2á9 MEMOIRS OF PERIOD X. Lord, endeavouring to . renew my repentance, and my- covenant with the Lord. I had now, lince the fynod or affembly, loft all . heart and hand as to proceeding in the fermons defgned for the prefs ; and having fìnifhed the fúbjeelsof the !fates of innocence and nature, had laid the projeátafide. But this day the inclina tion to go on with that work returned with that, that now I fáw I behoved to be a fool for Chrift in the matter of the oath, and fo I might be in the matter of they fermons too. And withal, whereas .I had foreféen a_peculiar difficulty as to the managing of the fermons on the fate of grace, it was given me to fee how to get over that difficulty, and that by calling my thoughts into a íhorter and more natural method than before;, which never came into my head before that day, 11,017. PERIOD X. u..1/ 7-öl From he oath of abjuration refuted, f till the tranfportation to. Clofebi&rn refuted by the comnfftion. ON the following Sabbath, being Nov. 2. I did, under a, great preffure, from th/i confiderátion of the éverity of the law upon the one hand, and the temper of the parifh upon the other; enter again on my work, at my peril. What I faid by way of preface that day, is alfo to -be found in the notes afore- faid after which I went on as before, proceeding on the fame text in my ordinary, Phil. iii. And I blefs the Lord, who gave The cóunfel, not to intermit the exercifeof my miniftry for ever fo short a time, on that trying occafion. According to what befel me on the 28th of ®sober, with " Thepreface here referred to is as follows. "The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he know,eth, and Ifreel he lhall know, if it be in rebellion againft the government that I appear here thisday, to preach unto you the gofpel of Chrift. Contempt of magiftrates, and of their laws, is no part of my religion : but it lies upon my confcience to cleave to the laws of my Lord and .Idafter jefus Chrift,the only king head of his church ; from. whom I have received the office of the miniftry, by the hands of church-officers, and not by the handof the. magiftrate ; even when thefe laws of his are croffedand contradicted by the laws of men,'2 Tim. iv. I, 2. ` 'he magiftrate has the fame power over minifters perfons and goods, as, over otherniens ; and if he ábufe it, it is his fin. But hehas no power over our office.: he has no'power to deprive the minifters of the gofpel of their minifterial . office, nor yet of the exercife ofit formally and directly. For the kingdomof Chrift i$ : a kingdom within a kingdom ; a fpiritual kingdom, diffinff from and independent on the magiftrate. I have now ferved the Lod in this work of the miniftry thirteen years : and though he needs none of my fervice, and his work might be well done without me ; yet feeing he . has not difcharged me, I muff fay, as the ferrant under the law, " I love my mailer," and my children whom I have begotten in the gofpel, or nourishedup; and I defire not to go out, and would he content my ear were bored through with an awl toferve him for ever.. Our Lordhas given us a plain and pofitive allowance, " When they perfecute you inone. city, flee unto another." I cannot reckon this perfecution to be begun yet : therefore I muff work the work of him that Lent me, while it is called to-day, not knowing how foon the violence of our enemies may brim on the night. What I defire of you is, that as the Ifraelites of old were to eat the aifover,.you will eat your fpiritual food, in hafte, not knowing howfoon your table may e drawn. Let us thengo on as.formerly."
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