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with patience, and is approved by the Lord; who, foever pretends to thefe offices is to be proved a liar by the fervants of the Lord, if he is not.

Nor are we to cease plowing and sowing as the Lord's labourers, on account of the various winds of error; nor be difcouraged at it by feigned pretenders to candour, nor by the clouds of falfe witneffes. In the morning fow thy feed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand. He that obferveth the wind fhall not fow, and he that regardeth the clouds (of falfe witneffes) shall not reap, Ecclef. ii. 4.

Thofe that fin openly are to be rebuked before all, that others may fear; and in this work we are to continue, whatever we may fuffer in it: Preach the word, be inftant in feafon and out of feafon; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long fuffering and doctrine: For the time will come when they will not endure found doctrine, 2 Tim. iv. 2, 3.

The fervant of the Lord has need of patience, and ought to pray for it, for the good of his own foul; for 'tis faith that worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and he had need of it in exercise daily, that after he has done the will of God, he may inherit the blessing; which will is, to try them that fay they are apostles, and to prove them liars if they are not; to separate the vile from the precious; to stop the mouths of gainSayers; to oppofe, and not fuffer a woman to teach, nor ufurp authority over the man; to oppose errors, and the vain janglings of those that defire to be

teachers

teachers of the law; to fight against them that creep into boufes, and lead captive filly women; and to have nothing to do with those that are beady - and bigbminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God: A fervant of the Lord is to purge himself from thefe, that he may be a veffel unto honour, prepared unto every good work.

The fervant of the Lord in his military character, as a good foldier of Jefus Chrift, has need of patience; foldiers, in the literal fense, are a very unwelcome gueft to many, especially to innkeepers; every upftart landlady, every bar-maid, and draggle-tailed girl that attends the tap, will flout and boot at a foldier; and fo a good foldier of Jefus Christ often finds it. Jezabel kills all that fhe could, and drives an hundred more into a cave, and then pursued one of the best men that ever lived, namely, Elijah; and fwears to kill the defence of the nation, even the chariot of Ifrael and the horsemen thereof.

Not only Jezabel destroys them, but Herodias counfels her daughter to get the invaluable prize of a prophet's head, as a reward for her dancing; as if nothing but the blood of one of the greatest prophets that ever was born of woman could pay the demands of a dancing-mifs; thus have the good foldiers of Jesus Christ suffered by old wives, barlots, and dancing girls.

Mofes, who was faithful in all God's houfe, had no small trouble from this quarter: We read of

Miriam's

Miriam's taking a timbrel in her hand, and going before the women, and leading on the musick and the dancing, and ordering her female attendance to fing to the Lord, because he had triumphed gloriously, Exod. xv. 20, 21. but foon after she oppofes Mofes, and wants to be a mediator and a law-giver; and Miriam and Aaron Spake against Mofes; Miriam firft, and Aaron afterwards; she had engaged the high priest in her confpiracy: And they faid, bath the Lord indeed spoken only by Mofes ? bath he not spoken alfo by us? and the Lord heard it, Num. xii. 1, 2. Now the man Mofes was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth, Num. xii. 3. yet his meekness or candour did not skreen him from the fccurge of women's tongues. Therefore God comes down to stop this rebellious female teacher: And the Lord Spake fuddenly unto Mofes, Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation; and be called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth, Num. xii. 4, 5. and be faid, bear now my words; if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream; my fervant Mofes is not fo, who is faithful in all mine house; with him will 1 Speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark Speeches; wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my fervant Mofes, Num. xii. 7, 8. and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed; and the cloud departed from off the tabernacle, and behold Miriam became leprous, white as fnow. And Aaron

faid unto Mofes, Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not the fin upon us wherein we have done foolifbly, and wherein we have finned; let her not be as one dead, Num. xii. 10, 11, 12. And Mofes (who was not deftitute of candour) cryed unto the Lord, faying, heal her now, O God I beseech thee; and the Lord faid unto Mofes, if her father had fpit in her face, fhould fhe not be ashamed feven days; how much more for spitting in the face of her Maker, and rebelling against the prophet and mediator that God had appointed?-Let ber be shut out of the camp feven days, Num. xii. 12, 13, 14.

Miriam was not like Deborah the prophetess; when he had received a meffage from the Lord, fhe tells Barak of it privately, after she had fent and called him; and when Barak declared that he would not go unless she went with him, fhe rebukes him, and tells him if he wants a woman's aid to defend him, a woman shall take the glory of the victory from him: And Barak faid unto her, If thou wilt go with me then I will go; but if thou will not go with me, then I will not go: And she faid, I will furely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine bonour ; for the Lord fall fell Sifera into the hands of a woman, Judges iv. 8, 9. Here is a woman that is called a prophetefs; one to whom a meffage from heaven came; yet he did not turn her divine meffage into a twopenny Squib, in order to fire it off against the Lord's minifters at the door of the fynagogues when the people were going to

worship.

worship. She received her meffage from God to Barak, and to him the delivered it; and when he called for her help, fhe predicted the lofs of his honour.

And this I will be bold to affirm, that if I have written falfehood-if I am in errors-if my doctrine makes void the law-if I be an Antinomian, and influenced by a bad or by a party fpirit-if I am of a blood-thirsty difpofition-if influenced with rancour, fpleen, and bitternessif deftitute of meeknefs and candour, and too big by one-half-then it may be depended upon that the conduct of the prefent combination has been confiftent with the will of God; and that our prefent prophetess, who has made fo free with me, my office, my doctrines, and my ftature, in my pretenfions to excell, has done right; and that God will fhew his approbation, and bear his comfortable teftimony to them, and incline his faints to justify his proceeding in and by them all. But if, on the other hand, I am a child of his, and am called by him to the ministry, and am doing his work instead of deceiving the people or dividing them by a bad fpirit of fpleen and bitterness, then I fay God shall fhew me a token for good, and that others that hate me fhall fee it; and thofe of the combination who have flandered me, reproached me, and injured me, together with the present prophetess that has made fo free with my miniftry, shall fenfibly meet with the vifible disapprobation of God; and it fhall be made known in as plain a manner as the approbation of God to Abel

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