SOME NOTES OR HEADS OF A PREFACE AND OF A LECTURE PREACHED AT DISTINCKORN-HILL IN THE PARISH OF GAASTOVN April 25 1688. By Master Alexander Shields Preacher of the Gospel Psalm ãâ¦ã Samuel ãâã Chaââ from the ãâã Verse to the ãâã April 25 1688. Some Notes or Heads of a PREFACE Preached at Distinckorâ Hill in the Parish of Gaastoun by Mr. Alexander Shields Preacher of the Gospel The 79 Psalm being Sung. ALL our Songs this Day may be Sad Lamentation for if we understood the Place where we are It is by the Rivers of Babylon and we ought to hang our Harps on the Willows and our Songs ought to be Songs of Mourning and our Voice the Voice of Weeping And this is a very pertinent Song of Lamentation which we have beeââsinging Psalm 79. and very appostle and proper for the Case of our Day when the Heathens have entred into onr Sanctuary and laid Jerusalem on Heaps and the Gentiles are treading down our outer Courts And this will always hold true so long as bloody Papists do so much prevail and the Blood of the Lord's Servants that aim at Faithfulness and contends for GOD is shed like water and runs down like a River about our Jerusalem We are become a Reproach to our Neighbours and made a corn and a Derision to them that are round about us And this may be matter of Lamentation to us but if it were only so with us the matter were ãâã But not only we are made a Reproach and a Derision but the Word of GOD and the Cause of CHRIST and the Covenanted Work of Reformation is Reproached and made a Ludâbrium and a Laughing stock to the Heathen round about us To Papists Atheists Prelats and Malignants and Enemies one all hands And when we look on the cruelty of Papists and Malignants and upon our dastardly Yeildings our foolish Yeildings Turn which way we will look before us look behind us look on every hand we see matter of sad Lamentation and lad Significations of the Lord's Displeasure against us And this we must make mention and take notice of when we come before His Presence Who is this day not only a Holy GOD but an Angry GGD who is shâwing His Wraâh in Characters of Blood. Ye may Remember the last time I was in this Country we did hear a very sad Subjâct suitable to Reflect upon Which was our sears did then come upon us and are come upon us since I had News to tell you then and if a right use hath not been made thereof they will be sadder and sadder still We say ãâã ãâã have not been affected rightly and concerned with them but have been âghting and not taking it to heart they will be sadder still Then we were Alarmed with the sad and sudden surprising Report of the Apprehending and taking of two Faithful Servants of JESUS CHRIST who were contending for the Prerogatives of the Prince of the Kings of the Earth and the Concerns of all the Churches and the Depositum of the Church of Scotland who were let fall into the Enemies hands and given up into the Holy all-overruling Providence of GOD to the Power of their murdering Enemies One thereof his Blood has been shed like Water since which make this Song that we have been singing very pertinent and which may make all our Songs Songs of Mourning For his Blood hath a crying Language and I fear that many hath forgotten it that seemed to be affected with it then and many is even despising it But I say that the Blood of that Faithful Servant of JESUS CHRIST Mr. James Renwick hath a Cry to the Hâavens against this Generation And we shall shew some things that is the Language of it For we ought not to forgeâ it for it is precious in the âight of GOD and it ought to to be so in our âight also For if we forget it it will Cry against us as well as others we oâght to enquire into the Language of such a Dispensation for it hath a very loud Cry to opân Ears and wâakened Consciences And First It crys to us That there is a dreadful day comingon this Generation when the Godly man perisheth and when the Righteous and Merciful Men are taken away it is always an Insallible Symptom of Wraâh to come Isa 57. 1. We have all the Sympâoms of approaching Wrath that ever a Generation had for there are many Righteous Men taken away by bloody Violent Men who weâe Righteous in thâir state Righteous in their course and Righteous in their Cause Many also merciful Men are taken away merciful Men who would âain have had the Generation brought off from the evils of the Generation and did spend their time and strength for them that did not pity themselves those were merciful Men and it 's so much the more a Symptom of Wrath that those Tokens are not taken notice of but are despised and made light of and this does speak out a surpâising stroak and the near approach of it when People are crying Peace then behold sudden destruction according 1 Thess 5. 3. And are not the generality crying peace and safety and what may we expect but sudden Destruction For O! it 's an unhappy Peace unhappy it's nature and unhappy in it's effects For it 's peace with the Enemies of God yea we have all the procuâing causes that ever brought down the Wrath of God on any Generation 2dly I 'll tell you what the blood of that Martyr crys and it is this that there is not only Wrath and Anger impendent and hanging over our heads but it is also incumbent and lying on us already and that his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still and it is even against us in particular who are the persecuted party and this calls us to search and try our ways that we may know what it is that the Lord contends with us for And indeed we may find in a very slight and overly search and enquiry many procuring causes of it on our part O it says we have slighted many Warnings The Lord hath been sending his Servants rising up âaily and sending them and many of them have spent their blood and for the most part it seems to have been in vain as to us he hath sent one still after another but we dâd not receive thâir Message as we should havâ dâne and we may fear that he will cease to contend any more with us but will say to us they are joined to their Idols let them alone For many to this day have discoveâed a greaâ deal of their incorrigiblâness as the Lord before the Flood gave Warning to the Old World by the Preaching of Nâah He set a day to their Repentance One Hundred and Twenty Years and after that they should get no more time to repent It câmâs to this at lengâh that he says I will no more strive with them I 'll say no more to them let them
not away in their iniquities and it seems to say this that the Lord hath set a Day to Scotland's Râpentance and I ãâã it be ãâã than many are looking for The Lord is even saying They shall have that time and no longeâ Hâ hath suffered long but now he is wâaââed with Repenting Theââfore the tâme is coming that he will say to Scotland as he said to these in the 15 of Jer. 1 and 2 Verses such as are for Death to Death and such as are for the Sword to the Sword and such as are for the Famine to the Famine and such as are for the Captivity to the Captivity and these that are for Massacres to Mâssacres and these that are for Martyrdom to Martyrdom But I fear there shall be but few that shall be honoured with Martyâdom O! It says We have undervalued his Message and Mâssenger and the Lord would not always let him be contemned but he hath been provoked to take away Message and Messenger and altogether Thirdly As it Câyes for Vengeance against all these that have had any Accession to the shedding of it diââctly or indirectly So iâ hath another Cry and they are Dâââ and Dâad that wâll not take notice of it and ãâã it And it 's this That those who are now speaking so fair to this Generation they have Murder in their hearts And it proclaims thâ Cruelây of Bloody Papâsts who had âhe chiefest hand in it And that tho many be crying up the Clemency of the Tyrant on the Throne yet it says we have to do with Men that have Murder in their Hearts altho they be now speaking fair âleechingly and Flatteringly to this Generation Yet when they speak fair believe them not for there are seven Abominations in their Hearts Tho' many be crying up the Leuity of the Mutdering Enemies The Lord was pleased to Alarm us with this Dispensation though to us very costly Which sayes that they have not changed their Nature they have the same Nature still they have the same end and Design still though they have changed their Methods and Measures a little yet wherever they find any Asserting the Testimony of the day their Rage and Fury is as great against them as ever And it says it is no time now to fall Asleep and to cry peace and Safety For the Lord is calling us to awaken and when the Lyon Roars who will not fear and when the Lord God hath spoken who can but Pâophesie But we by this paâticular see that we have to do with Bloody Papistâ altho' they be now speaking fair alter all the Blood they have shed both on Fieâds and on Scaffolds and in the Seas yet they have the same Nature still they ãâ¦ã same Captain and they are Prosecuting the same Waâ still against the Prince of the Kings of the Earth The Dragân and his Angels is maââging and carrying on the same War still against Michael and his Angâls that he did formeâly though he had chauged his Method a little O Scotland who hath bewitched you have you not had the Experiânce of the Dreadfulness of the Treâchery and Cruelty of Papists before and will ye believe them at their fiâst Word Especially with a Tolleration when the most part of the Pâotestant Churches of Europe have had a Tast of their Falshood and have been Cheated by such a method Was not the Protestants in France Cheated by such a Tolleration granted to them by the Tyrant there which when he saw sit he took away and made them either to Renounce and Abjure their Religion or then endure great Sufferings Was not the Protestants in the Value of Piâdmont Ruined by making Peace and Consederacy with the Duke of Savoy And will nothing awaken us O poor Scotland awaken ye and âeep not now in Peace and Ease for you have to do with those that are intending nothing but Massacres nothing but the Subversion of Religion and the utter Ruine and Overthrow of the Coveâanted Reformation and all that adhere to it And they arâ beguiled that thought the Devil was grown better in his Old Age For many thought so to speak that the Devil and Antichrist were grown better iâ their Old Age by granting this Toleration Therefore hath the Lord Allarmed us by this Dispensation He would take one of his Jewels and let him fall into their Hands and suffer them to discover their Bloodiness upon him and thereby let us see whom we have to do with It hath this Language with it and wo to them that will not hear it Fourthly It hath another Cry for as little as ye may think of it Yet it hath this Language with it that there is a very sad Defection this day and that there are few Valiant for the Truth upon the Earth We may say as Jeremiah says Chap. 9 He Complains sadly in such a Case and says Oh! that my head were Waters and mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might Weep day and Night for the Slain of the Daughter of my People Oh! that I had in the Wilderness a lodging-place of way faring-men that I might leave my People and go from them For they be all Adulterers an Assembly of Treacherous men And they Bend their Tongues like their Bows for Lies But they are not Valiant for the Truth upon the Earth What way does it sigâifie this ye'll say Then I 'll tell You none can be Valiant for the Truth upon the Earth and Faithful for Christ but he will be exposed to the Cruelty and Rage of His Bloodies Antichristian Enemies it hath been so always and will be so For Michael and the Dragon are two Parties and there must be a War kept up by all the Lord 's Called and Chosen and Faithful against the Dragon and Antichrist without any Cessation Truce or Transaction with them And if any will discover any measure of Valiantness for the Cause or will be Zealous for Christ then he must expâct for the Fury of all the World. He may look for the Rage of the Devil and of Antichrist of Papists Prelats and Malignants to be against him For where Satan hath his Seat on the Throne of the Kingdom the poor Antipas must sâffer Martyrdom Rev. 2 14. I say it speaks out much Desection when those that pretend to be for the Truth on the Earth and those that should contend for the Truth gets leave to enjoy all their Liberties from Enemies For it cannot be neither was it ever seen but all that were Valiant for the Truth and Zealous for the Cause of Christ but they had all the Enemies of Truth upon their Top. And these that now have peace it says they are not so now for the Covenants are not only broken and burnt but Declared Criminal to be owned and the Covenanted Reformation like to be Ruined and razed And when there is so much peace with Antichrist it is a Wrath-prefaging thing a Wrath procuring thing And his Blood crys for Vengeance
Faithful in Witnâssing for Truâh but they must wrestle with Gâd as well as for God and their Wiânâss must be as publick as can be fâr the expressions of seeking the truth and mâking up the Hedâe does import iâ seeing these cannot be done buâ in a publick manner But alas There is nâne found this day to stand in the Gap and to plead with their Mother thaâ she should put away her Whoredome and Defections yet it is the only way to turn away Wrath for all that Hoâea 2. 2. Ala We have few in Scotland this day to Wresâle Mourn and Plead And yet every Rebellion that it done against Gâd when we do not declare against it we declare our selves guilty of concealing Treason Secondly Against whom should we Witness against all Great or Sin âll they must not Spare tâem when they Sin eiâher ãâã Fear or Favâur So we find Samuel here did Witness against Saul and Nathan the Prophet did Witness against David Hanani the Seir against Assa and against Jâhâshaphat So we find ââaiah did Witness agâinst Hezekiah Elijah against Jerobeam and Elijah against Achab. Yea many times these Examples has been âdâuced to us to Witness against all Sins be ãâ¦ã it will Especially Mânisters shâuld preach against the sins of Tyrants Our ancient Reâââmers at the beginning or the Reformation made use of the freedom and faithfulness of the Prophets in reproving the sins of the King of Judah and Israel to prove the lawfulnâss of what they did in reproving the sins of the Great Folk in their time And some of tâen took the Freedâm to say there is many Folk now a days that wiâl hâve no other Religion than the Queens and the Queen wiâl have no oâher Religion than the Cardinals and the Cardinal wiâl have no other Religion than the ãâã and the Pâpe will have no other Religion than what pleases the Dâviâ And so it may be said of many in our dây Many will have no other Minister but such as pleases the King the King does nâthing but that pleases the Pope the Pope dâes nothing but what pleases the Devil And look Ye and see what sort of Preaching that must be then Have ye not a brave Tolleration of it then For upon these Terms was it given That Ministers should preach nothing that war Seâitââus âr Treasonable or might any way tend to alâenat the hearts of the People from the King and his Government And what is that But that they shâuld preach nothing against the sins of the Time nothing of the Tyrannie of the Time nâthing against that Absâlute Power he hath arrogated nothing of the Incoming of Pâpery at the Gate and Gap of this Tolleration nor of the Snares of the Times not what was the People's Duty in such a Case for that would be Seditââus by the King the Pope And christ and the Devil And alas it is sad ãâ¦ã that this Toleration is complyed with and that the Freedom and Faithfulness that shouâd be used in these things is forborn by the Ministers that Preaches in the Meeting Houses for this pleases the King and the Pope and the Devil well Thirdly When is the time that Ministers should be thus Free Faithful and Publick to Witness against publick sins Samuel took a very fit time to reprove and convince Saul just after the committing of the sin And if ever there was a time to Witness against publick Sins this is it But in Answer to this I shall shew you from Scripture when is the time and Season of giving a publick Witness and Testimony for Truth and against Sin. As first when Enemies are relenting a little from thâir Cruâlty former Rage and Fury against the Lord's People yields somewhat and offers Liberty upon easier Terms than before when they are very accommodating and yielding then that is the verâ Season of a Testimony for Truth without yeilding in the least to them Thus it was with Pharaoh he was very stubborn at first but after that he had keeped the Children of ârael long in âond he yields much and grants to let them go upon condition that they would let him but keep some of the Sheep but Moses thought this a fit time of giving a Testimony he would not yeild to Pharaoh in this not a Hoof says Moses shall be left behind us and we should all be Slaves this Hundred Years Nây though we should never be delivered The Tyrant upon the Throte hath somewhat relented of his former Fury he hath yeilded somewhat and offers Accommodation with the Lord's People but yet upon cânditionâ Destructive to the cause of Christ Then now is a time of giving a Testimony declaring thââ we will not quite one Hâof of Truth nor yeild to him in the feast So when ever Enemies will be pleased with less than formerly that is the time to testifie against Sin. Secondly When ever there is a Toleratiân granted when Idolatry and Iââlaters is Tollerated as in Judâes 20. The Children ãâ¦ã to the Cananites there came an Angel of the Lord to wit a Prâphet and testified against thâm And Soul hâre had given a Toleration to Agag by sparing of his Life Samâââ testified against him and tâld him that he was but a Rebel to ãâã for the doing if itâ ãâã when ãâã gave a Toleratiân to ãâã he called him his Brother and ãâã his Life there comes a Prâphet ãâã the Lord and reproveâ him 1 Kings â0 and says Thy Life shall go ãâã his Life and ãâã People ãâ¦ã As also when Ahâz toâk a Toleration from the Aâsyrious and entered into ãâã Assâciâtion and Confederacy with Tiglath Pelezar King âf ãâã the Prophet ãâã thought this the Season of giving a Testimony Chap 8 12 Saâ ye ãâã a Conâederacy to all them to whom this People shall say a Cânâederacy And is not nâw Idolatry and Idolaters Tollerated is not Papists and Quakers Tolerated Then this is the time of giving a Testimony for Truth and against every thing contrarâ to it Then Thirdly When People are halting between two Opinions then is the time of giving a Testimony as Elijah the Prophet did 1 Kings 18. When the Children of Israel were halting between two Opinions he shewed himself to Achab who has sâught his Life many a day before And at this time many People are halting between twâ Opinions for some will go to the Curats one day and to the Tolerated Meetings another and come to the Field Meetings the Third then this is the time of giving a Testimony For we must tell you not to halt between two Opinions and as Elijah said to them if the Lord be God follow Him but if Beal then follow Him So we say unto you if ye be for God then avouch it and of you be for Antichrist then be for Antichrist it is no time now to keep Peace both with CHRIST and Antichrist for it is a thing impâssible Fourthly When the wicked are very high in Power as Hâman in the Days of
Mordecal then is the time of giving a Testimony as we see Mordeeââ did he would not Reverence him nor reveal his Cap to him though his Life should have gone for it and the Life of all the Jews So now is not now the Papists high in Pâwer Hosea 8 1 Set ye the Trumpet to thy mouth and what shall he sound when he hath it there Even this among these things Verse 4. They have set up Kings but not by me They have set up a Popish Tyrant upon the Throne of Britain for which the Wrath of God shall come on this Land. When Enemies are come to a great height of Heaven daring Wickedness is it not then a time for Ministers to preach freely against them To set the Trumpet to their mouth and give a certain sound O it was the Duty of all the Ministers in Scotland when ever this Popish Tyrant mounted the Throne to have set the Trumpet to their Mouth and sounded an Alarm and to have given the People Warning of the great danger they were in thereby they should have told them they have set up a Tyrant yonder upon the Throne of Britain and Ireland who is seeking to Subvert and overturn Religion and all the Liberties of Mankind and he hath now arrogate to himself an absolute Power whereby he may do what he pleases O therefore have a care of your selves have nothing ado with him make no Bargain or Transaction with them Fifthly When the Servants of God are in hazard to be destroyed for the Testimony and are to be massacred and murdered by Cruel bloody Enemies then is the Season of a Testimony and appearing publickly to tell the People the hazard in ordeâ to the preventing of the same as we see in the case of Mordâcai and Esther when the Jews were in hazard to be massacred and murdered And now are we not all as really in hazard to be massacred and murdered as ever the Jews were For it is well known that the Papists have as great hatred at aâl Preâbyterians as they had at the Jews and is not this the time of giving a Testimâny against them Alas it is sad to see many at peace with Papists and like to live in Neighbourhâod with them But I must tell you it there is not a Man this day in Scotland at Peace with Papists but he is a Râbel to Christ For if he were faithful to Christ then he miâht expâct to have Satan and all his Instruments on his top Sixthly The time ãâã Defectiân especially the time of Defections of Ministers is the season of giving a publick Testimony so Truth against them as we see in the 13 of Ezek 2 verse He it bidden Prophesie against the Prophets and also he is bidden tell them they are but Daubers and that the Wall should âall which they had daubed with untempered Mortar and we have also this to mâkâ the Sââsânâfâ a publick Testimony for truth and we shâuld look upân the havinâ of it as matter of Sorrow and Lamentation But alas hath not many Mâââsters this day gâne on in sad stâps of Deâection are they not daubing with Vntempered Mortar This shâuld be told them that they are unfaithful to Christ in doing such things and that by their so doing that they bring not only the Wrath of GOD upon themselves but upon the whâle Land. Seventhly When the Testimony is discharged and Duty interdicted by Law then is the very Season for a Testimony for it As in Daniel's time when Prayers were interdicted by Law he would prââ then as well as ever though he was a very wise man and no Pharisee yet he not only disobeyed the wicked Law but he wouâd let his Enemies know it that he did not âbey it by opening his windows And have we not this also to make this the very season of a Testimony for truâh and against enemies when the Covenants are not only broken and burnt but declared Criminal to be owned and this makes it the very time of declaring publickly the Obligaâion thereof upân us and our Adherence thereunto Likewise is not Field-Meetings which the LORD many times signally countenanced strictly interdicted by a wicked Law and dischaâged under pain of Death and this makes it to be an inavoidable Testimony to keep them up ãâã bloud shâuld be mingled with our Sacrâfice Now by these things may we not see when âhe Seâson is for giving a publick Testimony for Truth and against the Enemies thereâf And ãâã have all these concurâing in our Câse which makes the giving of a publick Testimonie for Truth and against in Enemies an indispensible Duty For in our Case the Object is âeat Now âhen the Prerogatives of CHRIST Who is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth is usuâped by this Absolute Power which the Tyrant upon the Throne this Vâsseâ ãâã Antichrist hath blasphemously arrogated to himself When this Popish Tyrant claim this absolute Power to himself and when the Privileges of the Church and Liberties of Mankind is encroached upon by this Monster and when the Wrath of God is burning against the Generation ãâ¦ã then to keep silence O who caâ hold his Peace The Lyon hath Roared who can but ãâã There is none can hold their Tongue that hath any Zeal for the Gâd of Israel No he they cannot Secondly The second thing to be considered is Saul's accâsting of Samuel when they were met Saul took the first word for he had an ill Conscience in this There is these two things First ãâã flattering Complement just like the Flatterers in our day Secondly A flauoring Profession First then There is here a flattering Complement and Saul said unto him Blessed be thou of the Lord O Terrible this was a taking of the Lords Name ãâã vain Hence we observe That Hâpocritical Enemies of God are sometimes very free of their Complements and oftimes are very ready to bleâs as Saul was here but their Blessing had better been wanting for they are noâhing worth We find this Expression very frequent blessed be thou of the Lord As First When any body gives them any thing then they will get their Blessing for it as we see Micahâs Mother did when he told her that he had the eleven hundred Shekels of Silver about which she had cursed and she said Blâssed be thou of the Lord my Son Judges 17 2. So if any Body will give the Enemies any thing they may expect their Blessing but they will not be much the Richer of it when they have gotten it Secondly When any Body makes any Address to them or help them to do an âll Turn then they will get their Blessing for iâ As when the Ziphâtes these Intelligencers came and told Saul where David was and Saul said Blâssed be ye of the Lordâ as if he had said Blessed be ye of the Lord for ye are âoyal Subjects seing ye câme to tell me where my Enemie David hâunâs bleââed be ye Thirdlie When such an Occasiân
justifie a bad Action If we should spear at some Ministers wherefore bowed ye to the Supremacy wherefore accepted ye the Indulgence It was âo get liberty to Preâch the Gospel say they Wherefore did ye accept this Toleration They will Answer it was to Preach the Gospel that we did it and it was the Salvation oâ Souls that we intended thâreby and is not that a very good end Poor Man has thy Preaching no other end but the Salvation of Souls Ay ay ye think ye have a brave Pleâ of it but remember though it be the indispensible Duty of Ministers to Preach the Gospel yet to accept of a Liberty to preach the Gospel no way which encroaches upon and wrongs the Prerogatives of the great King and head of the Church is a sin though their end be good in accepting the same Where is thy Obedience Man For Obedience is better than Sacrifice Constancy and Faithfulness in the Matters of God is called for at Ministers hands The conversion and edification of Souls is indeed the great end of pâeacâing the Gospel but that is not all it is but the one half of the end of it There is also the Glory of Christ He must and will be Gloâified whether Souls get good by iâ or no For the Preaching of the Gospel is not only the Testimony of Christ but the Testimony for Christ Ministers must obey all Christs Commands For what cares the Lord for thy Sacrifice or thee either that thou has gottâ from the Aâââlekites For the preâching of the Gospel by accepting and improving of the Liberty granted by this Toleration is not a Testimony for Christ seing it so wroâgs and ãâã upon the Prerogatives of Christ And it is no less than presumption for any to expect the Lord's presence at any of the Tolerated Meetings For they have not a promise for iâ ãâã ãâ¦ã And now ââough we suffer under their Hânds for this we have nothing to say ouââdore the Righteousness of the LORD therein Thirdly Another Aggravation of Saul's Sin was a disobeying a perâmptor Commission which he got to go and destâoy the Amalekites beside what the Children of ãâã goâ in commandment from the Lord to blot out the remembrance of them from under Heââân Deut. 25 17. âaul got a particular Commiâââon to go and destroy them all and to have nothing âo do with theâ The Lord hath told us and we are commânded perempâorly not to meddle with his Enemies and to have a ãâã not to ãâ¦ã It is utterly unlawful in matters of Religion to tamper with the Eâemies of God and yet for all this we cannot forbear to take and give with them out Fathers ãâã with them when they fell upon these Resoluââons and all alongst ãâã our âampering with them ãâã destroyed us and we conâinue this day to run ouâ Heads against the Bosses of ãâã 's Backâers and on these Rocks on which the People of God have perished formerly Then in the lâât pââce the Propheââ convincâng him of his sin Wherefore ãâã thou not Obey the Voice of the LORâ And here the Proâhet ãâã iâ Rebellion Hence we Note that all Rebellions in the World Rebellion against GOD is the greatest and of all Rebellions in the World the Rebellion of a King against GOD is the greatest For it is called here as the sin of Witchcraft The Brutishness of the Enemies appeared much in using this Argument that Rebellion was is the sin of ãâã against some of the Prisoners taken at Pentland but some of them ânswered very pertinently which was to this purpose that the Rebellioâ there spoken of was not the Rebellion of a People against a King But the Rebellion of a King against GOD and this was Sauls sin It iâ true to Rebell against Lawfull Mââistrates that are Ordained of GOD ãâ¦ã sin but it is no Rebellion to ãâ¦ã But now what is this Rebellion There ãâã several things in Scripture called Rebellion against GOD. I shall mentâon these five or six of them First Murmuring against the LORD is called ãâ¦ã Numb 14 9. O there hath been much sed Murmuring in ouâ days many of us hath murmured in the Wilderness We have ãâã against him And it is to be feared that many of uâ shall die in Ordinances appointed by Him ãâã His word Josh 22 19. But ãâã not against the Lord nor against us in building you an Altar ãâã the Altar of the Lord our God. Alas ãâã hâth been much of this Rebellion in Scotland setting up Worship not according to his ãâã Inveâting preverting and corrupââng the Worship of GOD Hence conformity with Prelacy ãâã Rebellion against God For he never appoint ãâã Lord his ãâ¦ã Word It is none of his Ordinances Hence this Antichristian Toleration is ãâã against GOD There is no Warrant for it in his Word The ãâ¦ã of this Toleration whereby the power which the ãâã claims in ãâ¦ã is Recogâosââ the Evils in it in âffect justified and not witnessed agâinst and the wicked Design of its gâânting strengthened is Rebellion against GOD and this Toleration is a ãâ¦ã against GOD The Clâiming an Absolute power which is the prerogative of God O such a dreadful day ãâã coming upon him and all that take part with him Thirdly ãâã iâ called Rebelliân against GOD Isa 1 2 O there hath been much ãâ¦ã and Ways in Scotland There is a great Backsliding from Prâctice Princâples ãâ¦ã it was always the Pâââciple of the Church oâ Scotland to oppose Tyranny and ãâ¦ã the Doctrine of the Church of Scotland to be against a Toleration It was their conââant Principles neither âo give Toleration to Papists noâ take ãâã from Papists But O there is a great Backsliding from former Fâithfulness and from former Love and Zeâl Fourthly Obstinary and âeâusing to hearken to the Coââandments of the Lord and to turn again unto Him is ãâã Rebellion Ezek. 20 â Dan. 9. 5. O there hath been much Rebellion in Scotlands Fifthly Confederacy and Asâociation with the Enemies of GOD it called Religion agâinst Him Hosea 7. 14. And they Rebelled against ME. And one of the ways whereby they Rebelled against ãâ¦ã calling to Egâââ and going to Assyria ãâ¦ã 11. they were going back to Egypt to geâ help from them that was in Conâedeâââââ and making ãâã with them O there is much of this Rebellion in Scotland many âre saying a Confederâcy with enemies and are at Peace with them and this Rebellion is the sin and shame and the Judgment of Backsliding Scotland And wâ to âll them that have any âccession to this dreadful Confederacy I shall say no more at this time The LORD Himself give you to consider what is said Amen