A WARNING offered by Mr. RALPH ERSKINE to the Congregation of DUNFERMLINE, Sabbath, Aug. 22d, 1742.

NDERSTANDING that the pretended Prefbytery of Dunfermline have, on Wednesday laft, taken fome fteps, in concurrence with fome in the Parifh applying to them, toward the calling of a minifter, in my room and place, to this congregation, as if that place were lawfully voided; or, by divine allowance, vacant, and could be lawfully, and by divine allowance, fupplied with another minifter, as long as I live, and continue in the exercife of the miniftry, to which I was regularly and unanimoufly called by this congregation; and fearing left many in this place, either through ignorance or inadvertency, be not aware of the danger they are in, if they shall give their affent or confent, by their fubfcription for, or fubmiffion to, another minister in my room, I thought it my duty at prefent to represent the danger thereof, and to give them fair warning. Let it therefore be confidered,

I. That none can have a hand in calling another minifter in my room, as matters at prefent ftand, without involving themselves in the fin and guilt of those pretended judicatories, that have first paffed, and then executed a wicked fentence against the associate ministers for maintaining reformation-principles against a course of defection therefrom; pretending to depofe them from their ministry, in the several charges to which God had called them, and me among the reft. And fince the calling of another minifter in my room, must be upon the ground of a fuppofed vacancy, occafioned by the faid finful fentence, and finful execution thereof, none of this Parish can give confent to fuch a call, without

being involved in that fin and guilt, and, upon the matter, confenting to my being depofed, and excluded from my minifterial charge and work in this congrega

tion.

II. Thofe that fhall have a hand in calling another minifter, in my room in this congregation, become guilty of a very great inconfiftency with themfelves, if they confider the ground upon which I am perfecuted, and excluded from my charge by the faid judicatories, namely, the ground upon which I engaged to ftand when I was licenfed and ordained minifter here, viz. the doctrine, worship, difcipline, and government of the church of Scotland, grounded upon the word of God, and fworn to by our covenants, national and folemn league. Before the Prefbytery then in being, (which looked indeed like a reforming Prefbytery; and, were they not all now in the duft, they could witnefs that before them) I owned the binding obligation of these covenants; and declared my refolution, through grace, to ftand to thefe covenanted and reformation-principles. And my continuing to ftand upon that ground, from which the prefent judicatories have gone off, is the prefent perfecuting violence against me. And if any in this congregation, by calling another minifter, confent to the deed of the prefent judicatories, they act fo inconfilently with themselves, as to reject me for the reafon and ground upon which they received me, and upon which they have been remaining under my minitry thefe thirty years and more; for I ftand upon no other ground than I did at firft, and have done all along. I have no new Bible, no new Confeffion, no new principles, no new terms of people's communion with me; but the very fame covenanted principles as before: and why I fhould be rejected now, more than before, let thofe that are difpofed to do fo, confider, and fee how they fhall answer to God for fuch inconfiftency with themselves.

This, by the bye, anfwers the ignorant objection of fome, "Why, you have left the kirk, and her judica"tories; you have left the prefbytery, that is now carrying

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"rying on the call for another." It is eafy to answer, from what I have faid, That by no means did I leave them, till they left me ftanding upon the very ground upon which their predeceffors fet me: But they have left both their predeceffors and me, by rejecting a teftimony, given in to them judicially, against the prefent defections from thefe reformation-principles. If a great overflowing ftream fhould carry down a vaft company of people, and leave but a few of them ftanding where they were, How ridiculous would it be to fay, that thefe that are flanding have made a fchifm, by leaving or feparating from their brethren that are carried down the ftream? Even fo abfurd is it to fay, that thofe are guilty of fchifmatical feparation from, or leaving their brethren, who are standing where they were, to their old prefbyterian principles, and the reft carried down the ftream of defection from them: And if I be standing where I was, only with a new teftimony in my hand, for my former old principles, thofe that now fhall dif card me as their minifter, by calling in another in my room, can never reconcile themfelves now, with themfelves formerly, but by owning practically that they are content to be carried down the stream of defection with the rest of the present backfliding generation.

III. Thofe that confent to the calling of another minifter to this place, in my room, will involve themfelves in the guilt of perjury and covenant-breaking: for minifter and people, once married together by a regular gofpel-call, fuch as mine was, are bound by covenant, before the great God, to mutual fidelity one toward another; he to a faithful difcharge of his minifterial work among them, and they to a continued fubmiffion to him in the Lord: And whom God hath thus joined, it is not lawful for men to put afunder, unlefs there were lawful and fcriptural grounds for a divorce.

Now, perjury and covenant-breaking, in fuch a cafe as this, where the relation is facred and fpiritual, must run very deep: And the longer the relation bas fubfifted, the more aggravated will their fin be that endeavour the diffolving of it; fince the longer it has flood, the more firm and numerous are the bonds by which it has.

been

been established. If my miniftry has been blessed, to the converfion of fome, and, from time to time, to the edification of converts; or even to the awakening and alarming of others in this congregation, fo as that they are confcious to themfelves of its having been useful, at fundry times, for touching and reaching their hearts and confciences, as well as enlightening their minds and understandings; then their giving confent to the extruding of me, and the intruding of any other in my room, while this relation is not lawfully diffolved, muft be a fin against all fuch light as they have feen, and all fuch experience as they have felt under my miniftry; and a fin of this fort muft run deeper than they are aware of; and must be of that nature, as cannot but ftare them in the face, when God arifes and makes his deputy, confcience, to awaken upon them.

Some may here object, "What fhall become of the "relt of the Parish, that now defert your ministry? "Should they remain deftitute, and the other place of "worship, where you do not now preach, remain de

flate? Is it their fin to feek after another?" I answer, If they fhould be deftitute, they have made themselves. fo, by cafting off my miniftry; and they have now indeed involved themselves in fuch circumstances, that it is both their fin that they want a minister, and their fin that they feek another in my room. For, while things ftand as they are, they cannot chufe or fubmit to another, without being guilty of a continued act of covenaut-breaking, and trampling upon the miniftry of one whom they called, and God fent to them to be their miniller. And as to my not preaching now in the other ordinary place, you all know it is merely owing to my being excluded by violence, fuch as I could not refift, unless I had defigned, by carnal weapons, to fight my way to it; which, you will own, was neither fuitable to my character and profeffion, nor any way adapted to your edification. But,

IV. Those that have a hand in calling another to this, congregation in my room, they are expofing themfelves to that wrath of God, that is threatened in his word a

gainst fuch as are guilty of mifufing the meffengers of God, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16. where it is faid of that people,

The Lord God of their fathers fent to them by his meffengers, because he had compaffion on them: But they mocked the meffengers of God, and defpifed his words, and mifufed his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arofe against his people, till there was no remedy." The poor people of this place do not know, but in rejecting me, they are rejecting him that fent me: And though they could get one that fhall preach to them as an angel of light, this iniquity is and will be marked before the Lord. They cannot get one as fent of God, and commiflionate of him to them, as long as my commiffion to be their minifter remains valid before God. They cannot feek another in my room with a good confcience; nor can another come with a good confcience into my room, because it cannot be done without an obtrufion upon my lawful miniftry here; and therefore they can. not, in this way, expect to have one in mercy, and with a bleffing, but rather in wrath, and with a curfe.

Although I am perfecuted, because I do not fide with the prefent times, and my perfecutors may think they do God fervice, and that there is no perfecution in the cafe; yet I reckon my being perfecuted in my office and minifterial work, more grofs and heinous than any outward corporal perfecution, and what tends to bring on the greatest wrath. The people of this place, that are guilty, know not that they are treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath; greater wrath than that which will fall upon heathens, that never enjoyed the gofpel. Precious Chrift, and his everlafting gofpel, is become a ftumbling-block to them; and they, to fupport their prefent practice, are a prey to every bitter -lying fpirit, that tends to disparage the miniftry which they abandon. As, of old, the Pharifees received every falfe and reproachful account of Chrift they could pick up, to justify their oppofition to him; fo, when once people begin to defert, difown, and difregard a gofpel-miniftry they have been long under, they will be glad to entertain every lying flory, every falfe and calumniat