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hitdfed are opprvsaed. These threefold labour* of Icpte, I commend unto you in tlie Lord» with all prayer and dilif^nce and perseverance, to be endofwl against misconstruction, ridicule, peraccutien;ind contempt ; and 1 trust this Society will contimie to shew ittelf the most forward in maintaining the UDcquiTucal principle, thai it is ruligtcos igtiorance andrdigiousemirwhicb they nghtagaiiutt, and that they hope no reformation to be of any value which doth not acknowledjifc God as ita beginning, and thesaivationofthc8cul3ofmeRaj»iuend. Andnow; with one word of apologyfor myself, and encourage* 1251 iRELA.vu's tvfL covmrio!^. [Dii, ment to my fcUow-laboarerfi in this ministry, close my labour^ conMgning them to the bicsra of Almighty God. ' I am not ash&med nor afniid to speftk fhtni^: not aKh»meti, becauHe they convent wit the word of God and ^ouod reason, as 1 have shewn yoa at lar^ in the body of this discourse not afraid, because 1 am a minister of God' word, appointed of the church to declare the whole truth thereof. And, therefore, now that we ate t^tering upon our 3|>iiitual fea^it, a« it were the PoatL-cost of the cliurcli, when all the tribes do gather up to this city of our Zion, I do exhort every minister who now hcarclh mc, to be in like manner faithful and botd, and to assert the freedom ofhU office to declare unto all manner of societies, and in ail manner of congregations, the whole mind of the Lord concerning that which iit for the ji^ood of hi» church. I^i the mouth of the prophet be unmuzzled, let bis tongue be un^ shackled; let his heart know in what he has be* licved, nnd let his mouth declare it. Wait not for the smiles of approving dignitaries, nor the applauses of approving people; but wait for the Spirit, and expect that Spirit, whom Christ hath pronounced to be with us, and to be unto us for a mouth and wisdom. The time is short, the visible church is fast falling into apostasy of one kind or another- The dry-rot of in6delity, the rage of ^iectarianism, the decay of faith, the palsy of expediency, the vile leprosy of a reli- gious world, are all in active operation under Satan's oainistry ; and what is there to oppose her withal but the incorruptible wi>rtl of truth from Christ's ministers^ It doth not become you to Vlt.] mSLAND'a EVIL COUDITIOM, I2&3 float yrith the stream : yours ieto gland upon the rock, and observe how the currents of the people set, and to give tbcro w&miDg. You are not fttithful to the people when you go as they bid. They ought to go as you bid ; and i