point at once, by telling me the soul of man was a thinking being, and the Spirit of God was that spirit which judged favourably of all; and real religion was to think and let think.

After a warm conversation we parted; and I began to consider this wonderful religion, and the spirit of it; and thought, if free-thinking would carry souls to heaven, there are as many ways thither as there are carnal men on earth. However, the Bible soon shewed me the religion of freethinkers. The Saviour asked his followers, and others, what they thought of Christ: and they, as all free-thinkers do, varied much in their thoughts; some said he was John the Baptist, others thought he was Elias, others one of the old prophets; some thought he was a good man, others said, Nay; some thought he was a deceiver, and some said he was a wine-bibber; others that he was an enemy to Cæsar; others said he was Beelzebub; and some few said he was the Christ of God. And so it is now.

The Arminian thinks he is a changeable being; others think he is an angel of the highest order; the Turk thinks he is a footstool; the Jew thinks he is an impostor; the Arian thinks he is a creature, and the Deist thinks he is nothing. However, he must reign till all his enemies be made his footstool; and he who made them at first shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be still, and know that he is God; he will be exalted in earth; therefore kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the right

way, which you certainly will if his wrath be kindled, yea but a little, Psalm ii. 12.

But what has free-thinking to do with the religion of Jesus Christ? I answer, just as much as the pope has with the keys of heaven, and no more; for "the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain." Therefore let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts, Isaiah lv. 7; and, if he does not, the gospel has done nothing for him; for it furnishes a minister, not with the feeble weapon of purblind reason, but with the gifts and graces of God's Spirit, which are "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience [the obedience of the elect,] is fulfilled."

If free-thinking be the religion of Jesus, what need is there of taking men's thoughts prisoners? But this religion has nothing to do with the religion of Christ Jesus, nor has the spirit of Universal Charity, which shews such malice against God's elect in the behalf of rebels, any thing to do with the Holy Ghost. The God of heaven, and the god of this world, are two masters; and ye must love and serve the one, and hate the other, Matt. vi. 24. Christ and Belial are divided, and must be kept apart by every minister, 2 Cor. vi. 15; the

mystery of godliness, 1 Tim. iii. 16, and the mys tery of iniquity are two opposite mysteries, 2 Thess. ii. 7; the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, 1 John iv. 6, are likewise divided. A throne of iniquity must have no fellowship with God, nor those who frame mischief by a law, Psalm xciv. 20; the tribes of spiritual Israel, Rev. vii. 4, and the tribes of the earth, are two distinct tribes, Matt. xxiv. 30; the righteous nation that keeps the truth, Isaiah xxvi. 2, and a nation against which God has indignation for ever, Mal. i. 4, are two nations, and must be so called.

The Lord's generation is one family, Psalm xxii. 30, but the generation of vipers is another, Matt. xxiii. 33; a believer and an infidel are not to have one part, their portions differ much; the eternal God has drawn a straight line, and every man's portion falls to him by line. "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places," says David, " yea I have a goodly heritage." It was fore-appointed for him, 1Thess. v. 9. And a wicked man's heritage, or portion, comes from God's fore-appointment also.

"This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God," Job xx. 29. If a man receive righteousness from the God of his salvation, it is God's line that has reached to him, Isaiah xxxiv. 17; and, if mercy and peace are upon him, he is an Israelite indeed, and enjoys his blessings only while he walks by God's rule, Gal. vi. 16; and wo be to that man who breaks through God's bounds, Exod. xix. 21;

removes his line, Psalm xix. 4; or puts a crook in his rule, Philip. iii. 16. It is true, we have some who regard neither God's bounds, lines, rules, nor hedges; but those who break through shall find the infernal serpent bite them, Eccles. x. 8.

However, Universal Charity has gone great lengths in this work; she has presumed to couple Jehovah and Jove together in Pope's Universal Prayer; the saint and the savage are set on a level also. Others, armed with the iron breastplate of a seared conscience, are fighting against the most essential truth of the Bible; and, by the dint of magic art, explaining away the sense of others, to make them comport with carnal reason, Isaiah xli. 21. Others are counterfeiting the Holy Ghost's secret flame of love to God and his chosen, under the name of Universal Charity; and by this means endeavouring to unite the world and the church together; though God says, "Come out from among

them, and be ye separate."

Persecution is a bar fixed by God, to keep the

vile from the precious.

"Ye shall be hated of all

men for my name's sake."

And it is "because I

Election and

have chosen you out of the world." reprobation are God's two mountains of brass. Zech. vi. 1. The chariot of salvation, with its white horses, Zech. vi. 3; Hab. iii. 8, came forth from between them, Zech. vi. 1, even from everlasting, as her being paved with everlasting love doth witness, Cant. iii. 10; Jer. xxxi. 3. The Saviour from everlasting mounted this chariot; and,

with his sword girt on his thigh, he rides on prosperously to dispense the words of truth, imputed righteousness, and meekness, to all his elect. Hab. iii. 8; Psal. xlv. 3, 4. And all the daughters, or virgin souls, who were from everlasting enrolled in the sacred records of eternity, get up into this chariot, and ride with him. It was built and paved with everlasting love for the daughters of Jerusalem, and their names are written in the heavenly Jerusalem, Isaiah iv. 3. And, although some are crowding this chariot with Cain, Judas, Esau, and all reprobates, yet this wise king will scatter the wicked, and bring his wheel over them, Prov. xx. 26.

The roll of God's eternal decrees is sealed with seven seals, Rev. v. 1; and, for want of being sealed by the Holy Ghost, Ephes. i. 13, these universal lovers cannot see their names enrolled there, or find their register among the Israelites, Nehem. vii. 64; so they are at war with all who contend for God's genealogy. The glorious day-spring from on high, Christ Jesus, the ever blessed Saviour, who guides our feet into the way of peace, is sealed also, John vi. 27; so that the infallible Arian cannot find him out to perfection, though he has dethroned him, trampled his honour in the dust, and taken God's awful challenges, namely, that of removing the rock of salvation, Job xviii. 4, and that of causing the eternal day-spring to know his place, Job xxxviii. 12; Luke i. 78.

The Bible is a sealed book also, Isaiah xxix, 11,