow till they burst again we will not fall down and worship the Idol that Nebuchadnezzar has set-up if our God please he can deliver us but whether he will deliver us or not we will not bow down to your glecks O! but they made a fair choice There are many Folks now in our days I think if the King would command the most iniquous Law that ever was commanded in a church I doubt not but they would give obedience thereunto for fear of inconveniencies that they fear would come upon them for their disobedience they have given a great proof of this already and a greater proof than this can not be given for they have sworn that his Majestys will shall be the rule according to which they shall level all their actions I hope it is clear to you all that these Lowns have taken a sinfull way to save their life with prejudice to Christ and his Cause as ever was taken I am sure their lives must be in hazard The next I proposed to speak to was What pretences have men to say for their own defence for this unhappy way of complyance What shaddow or pretext have they for this Have they nothing to say for themselves for taking of such an uncanny gate as this Yes that they have it is an ill deed but they 'l alwayes get some excuse for it and so they have much to say for their evil deeds too they have many pretences and reasons for their own defence here though I hope ye are all clear that no pretext or reasons formable can be given without a ragg about the foot of them No formable reason can be given why men seek to save their lives with prejudice to Christ and his Cause but such as they are they have enough of them and ye shall judge them for I shall give you an instance of some few of them Now let every man lay his hand to his heart and be judge here The first pretext that we shall name which many have for their compliance is this LAW and AUTHORITY there is Law and Authority for the thing When we say what meant ye to comply and take that unhappy course by the end they chuse this goodly pretence there is Law and Authority for it in this they fortifie themselves in all their abominable courses there is Law and Authority for such things Wilt thou tell me O man if thou hast any spunk of ingenuity remaining in thee whether or not was there not Law and authority at Babylon for the three children to fall down and worship the graven image that Nebuchadnezzar the King set-up Though this Law and Authority came from the King yet it was not a lawfull authority therefore they behoved to say to the King in this we will neither obey Law nor Authority Or wilt thou tell me man of all the Martyrs that ever thou heardst of martyred for the Cause of Christ if ever any of them was martyred without a shaddow of Law and Authority save some that have been killed secretly Any that were brought to any publick hearing there was alwayes some shaddow of Law and authority laid against them Was it not so from the beginning All the cruelty that ever was done to Christ his Church and his Cause since the beginning it was still sent-out with some shaddow of Law and authority it was still so since the beginning I think man if thou wert a man and not a beast thou shouldst resolve not to make thy conscienâ—â— subject to all the iniquous Laws that may come through a Land I mean'd one that has rational understanding above a beast should know that he should not make his Conscience subject to all the iniquous Laws that come through the world I had thoughts that thou that art a man baptized into the name of Father Son and holy Ghost there is some spunk of ingenuity left within thee that thou shouldst know this
much that the humane Laws of the Prince do not make void all the Divine Laws and authority of our Lord Jesus upon the consciences of men I mean'd when a Divine Law and an humane law had confronted in opposition one to another that the Divine Law was to make void the humane but I never knew that the humane laws of the Prince made void all the Divine laws of Christ before I never heard that doctrin taught but within these four years God be thanked Short while may the Law of the Prince last that makes void all the Divine Laws and authority of our blessed Lord Jesus Truely man thou hast a bony plea of it thou must fell thy conscience abjure the Covenant and comply with their iniquous laws and authority for it If thou art a man and not a beast man I think thou shouldst know this that it is more lawfull to obey God than man The Apostle made greatest enemies judges in this matter whether it be most lawfull to obey God rather than man judge ye But ye must obey man though opposit to all the commands of God The King's laws are for this quoth ye there is law and authority for it Truely ye have a bony plea of it a brave pretence of it forsooth I think a man baptized into the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost should think shame to instance such a pretext It 's even like your self there is law and authority for it There are many also who for their compliance pretend loyalty to their Prince they must comply they must abjure the Covenant that they may prove their loyalty respects to his Majestys grace Goodsooth let me tell it quietly betwixt me and you there is few good news in the land since the like of you became so loyal If our King had been a man qualified with grace as once we supposed him to be and had born down vice and profanity there had not been so much loyalty in the breasts of a thousand of you as is in the breast of one of you at this day Alwayes I thought it had been true loyalty to the Prince to have keeped him in his own room and given him his own due to have keeped him subordinat to Christ and his laws subordinat to the Laws of Christ I thought true loyalty to the Prince had been to have keeped his House in the line of subordination to the fear of God Fear God and honour the King I judged that had stood wel in all the world but there is a generation now that has turned it even contrary Fear the King and then honour God I thought never that that was true loyalty yet I never heard that doctrin taught before but I thought alwayes that was true loyalty Fear God and honour the Prince God's vengeance be on them that have altered that Divine law ever untill they set as good an one in the place of it They made the rule all wrong that put the King in the first place he will never stand wel there I do think men of rational judgment that have not sold themselves to this iniquous time will think it the true honour of the Prince to keep him in the line of subordination to God's honour Fear God and honour the King He is the best subject who is the best Christian And ask some What makes you take such a mischievous course by the end for the overthrow of the work of God O! I behoved to prove my loyalty to my Prince ye understand not there are many who question my loyalty now In truth Sir say I there is many a better man than ever stood on your shinnes or his either that questions your loyalty now to the God of heaven Will ye make this once clear in the first place that ye are a loyal subject to the God of heaven and then prove your loyalty to your Prince by things that do not contradict the Scriptures of Truth and the Laws of the God of heaven It is never a soncy loyalty that makes folk to quite their Religion Tho his Religion justled against that which they accounted loyalty they charged him with this that his way was a way of sedition and heresy His way did not prove him to be loyal enough Wel saith he I am a loyal subject for all that after that way so I worship the God of my Fathers if that be heresy quoth ye I am an heretik if that be rebellion against the Prince I am a rebell to him for so worship I the God of my Fathers But albeit ye will quite with your Religion to prove your loyalty to your Prince yet truely we will not do so And if ye call such Fanatiks that take the way we do then we are such after the way that ye call Fanaticisme so worship we the God of our Fathers we may not quite with our Religion albeit ye call it by the name of Treason Heresy Rebellion and Division hold ye by your thing and we will hold us by our thing it is always best for Folks to hold them still by their own thing 3. There is many Folks who for their compliance pretend peace to the Church and to themselves Know ye not what discord and mischief that way breeds every where Quoth ye I am even gon the length I am gon for peace in some cases Peace man peace man I pray thee what peace wouldst thou wouldst thou have peace with God's enemies that has destroyed all that is precious in our sight Whom with would ye have peace I hope ye may have peace with all the People of God without compliance Why then tell ye us that we should keep peace with a party that has destroyed all the work of God I weened the Scriptur had stated the matter thus Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no flesh shall see God Ye forget still the one half of your tale my friend Would ye have peace among us without holiness Lord let never that peace be among us God send us red warr ere he send us that peace red warr fire and sword be among us ere that peace be among us Wofull will be the peace of these lands if peace without holiness be among us I know not what peace is for if it have not holiness with it I know not what ye would be at if ye would not have communion betwixt Light and Darkness Christ and Belial which shall never keep under one roof one bed nor one boord together We profess no peace with that Party that is enemies to God we profess no peace with such a party let red warr be betwixt us but God let never peace be betwixt us 4. There are many who pretend this for their compliance even usefulness to the Church in their cases they say they have done what they have done of that kind that they may be usefull to the work of God in other cases What moved thee to comply Man and run with
und the World makes such a choise as God has forbidden to save his life God is Righteous to hold him at his choise and that way to bring him to a miserable hinder-end I offer'd you life eternal Peace of Conscience the way to save your life for ever ye would not but ye would have your ventur on a way of your own Wel as I live saith God I shall take you at your word that choise shall you make that ye have made and that choise shall be your ruin ye shall take the holding of your life in that choise that ye have made ye shall never get more of me ye have no more to crave of me Now God is a Righteous God in this Wel now for the Use of the Doctrine First of all Ye would labour to know with your self in what hazard your life is in when the Cause of Christ is upon the stage ye would reckon with your selves how many wayes ye may run the hazard of your life when Christ's Cause is upon the stage either by not doing and omitting that which ye should do or by committing and doing that which ye should not do it were not amiss to consider these hazards and what the Scriptur speaks of folks seeking to save their lives any of these wayes Secondly Do not hold up nor satisfie your selves with any of your broken pretences that I have named or others that I have not named they hold no weight before God ye must be even-down in the matter for he that seeks any way to save his life shall lose it Ye need not speak of this there is Law and Authority for such a false cause ye need not speak of your proving your loyalty to your Prince that way ye need never pretend that such a way ye thought best for peace ye need never pretend your usefulness to God's People by your taking such a gate ye need never say ye are keeping your life till a better time ye need never tell us ye had no ill intentions or that your bare testimony would not have don good these are fooles devices he that seeks to save his life shall lose it That word hath more weight than all the foolish intentions and pretexts that ye have he that seeks to save his life shall lose it Thirdly Let me obtest you as ye love your own life as ye love the life of your Soul and your natural life as God's blessing and not as God's curse and as ye love the comfort of your life and life it self then by all these I obtest you to make a right choise it is like ere long your life may come upon the stage for Christ and his Cause and ye may get it in your option to save or to lose your life with denial or not denial of the Cause Now as ye love the life of your soules and a blessing upon your natural life the comfort of your life the keeping of your life make a right choise Fourthly Sirs Never covet the life of those that have keeped their life by wronging the Cause of Christ covet not their life I say therefore Have they not a brave life of it God save me and all that I good would from a trial of it for all that will ye let alone for all that if ye had a trial of it within a little ye would think it worse than the most miserable death that ever a man dyed One dying not long ago may be exemplary for this it 's a brave testimony that he gave for this lying on his death-bed I would not saith he bide one night again as I have had for that Declaration for all the World When heard ye one of our side that ever said the like of that for taking the Covenant and abiding by it God be thanked we will get some of the other side that will say so for taking of that Declaration albeit they be scarce as yet nevertheless I hope there shall be more of them ere it be long I say covet not their life black and miserable is the life that some of them have of it a fearfull looking for of the Soul to be rugged out of them the worm that never dyes ay sitting rugging at the heart of them where the life sits the broad curse of God upon their life and all that they gather together with their hands as the work of their life God's curse upon all holding bed boord of them it may be that make a sad sight to be seen of some of them and all that they have what they are That is a dreadfull thing beside the inward worm gnawing with terror like a worm rugging at the mawe of them ready to rugg-out the very miserable life that they would fain be quite of which God shall within a little cause to gang in the favour of the Devil in the midst of their dayes Therefore Sirs covet not their life they have a miserable life of it yet Sirs upon the other hand ye must ever pitty poor folk in this case for their tentation was even very great as I was saying to you before Now that we may end this doctrin observe here the righteous wisdom of God in destroying mens lives who for fear of personal hazard seek to save them with prejudice to Christ and his Cause who love their lives better than Christs Cause so wrong it for the safety of their life Ye may see much of that now adayes and if ye live long ye will see more of it there may be much of it seen already if ye see a man falling into a snare to enrich himself as indeed ye will get hundreds not farr off O then admire the Righteous Wisdom of God in that ye see a man seeking to save his life and falling into a mischief by that admire the righteousness of God in it if ye see my complying with that wicked Party for fear of their life or for fear of their meanes admire the righteous wisdom of God in this for making that a snare for destroying of their life which they made use of for a mean to save their lives So much for this Doctrine Matth. 16 20. Then charged he his Disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ YE have heard several reasons of this inhibition served upon this Truth in the mouth of the Disciples which doth not warrand any man to conceal this gracious Truth unless they have a peremptory command for the doing of it as the Disciples here had He did it as a Minister not seeking his own glory he did it as much pittying the Disciples in their weak and unsettled condition because they could not wel maintain that Truth before the Jewes and learned Rabbies which Truth was controverted then they being then unsettled untill the Spirit was poured-out upon them from on high that the Son of Man was risen He did it also as a plague upon the Jewes because they abused this truth
dispensations that ever fell out in the Church for were it not these years of famin the dreadfulness of the breach of sacred oaths to God had never been known and then ye know what uncouth-like dispensations fall out upon the Church in Esthers dayes the enemies of the Jewes there is all at a very great height they having gotten authority on their side they have all the People of God forehand hanged for they had a Religion that other Folks knew not this uncouth dispensation brought about the most glorious work imaginable for the overthrow of all the enemies of the Church It 's not believed what good God brings about for the Church by uncouth and strange dispensations that when the wicked spring as the grass and are as the green bay-tree it is that they may be cut-off for ever Brutish men know not this that when the wicked are brought to a great height it is that they may be cut-off for ever it 's the fore-runner of the dreadfull vengeance of God upon them when he raiseth them to a great height that it is that his vengeance may cut them off for ever and then ye know the sad things that befell the Church at Babylon ye know what decrees came out there against those that worshipped the True God if any man seek but a sute from the King for so many dayes he shall be cast into the den of Lions if any man worship not the image which Nebuchadnezzar hath set-up he shall be cast into the firy fornace This was a dreadfull dispensation that these laws and decrees should have been settled by the Kings of the Earth against whom there was no rising-up Nay but there were as many bony decrees came out the back of these again if any man speak a word against the God of Heaven they shall be cast into the Den of Lions and a midden made of their houses they shall rot in the Earth no God can save in the manner that this God can do In truth I think though one had sworn it to you if it had not been in the Book of God ye should not have believed it I doubt if ye believe it wel as it is Bot believe this if ye will that uncouth and strange dispensations bring about glorious works of God for the good of the Church I know wel ye have many instances of it the great part of the Bible clears it and the Book will be believed by better than ever stood on your shinnes The weakest turns that ever fell out in the Church that way he made them ay the strongest turns I can not help it that ye will not believe it but it 's true enough Bot next there is many instances of this under the New Testament also for he is even that same God under the New Testament that he was under the Old The First great and remarkable thing that fell out under the New Testament was the destruction of Jerusalem and the abomination that makes desolat set-up in the midst thereof This was a dreadfull thing the place of the publick worship of the Lord is all dung down and overthrown Yea bot we are all obliged to God for that for all that the Lord took occasion by that to build many a Kirk in these lands the Lord set up a Christian Church better than ever that was he brought out a good turn out of that evil And there was another remarkable thing fell out there at Jerusalem anent the Jewes persecution at Jerusalem there is nothing then bot heading and hanging drugging and drawing to prisons all the twelve Apostles are put away and there may be no more publick preaching all the Apostles and ministers must be banished and put away no man may speak more in the Name of the Lord. In truth that was a canny gate that they took for truth for if they had sitten seven years in a general assembly to have spread truth and made it famous through the Earth they took the ready way and the shortest cut that was an happy luck that that Persecution rose it would have been long ere our witt had brought it that way about that way the Gospel came to us we were unworthy of it bot God was good that gave us it for all that it was even by that dispensation and the like whereby God took occasion to send the Gospel over to these Islands Whenever God had a mind to make some Truth eminently glorious then he let it ay fall into some Enemies hand to suppress and bury it and by the burial of it he made it to rise again and be the most famous Truth upon the Earth And the last tale I shall tell you about it is this and it is even the last that will be and that is Gog and Magog will even gather together to rout-out the Church and then when they are all wel drawn up and fair on the field God will even make an end of all together and soon decide the controversy that way they will all gather up and then God will even make an end of them God hasten that day of their gathering together For if they were all once wel gathered together God will make us quite of them So goodsooth ye wiil find the Pope and the Turk take even other by the hand to drive one designe the Pope and the Turk and Prelates and Malignants will even all shake hands together and draw up fair once in the field for the swallowing-up of the Church Lord hasten them all fair afoot on the field that so the poor sad People of God may see a good sport in the down-come For if they were once wel drawn-up there should be a sudden down-come God would make us quite of them that gate We must even wait-on a while untill they draw better up bot if they were all wel drawn-up I assure you we would not need to wait long afterward Now for Reason why the Lord takes such uncouth dispensations to bring about his glorious Work and Purposes for the good of the Church it is even for this that he may discover the hearts of all men much weakness in some much wickedness in others he lets poor silly weak things even bable on and every one tell their own tale and thereby discovers their weakness and others he gives them opportunity to vent the malice that is in their hearts and thereby discovers their wickedness a sword shall pierce through manies hearts that the hearts of many may be disclosed He doth it also that he himself may be the more seen in his glorious work for the Church that no body may say they have a hand in that work to ascribe glory to themselves but that the Lord alone way be exalted Now for Use of this Doctrin I would have you all considering with your selves that there is now a junctur of strange dispensations concurring together upon the Church at this time as ever was upon the Kirk of God Are not those