The Barber - I

or,

Timothy Priestly Shaved as Reflected from His Own Looking Glass

Addressed in part to Timothy Priestly Himself

Timothy, When first your proposals for printing the Christian's Magazine were published, the expectations of professors were wound up to a most extravagant height. Many of them expected the mysteries of Heaven to be fathomed, and the wonders of the deep to be discovered; yea, nothing but treasures from your Magazine, both new and old. Your pregnant and fragrant proposals set such an edge on their appetites, that they expected, as soon as your stores were opened, the mysteries of heaven would have been displayed, and the skies would have poured down righteousness. There was little or nothing to be heard among us, but the expectations of Mr. Priestley's monthly entertainments. But, alas! alas! instead of a gospel banquet, a feast of fat things, we art put off with nothing but new moon feasts: for, surely, never was a Christian's Magazine opened that exhibited less spiritual stores, less ammunition and artillery, less force of truth, and less strength of argument, than those published by Timothy Priestley. Nor do I believe that any, in this age, has confounded the wise, and puzzled the godly, more than he has done; for, after all the numbers that have been published, and read, it may with propriety be said, that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of any man living to conceive, what Mr. Priestley means nor what those things are that he has laid up in his Magazines for those that buy and read them!

The generality of the wise agree, that he writes neither law nor gospel: he has neither judgment nor experience; it is neither free-will nor free-grace; he displays no wisdom nor wit; it is neither the letter of scripture nor the power of godliness; there is no divine revelation nor sound reason; neither natural religion nor spiritual religion; nor does the author discover either natural abilities or acquired; there is no human learning, nor divine teaching. So that our wise men are all at a loss, and not one at a point.

We all agree that our Author labours; but whether in the flesh, or in the wind, it is hard to tell. He fights, but neither with the sword of the Spirit, nor the sword of war: he heats the air. He sounds; but whether the ram's horn, or the conch, we cannot as yet find out. He runs; but it is at such an uncertainty, that we are all at a loss to find out his beat, or where his haunt is.

Some say, that he writes profound mysteries; which they gather from his being so unintelligible, that his sense and meaning exceed the comprehension of all mankind. But one would be led to think, that if he dealt in the mysteries of the gospel, wisdom's children would have some little insight into them, because it is promised that our teachers shall not be moved into a corner any more, but that our eyes shall see our teachers, Isaiah 30, 20. At present, however, we must wait till it shall please God to discover which way our Author is gone, or to make him manifest in our consciences: which will be but a fulfilment of the promise; for, as yet, he is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of heaven. He keeps our wise men all at bay; all at a loss, and not one at a point; whether to call his productions the effects of insanity, or intoxication. For my own part, if I might be allowed "to give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful," I believe they are a composition of both. I must confess, that Mr. Priestley was altogether a barbarian to me, till this treatise of his, called the Christian's Looking-glass, was put into my hands. In this glass is discovered the soul-beggary, emptiness, and nakedness, of the Author: but no great good can accrue to us from a sight so unseemly; nor can he expect to bring any honour to his office, by exhibiting to public view what the instinct of an idiot would prompt him to conceal.

Some people think that this Looking-glass discovers something of legerdemain; but I rather think it is tinctured with the wonderful influence of Animal Magnetism; intended chiefly to put hypocrites into a crisis, that Satan, without opposition or resistance, may plunder their consciences of all natural fear and feeling.

It has been by earnest solicitations, and for the sake of weak and timorous souls, who are easily deceived and led astray, that I have consented to handle the Physiognomy reflected from this Looking-glass. The Author of it is Timothy Priestley, called the Minister of Jewin Street; and he calls it 'The Christian's Looking-glass; or, the timorous Soul's Guide. Being a Description of the Work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. Intended for the Relief of the Disconsolate. I believe from my heart, that there never was a hypocrite, impostor, or apostate, whose portrait stands drawn or recorded in the sacred annals, but what would have admired his beauty and comeliness, if he had been favoured with a peep into this glass. And, as to its being the timorous soul's guide, I must venture to tell the timorous, that if he has no better, no surer, no safer guide than this Looking-glass, he shall never find the door of hope, the path of life, nor the portals of heaven.

I thought once, when I heard him in conversation, that he talked like a Christian: but alas! alas we must go back again, and pray for labourers more sound, more savoury, and more faithful; for as for this Timothy, we know not what is become of him.

The glorious text lugged into this Author's Looking-glass, and which, it is pretended, is to be opened up and explained, is in John iii. 6. "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit." But surely never was a text more obscured, distorted, injured, wrested, perverted, and butchered, than this. This is not the first time that this sacred passage has fallen among thieves: if we can rescue and recover the sense of it, it will be doing a good work. The few remarks that I intend to make on this new-manufactured glass, will be with as little quotation from the glass itself as possible; not choosing to fill my pages with hay, straw, and stubble. The reader will observe, that what little I take from Timothy's glass will have "Quote" at the beginning, which stands for Quotation; and my reply to the same will be prefaced with "Answer

Quote: The great Head of the Church has crowned with success my public labours for a great many years.

Answer: If ever God set the broad seal of Heaven home upon any one soul now living, under such doctrine as this, I am greatly mistaken; and I believe that I may venture to add, that the book of God has led me into this mistake. They that speak a vision out of their own heart, when they have seen nothing; and they who steal the word every one from his neighbour; and they who run unsent; God says, shall not profit his people at all. They may, in one sense of the word, cast out devils, but they never can minister the Spirit of God, being only ministers of the letter, or of men. A blind guide may make converts such as himself; but a soul truly converted to God, and by God, differs widely from such converts; and I think he differs too from Mr. Priestley, or from any convert of his. If you have any one real seal in the land of the living, that God has given you under the ministry of the doctrines of this book, I should like to see his conversion published, and should like to publish what the scriptures call conversion at the same time; and let the Church of God at large have the satisfaction of comparing them together, and of passing their judgment upon both. But this is a work which, I believe, Mr. Priestley will never trouble himself about; and therefore I shall hold fast this persuasion, that God will never own, nor honour, such confusion and falsehood as this book contains. Such it is, and such I will make it appear.

Quote: A flaming torch, how useful to a benighted traveller!

Answer: And so is a lamp of salvation to a weak believer; but a watchman that cannot understand a wandering star, and a blind guide, is a most dangerous guide, and a perilous leader: he removes his neighbour's landmark; he causes the blind to wander out of his way. And so does this wretched Looking-glass: there is not one inch of the path to heaven either cleared, cast up, or made plain, in it. This glass "darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge." Here are reasonings with unprofitable talk, and speeches wherewith a man can do no good, Job 15. 3.

Quote: How welcome a safe guide! How fatal a false one!

Answer: My answer to Timothy is; 'Thou art the Man!'

Quote: The word of God is like a Dispensary, or Apothecary's Warehouse.

Answer: And a Quack Doctor is a dangerous man in it, for it cannot be expected that he should know one drug from another. False judgment, in the dialect of scripture, is hemlock. The Balm of Gilead is allowed to be a healing medicine by all that have been favoured with a divine application. This Looking-glass abounds with the former, but not the latter.

Quote: I never was forced into this service by any.

Answer: You own that they were neither the wisest of men, nor the best of men, who wished you to make such a public appearance some years ago: and I think your judgment is just; for no man of common sense, none but base men and fools, would ever have advised you to any such thing. And, as to God, the confusion of this glass is sufficient to prove to a demonstration, that he had no hand in it. It is all Timothy's own; he is the sole Author; for we are well assured that God is not the Author of confusion. And, for my own part, it is matter of grief to me, to see the name of so holy and wise a Being appear in it, or stand affixed to it.

Quote: It is an eternal honour to bring an handful of goat's hair into such an infinitely glorious building, which is to stand for ever.

Answer: If such a trifle as an handful of goat's hair, brought into the temple of the Holy Ghost, entitles a man to eternal honour, what honours, suppose you, is he worthy of, though a wolf, who brings such a valuable article as a sheep's skin into the church of God; which, every fellmonger will tell us, is far preferable to the hair of a goat?

Quote: I hope this piece will be as welcome to the great head of the church, who has long exercised compassion himself, as the crawling forth of Mephibosheth to meet and welcome David, who saw his friendly heart far more nimble than his heels.

Answer: The comparison appears just: but, if the type of Mephibosheth meets with no better reception from Jesus, than the antitype met with from David, it will be but a cold one at best; as it appears on record; "Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, thou and Ziba divide the land." There is a proverb that says, "A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren." But still this sharer of the inheritance is but a servant, not a son; and "the servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the son abideth ever." Judas was one of those servants: he had part of the inheritance; "he took part of this ministry with us;" but a livelihood, the bag, and a gift of speech, was the only part that fell to his share. I hope our friend Timothy will never be found, in the great day, to be only a sharer of the inheritance which fell to the family, or house, of Saul. The household of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, differ widely from that: Saul never reigned in Zion, nor in Jerusalem, only at Gibeah.

Quote: Some, who seem to be partakers of this change, give sufficient proof they were never plants of our heavenly Father's planting.

Answer: Our Timothy himself gives us no account in this glass, nor any proof that any change ever passed upon him; nay, he is so far from it that he cannot tell us what the change is, nor give a just description of any one part of it, nor of any thing belonging to it; nor the operations of it, the sinner's sensations under it, the effects of it, nor the glorious ends of it.

Quote: That which I wish particularly to aim at is, to demonstrate to the Christian himself; the change made in his understanding is such as is peculiar to a child of God, and that God is the sole author of it.

Answer: Timothy Priestley begins his description of the new birth first at the head, but God begins at the heart. The first thing that appears in a new-born infant is not an understanding: this doth not discover itself properly till the child comes to full age. Nor did the Spirit of God begin his first work at the Apostles head; they received the word of eternal life in their heart, were quickened by the Spirit, believed in the Saviour, were the children of God, and followed their Lord and Master to his death. But it was after his resurrection from the dead that "he opened their understandings, that they might understand the scriptures." This is a bad aim, Timothy. Thou shouldest have begun at the heart, and then have proceeded to the understanding, and at last have finished at the feet. The first thing God does, is to make bare his arm. He brings the blind byway that they know not. The next thing is to give them an understanding: He makes darkness light before them. And the third is, he prepares their path: He makes crooked things straight. These are the things God has promised to do, and not to leave those in whom they are done.

Quote: All those who are born of the Spirit have their understandings enlightened in such a manner as distinguishes them from all the unregenerate in the world.

Answer: Is this true, Timothy? Does an enlightened understanding distinguish a man from all the unregenerate in the world? Then what a blessed state was Balaam's, and what a glorious end must he have made! The man whose eyes were opened; who heard the words of God, and saw the vision of the Almighty, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, and saw him; falling into a trance, but having his eyes open, Numb. xxiv. 3, 4, 16. But if Balaam, with all his light and understanding, perished, what becomes of Mr. Priestley's criterion? And if Balaam's illumination did not save him, what will become of the Author of this Looking-glass, who is so far from seeing the visions of the Almighty, that he does not appear to have light enough to discern any one mystery, doctrine, or truth, in all the bible; nor even to know what himself says, what he means, what he aims at, or whereof he affirms!

Quote: God, who gives as a Sovereign, gives to all his people such an ability to discern spiritual Objects, which the wisest men in the world, in natural things, are totally strangers to.

Answer: Then Balaam was none of the Wise men of this world. Nor the seventy elders of Israel; for they all saw the God of Israel; but upon these nobles he laid not his hand, Exod. xxiv. 10, 11; nor did any of them, except Joshua and Caleb, enter the promised land. All these had ability to discern spiritual objects, and the greatest of all objects, and yet appear to be nothing else but the wise men of this world. This is a wretched criterion, Timothy; and all the use it can be of, must be to encourage the daring and presumptuous, and to confirm and settle in carnal security the most accomplished hypocrites in Zion.

Quote: This gift is a peculiar favour, and wholly undeserved; and is a positive pledge of their having been everlastingly loved.

Answer: If this enlightened understanding is a positive pledge of a man's being loved with an everlasting love, how awfully mistaken, how supreme in seduction, and what a sea of blood will be required at the hands of Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, who tells us, that though a man speak with the tongue of men and angels; and though he have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though he has all faith, so that he could remove mountains; yet, if he have not charity, be is nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2. And yet Paul is so confident In his assertions, that he tells us to let him be accursed, whether man or angel, that shall preach any other doctrine than that which he hath preached.

Quote: If all who are enlightened would more particularly consider the darkness they were once in, they would be more sensible the change made in them could originate in none but God. This would be an effectual means to humble them, and prevent them from overlooking that infinite kindness which is manifested in bringing them from that darkness.

Answer: A man may be enlightened to see ten times more than ever Mr. Timothy Priestley saw, and yet be as ignorant, and as destitute of a saving change of heart, as Simon Magus himself; who, after his confession and profession, was manifested to be in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Paul will allow, that men may not only be enlightened, but taste of the heavenly gift; be made partakers of the Holy Ghost; taste the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; and yet fall away, so as never to be renewed to repentance, Heb. vi. 4-6. These persons are described as going a great many leagues farther than the Author of this Looking-glass ever went; and yet, it is allowed that such may be found without oil in the vessel. There may be tasting where there is no eating, and light in the head when there is no unction in the heart. "The lamp of the wicked shall be put out."

Quote: If all who are enlightened would consider the darkness they were once in, it would be an effectual means to humble them.

Answer: Paul says, no, it will not. He declares, that the light of knowledge carries the sinner quite the contrary way: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Timothy Priestley's effectual means of humbling is Paul's declarative means of puffing up. Paul the aged must be wrong, or our priestly Timothy cannot be right. For my own part, I choose to take side with the apostle. Jesus we know, and Paul we know; but as for this Timothy, we know not whence he is.

Quote: What evident proof do the wicked give of their darkness! The loudest calls do not alarm them; the most awful providences leave them as secure as ever; the kindest invitations are lost; neither the horrors of the damned, nor the crowns of the saved, will turn them from their sins.

Answer: Loud calls, awful providences, invitations, horrors, and crowns, are not God, though they may be of God, and from God: nor do the scriptures represent the above things as sufficient to turn men from their sins. It is Jesus, and he alone, who shall save his people from their sins. Nor will our Timothy's doctrine ever effectually turn any man from the power, love, or dominion, of sin. This poor wooden sword will neither cut Rahab, nor wound the Dragon. When Paul was sent to turn sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, it was to be done by faith which is in Christ: and for this work Paul was armed with spiritual weapons, equipped with the whole armour of God, and furnished with the dispensation of the Spirit: and in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, Paul approached, and attacked the rebel's conscience; and before this power the elected sinner could never stand, but was sure to fall before it. But what spirit, or power, is there in our Timothy's Looking-glass? Just as much as there is in my lady's powder-puff.

Quote: If he is brought to see all his righteousness as filthy rags, and led to depend wholly on that righteousness which is of God by faith;

Answer: The Christian must not only be brought to see all his righteousness as filthy rags, but to feel it. He must be quickened to feel, as well as enlightened to see; he must have life, as well as light. This head religion will never do, Timothy. The sinner must feel the insufficiency of his own righteousness, and the wrath and curse of God revealed against all his unrighteousness: yea, it must be seen by him, and felt in him. The commandment must come home, before he will hunger and thirst after righteousness, or cry for the balm of Gilead, and the physician there. Jesus says, "The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick." Christ was sent into the world to bind up the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to captives, and to set at liberty those that are bound and bruised. The sinner must not only be 'led to depend wholly on that righteousness which is of God by faith,' but God's righteousness must be brought near to him, and be apprehended by him and the righteousness of the law must be fulfilled in him, before he can have either justification toward God, or peace of conscience.

Quote: If his desires are now to walk in the Spirit, and not fulfil the lusts of the flesh;

Answer: Desires to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, will not satisfy the awakened sinner. It is not desires after Christ that will give satisfaction, any more than a desire for victuals will fill a hungry belly. The bread of life, and the fatted calf, must be brought forth, killed, and eaten; and the best robe brought out, in a more clear manner than this glass represents it; and be put on too, before the weary soul can find rest. It is not a desire to walk in the Spirit, but the witness and seal of the Spirit, that brings comfort to the troubled breast, and establishment to the wavering heart: "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul," but "hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" and "a wounded spirit, who can bear?" "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing." This doctrine is calculated to set poor sinners down short of the promised rest; and he that ends his days in it, will fail of the grace of God. Not one truth is opened up, or explained; not one doctrine cleared, or fairly stated; no sense of sin, godly sorrow, or evangelical repentance, described, enforced, or insisted on; no characteristic of a Christian fairly drawn in all this Looking-glass. Not a morsel of wholesome food, nor one page of sound divinity, can I find in all this mirror for Christians, in all this guide of the timorous. And I doubt not but many hypocrites, in the great day, will have cause to curse the hour they ever rested in the reflection of this glass, and the hour they first trusted in this guide.

Quote: If he now, as a new-born babe, desires the sincere milk of the word.

Answer: But then the thing is, how he is to know whether he be a new-born babe, or not? Mr. Priestley's text is, "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit." And all that he has brought from the last clause of his text is a ray of light in the understanding, not in the heart; what they who lift up their eyes in hell have experienced as well as he, and that with a more deep and more lasting impression of the importance and necessity of a spiritual birth than ever he did.This description of a new birth is such as is seldom seen. There is no account of God's begetting us of his own will, by the word of truth; no powerful convictions enforced, nor insisted on, to make an incision in the carnal mind, that the engrafted word, which is able to save the soul, might be received with meekness; no account of the reception and operation of the incorruptible seed, by which the children of God have been born and brought forth in all ages, no account of receiving the seed into good ground, into an honest and good heart; nor any line drawn between the stony, thorny, and way-side hearers, and the husbandry of God. Here is no account of the conflicts between light and darkness, truth and error, grace and corruption, revealed wrath and the hopes of mercy, no sense of the intolerable burden of guilt, nor of the application of the atonement; no account of the forgiveness of sins, of being brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ; no fear of death, nor dread of damnation, nor of perfect love casting it out. All the features that our Timothy's christian has got, is an eye, and that is neither strong nor good: it neither sees clear, nor right. And, as for this timorous soul's guide, the guide is as blind, as confused, and as much at a loss to find the way to the city, as the timorous soul itself. The christian described in this glass is neither born of God, nor knows God.

Quote: The very desire of the light of God's countenance is a positive proof of the soul's being renewed.

Answer: This desire seemed to be very strong in Saul, when he went to the witch of Endor, and complained to the Devil in Samuel's mantle. The most weighty matter of his complaint is, "God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams." Nor was Balaam without this desire, when he wished to die the death of the righteous, and that his latter end might be like his. Nor was this desire weak in Cain, when he said, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth." All these seem to me to have had strong desires after the light of God's countenance; and yet they were neither renewed in the spirit of their minds, nor were their desires ever granted.

Quote: Let such bless the name of the Lord, that cannot sit down contented with a form, without the power.

Answer: Here is no power enforced nor described in all this Looking-glass. And as for the restlessness of such a sinner, it is no more than the experience of every hypocrite, when he is pushed from his false hopes, forced from his sandy foundation, plunged in black despair, and given up to a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation; and yet he is the last man in the world whose heart is in tune to bless God.

Quote: All those who are born of the Spirit have their understandings enlightened in such a manner as distinguishes them from all the unregenerate in the world.

Answer: Is this true, Timothy? Does an enlightened understanding distinguish a man from all the unregenerate in the world? Then what a blessed state was Balaam's, and what a glorious end must he have made! The man whose eyes were opened; who heard the words of God, and saw the vision of the Almighty, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, and saw him; falling into a trance, but having his eyes open, Numb. xxiv. 3, 4, 16. But if Balaam, with all his light and understanding, perished, what becomes of Mr. Priestley's criterion? And if Balaam's illumination did not save him, what will become of the Author of this Looking-glass, who is so far from seeing the visions of the Almighty, that he does not appear to have light enough to discern any one mystery, doctrine, or truth, in all the bible; nor even to know what himself says, what he means, what he aims at, or whereof he affirms!

Quote: God, who gives as a Sovereign, gives to all his people such an ability to discern spiritual Objects, which the wisest men in the world, in natural things, are totally strangers to.

Answer: Then Balaam was none of the Wise men of this world. Nor the seventy elders of Israel; for they all saw the God of Israel; but upon these nobles he laid not his hand, Exod. xxiv. 10, 11; nor did any of them, except Joshua and Caleb, enter the promised land. All these had ability to discern spiritual objects, and the greatest of all objects, and yet appear to be nothing else but the wise men of this world. This is a wretched criterion, Timothy; and all the use it can be of, must be to encourage the daring and presumptuous, and to confirm and settle in carnal security the most accomplished hypocrites in Zion.

Quote: This gift is a peculiar favour, and wholly undeserved; and is a positive pledge of their having been everlastingly loved.

Answer: If this enlightened understanding is a positive pledge of a man's being loved with an everlasting love, how awfully mistaken, how supreme in seduction, and what a sea of blood will be required at the hands of Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, who tells us, that though a man speak with the tongue of men and angels; and though he have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though he has all faith, so that he could remove mountains; yet, if he have not charity, be is nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2. And yet Paul is so confident In his assertions, that he tells us to let him be accursed, whether man or angel, that shall preach any other doctrine than that which he hath preached.

Quote: If all who are enlightened would more particularly consider the darkness they were once in, they would be more sensible the change made in them could originate in none but God. This would be an effectual means to humble them, and prevent them from overlooking that infinite kindness which is manifested in bringing them from that darkness.

Answer: A man may be enlightened to see ten times more than ever Mr. Timothy Priestley saw, and yet be as ignorant, and as destitute of a saving change of heart, as Simon Magus himself; who, after his confession and profession, was manifested to be in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Paul will allow, that men may not only be enlightened, but taste of the heavenly gift; be made partakers of the Holy Ghost; taste the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; and yet fall away, so as never to be renewed to repentance, Heb. vi. 4-6. These persons are described as going a great many leagues farther than the Author of this Looking-glass ever went; and yet, it is allowed that such may be found without oil in the vessel. There may be tasting where there is no eating, and light in the head when there is no unction in the heart. "The lamp of the wicked shall be put out."

Quote: If all who are enlightened would consider the darkness they were once in, it would be an effectual means to humble them.

Answer: Paul says, no, it will not. He declares, that the light of knowledge carries the sinner quite the contrary way: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Timothy Priestley's effectual means of humbling is Paul's declarative means of puffing up. Paul the aged must be wrong, or our priestly Timothy cannot be right. For my own part, I choose to take side with the apostle. Jesus we know, and Paul we know; but as for this Timothy, we know not whence he is.

Quote: What evident proof do the wicked give of their darkness! The loudest calls do not alarm them; the most awful providences leave them as secure as ever; the kindest invitations are lost; neither the horrors of the damned, nor the crowns of the saved, will turn them from their sins.

Answer: Loud calls, awful providences, invitations, horrors, and crowns, are not God, though they may be of God, and from God: nor do the scriptures represent the above things as sufficient to turn men from their sins. It is Jesus, and he alone, who shall save his people from their sins. Nor will our Timothy's doctrine ever effectually turn any man from the power, love, or dominion, of sin. This poor wooden sword will neither cut Rahab, nor wound the Dragon. When Paul was sent to turn sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, it was to be done by faith which is in Christ: and for this work Paul was armed with spiritual weapons, equipped with the whole armour of God, and furnished with the dispensation of the Spirit: and in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, Paul approached, and attacked the rebel's conscience; and before this power the elected sinner could never stand, but was sure to fall before it. But what spirit, or power, is there in our Timothy's Looking-glass? Just as much as there is in my lady's powder-puff.

Quote: If he is brought to see all his righteousness as filthy rags, and led to depend wholly on that righteousness which is of God by faith;

Answer: The Christian must not only be brought to see all his righteousness as filthy rags, but to feel it. He must be quickened to feel, as well as enlightened to see; he must have life, as well as light. This head religion will never do, Timothy. The sinner must feel the insufficiency of his own righteousness, and the wrath and curse of God revealed against all his unrighteousness: yea, it must be seen by him, and felt in him. The commandment must come home, before he will hunger and thirst after righteousness, or cry for the balm of Gilead, and the physician there. Jesus says, "The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick." Christ was sent into the world to bind up the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to captives, and to set at liberty those that are bound and bruised. The sinner must not only be 'led to depend wholly on that righteousness which is of God by faith,' but God's righteousness must be brought near to him, and be apprehended by him and the righteousness of the law must be fulfilled in him, before he can have either justification toward God, or peace of conscience.

Quote: If his desires are now to walk in the Spirit, and not fulfil the lusts of the flesh;

Answer: Desires to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, will not satisfy the awakened sinner. It is not desires after Christ that will give satisfaction, any more than a desire for victuals will fill a hungry belly. The bread of life, and the fatted calf, must be brought forth, killed, and eaten; and the best robe brought out, in a more clear manner than this glass represents it; and be put on too, before the weary soul can find rest. It is not a desire to walk in the Spirit, but the witness and seal of the Spirit, that brings comfort to the troubled breast, and establishment to the wavering heart: "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul," but "hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" and "a wounded spirit, who can bear?" "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing." This doctrine is calculated to set poor sinners down short of the promised rest; and he that ends his days in it, will fail of the grace of God. Not one truth is opened up, or explained; not one doctrine cleared, or fairly stated; no sense of sin, godly sorrow, or evangelical repentance, described, enforced, or insisted on; no characteristic of a Christian fairly drawn in all this Looking-glass. Not a morsel of wholesome food, nor one page of sound divinity, can I find in all this mirror for Christians, in all this guide of the timorous. And I doubt not but many hypocrites, in the great day, will have cause to curse the hour they ever rested in the reflection of this glass, and the hour they first trusted in this guide.

Quote: If he now, as a new-born babe, desires the sincere milk of the word.

Answer: But then the thing is, how he is to know whether he be a new-born babe, or not? Mr. Priestley's text is, "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit." And all that he has brought from the last clause of his text is a ray of light in the understanding, not in the heart; what they who lift up their eyes in hell have experienced as well as he, and that with a more deep and more lasting impression of the importance and necessity of a spiritual birth than ever he did.This description of a new birth is such as is seldom seen. There is no account of God's begetting us of his own will, by the word of truth; no powerful convictions enforced, nor insisted on, to make an incision in the carnal mind, that the engrafted word, which is able to save the soul, might be received with meekness; no account of the reception and operation of the incorruptible seed, by which the children of God have been born and brought forth in all ages, no account of receiving the seed into good ground, into an honest and good heart; nor any line drawn between the stony, thorny, and way-side hearers, and the husbandry of God. Here is no account of the conflicts between light and darkness, truth and error, grace and corruption, revealed wrath and the hopes of mercy, no sense of the intolerable burden of guilt, nor of the application of the atonement; no account of the forgiveness of sins, of being brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ; no fear of death, nor dread of damnation, nor of perfect love casting it out. All the features that our Timothy's christian has got, is an eye, and that is neither strong nor good: it neither sees clear, nor right. And, as for this timorous soul's guide, the guide is as blind, as confused, and as much at a loss to find the way to the city, as the timorous soul itself. The christian described in this glass is neither born of God, nor knows God.

Quote: The very desire of the light of God's countenance is a positive proof of the soul's being renewed.

Answer: This desire seemed to be very strong in Saul, when he went to the witch of Endor, and complained to the Devil in Samuel's mantle. The most weighty matter of his complaint is, "God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams." Nor was Balaam without this desire, when he wished to die the death of the righteous, and that his latter end might be like his. Nor was this desire weak in Cain, when he said, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth." All these seem to me to have had strong desires after the light of God's countenance; and yet they were neither renewed in the spirit of their minds, nor were their desires ever granted.

Quote: Let such bless the name of the Lord, that cannot sit down contented with a form, without the power.

Answer: Here is no power enforced nor described in all this Looking-glass. And as for the restlessness of such a sinner, it is no more than the experience of every hypocrite, when he is pushed from his false hopes, forced from his sandy foundation, plunged in black despair, and given up to a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation; and yet he is the last man in the world whose heart is in tune to bless God.

Quote: But the christian who makes this objection is wholly different; his light is not common.

Answer: Then I would be glad to know the difference between the light that shone upon Balaam, and that which shone upon Paul; between the glory of the God of Israel, which was seen by the elders in the wilderness, and that which was seen by Moses in the bush; and whether the light of the great God our Saviour, which will be seen by every eye at the great day, is not of the same nature, and will not appear far brighter than any light which our Timothy has ever yet beheld?

Quote: By special and saving grace, he can no more sit down and rest in a form of godliness, than a hungry man can content himself with seeing a well-spread table which he is debarred from partaking of: therefore want of knowledge, not of grace, is the cause of his complaint.

Answer: It is true, a partaker of special grace can never rest in a form of godliness; but our Timothy's christian has no more than a head belonging to him. It is desires after grace, not grace, that are to be the undoubted pledge of his safety. But the last clause of this quotation contradicts all that Timothy has said before: for the intention of this glass is to establish them in desires after food, not in being satisfied and filled with the bread of life; and our Author has neither discovered the table spread, the provision of it, nor enforced the necessity of fullness and satisfaction at it.

Quote: Want of knowledge, not of grace, is the cause of his complaint.

Answer: Paul says, "It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace:" and tells us to look diligently, lest any fail of the grace of God: but as to knowledge, it puffeth up. Hence I conclude, that the want of grace, the want of life, and love, not knowledge, is the cause of his complaint.

Quote: Saul, afterwards king Saul, might remember a great change, and the time of it; but the consequence proved it to be no saving one.

Answer: One would think, that if Saul could remember the time when, and the manner how, he was turned into another man, Mr. Priestley's christian, who has nothing but a head, and has nothing in that but light, might remember the time when, and the manner how, he was turned into a new man. The regeneration of a saint must make as deep an impression as the reformation of a hypocrite. One is called a new creation, and the other no more than a turn. And certainly it must require more power to turn a stubborn sinner from the power of Satan to God, and from disobedience to the wisdom of the just, than to turn a farmer into a sovereign, or a coward into a hero. The one is the effect of common providence; the other is the good-pleasure of God's will fulfilled in us, and the work of faith with power.

Quote: The revelation of God's salvation to sinners was given not at once, but by gradual and slow degrees; and so it is often in grace.

Answer: Unless salvation comes home to the heart, as it did to the gaoler, to Zaccheus, and to Israel at the Red sea. Then it comes unexpectedly, suddenly, and at an instant. And so it has come to the eternal safety of the elect in every age, without any of our Timothy's slow degrees. 'And so,' he says, 'it is often in grace;' making a proper distinction between salvation and grace. But, as salvation is all of grace, one would think the experience of the former was the effect of the latter; and that salvation and grace can no more be divided, than Timothy's christian can be united to the Author of eternal salvation.

Quote: Those who have been privileged with a good education, and have been kept from open sin, seldom can tell in so particular a manner as others who have been brought up in sin and darkness.

Answer: Paul is a singular instance to disprove this lie; who was privileged with a good education; and so far kept from open sin, that, as touching the righteousness of the law, he was blameless; and yet he could tell in a particular manner the time when, the place where, and the manner how, he was converted to God: and so could Abraham, Jacob, David, Isaiah, and all the prophets, who had as good an education, and were kept as much from open sin and darkness, as ever Timothy's christian was. I never knew till now, that a good education was attended with keeping a man from sin and darkness, seeing man is nothing but darkness and sin. This cannot be proved by any one text in the Bible, unless by the following, "God hath hid these things from the wise and prudent."

Quote: Let such as are perplexed with this fear remember, it is not so much how the light came, as what they are brought to see by this light.

Answer: It appears to me, that the importance of the matter lies in knowing how this light came, and where it came from; whether from the God of Heaven, or the god of this world, who is sometimes transformed into an angel of light. Some souls are light in the Lord; while the light that is in others, the Saviour says, is darkness; and adds, "How great is that darkness!" It is necessary, therefore, to know where the light came from, and how it came; and whether it shines into the head, to make a man see and talk, as it did into the head of Balaam, whose lamp is sure to go out; or whether it is a reconciled God shining into the heart, "to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The former makes a prating fool, the latter a gracious soul.

Quote: This objection is not easily removed. We are always more ready to lend an ear to what mortals say, than we are to attend to the word of God.

Answer: This is verified in every affected reader and follower of Mr. Priestley: for the whole of this book, except the scripture texts quoted, is nothing but the sayings and carnal reasonings of a poor uninspired mortal. There is not one page in it that is consistent with the oracles of God, nor with the experience of a genuine Christian. The Spirit of God had no hand in it, nor did he ever dictate any thing like it.

Quote: God works as a sovereign. Some, when they are savingly called, are a long time before they are led to see into the doctrines of the gospel. Others are taught them in a small space of time.

Answer: This is verified in the Author of this glass; for God has not given him eyes to see, not a heart to understand, even to this day. And though some real saints may make a creed sooner than others, or be led to see into the doctrines of the gospel; yet, I believe, when Jesus Christ is manifested to and revealed in the soul, that he is the truth of every doctrine; yea, the whole sum and substance of the everlasting gospel. If he is formed in the heart, the word is sure to take root. It is not a speculative knowledge of it, that constitutes an heir of promise; but Christ in the heart, the hope of glory.

Quote: Why does the believer love and follow after this light?

Answer: Your Christian is not alone here; ancient hypocrites have done that as well as he. The novelty of it has led many to love it, and follow it too. There were many that were willing to rejoice in John's light for a season. If they rejoiced in it, they must have had an affection for it. Joy doth not spring from envy, nor malice. The wayside hearers did the same; Demas did the same; and yet they all forsook it: and I think the Author of this Looking-glass will do the same.

Quote: The light, however, that has come into his mind, proves itself to be the sovereign and saving teachings of the Holy Spirit of God.

Answer: Light in the head is not the whole of God's teaching: the sinner must have the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins. God gives his children an heart to know him, for he pardons them whom he reserves. Life and power must attend the voice, before the sinner will know his Divine Teacher: "They shall know in that day, that it is I that do speak. Behold, it is I!" And the way by which they are brought to know it, is by the quickening energy that attends the voice: "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." Many who have committed the unpardonable sin, have sinned against greater light and knowledge than what is reflected from this glass; for I can find nothing but darkness and confusion in it.

Quote: Could such see themselves in the glass of the word of God, they would, instead of spending their time in suspicions about their state, be employed in giving thanks to him who has commanded the light to shine into their hearts.

Answer: If this head christian could see himself in the glass of God's word, he would soon discover the false reflections of Timothy's glass: and would throw it away, with the hoods and veils.The last clause of that quotation is wrongly worded. It is head knowledge, or rather head confusion, that you have been insisting on. Heart-work has not been so much as touched, nor enforced, nor any one part of it described. Not one discovery in that chamber of imagery has been made; not one sensation nor real view of an awakened sinner has been either described, stated, proved, or cleared.

Quote: If he has given thee eyes to see thy own nothingness, and is enabling thee to see more and more of the excellency of the Lord Jesus, he has done great things for thee; he hath done more for thee than if he had given thee ten millions of worlds.

Answer: Then Judas must be in an excellent state; for he not only saw, but felt, his own nothingness, when he cast down the money in the temple: and he saw and knew the excellency of the Lord Jesus, when he said, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood." The rich man, when he lifted up his eyes in hell, saw his own nothingness, and the excellency of Abraham's bosom; and yet no great things had been done for him. This twofold view, Timothy, will not do, without the appropriating hand of faith, to bring the excellent Saviour into the empty heart. A sight of man's nothingness, and Christ's excellency, which is your criterion of great things, would have sunk the Psalmist into black despair, if the hand of his faith had not caught hold of the excellent object seen: "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Our Timothy settles his Christian where David found no standing.

Quote: If thy gift in prayer be but small, thy prayer will be the language of thy heart: a frame of mind no hypocrite ever knew.

Answer: Is this true? Is the smallness of a man's gift in prayer a proof that his prayer is the language of his heart? And can this small gift be called heart-language? And can this small gift be called a frame of mind, and a frame which no hypocrite ever knew? The Apostle tells us, that a man may be zealous of spiritual gifts, may have the gift of prophecy, and speak with the tongue of men and angels, either in prayer or in preaching, and yet be nothing but sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal and does a small gift in prayer secure a soul, when the greatest gifts will not? The more excellent way, the way of charity, which is the way to heaven, is opposed to all gifts, small and great: it is a measure of the Spirit of grace, not a small gift, that produces a frame no hypocrite ever knew. This criterion of a Christian is Paul's mark of a hypocrite.

Quote: There are some who fear all their knowledge will prove spurious, because they never had such a law-work as they hear some others have had. Measuring ourselves by others, and overlooking the word of God, has been a common mistake.

Answer: The law was added because of transgression, that sin by the law might become exceeding sinful. It is to be preached to them that are under it, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world might become guilty before God. This is the lawful use of it. Christ's commission was to proclaim liberty to those that were bound with legal bondage; he binds up none but the broken-hearted; he preaches deliverance only to captives; he is a physician only to those that are sick. Every one that is under a law-work, sees and feels that he has no righteousness: it is the killing power of the law that makes them hunger and thirst after righteousness; and such are filled, while the rich are sent empty away. God teaches the sinner out of his law; and "Every one that hath learned of the Father cometh unto me," saith the Saviour. The sinner will never fly for refuge till wrath is revealed against him. Christ is a hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tempest, a river of water in a dry place, the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. He calls them that labour, and are heavy laden. The sinner will never prize the Saviour's easy yoke till he has felt the galling yoke of the law. He will never call the Saviour's burden light, till he has felt the burden of his sins heavy, which revives, and becomes exceeding sinful, by the force of the commandment, and the revelation of wrath.

Our Timothy's Christian has a just right to fear, for he is under the yoke of bondage to fear, nor will this Looking-glass bring him out. Perfect love must cast out fear, before he will be delivered from the law. A free spirit must succeed bondage, before an elect sinner can be satisfied. This glass may serve to sear his conscience, and the devil may work by it to blind his eyes; but all must be laid open again; truth! truth! must make him free; and if Christ make him free, he shall be free indeed. This explaining away the utility of the law, and setting the hypocrite down short of a sight and sense of the law and sin, is a bad piece of work, Timothy. Jeremiah says, "It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth;" and to put "his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope." "It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait for, the salvation of the Lord."

Quote: Measuring ourselves by others, and overlooking the word of God, has been a common mistake.

Answer: It really is: and so many poor sinners will find it, in the great day, who overlook those scriptures which I have quoted in my last answer, and compare themselves with Timothy, as he appears in this glass; which they will find at last to be not only a common, but a fatal and irretrievable mistake. However, there is a great number in London who are kept from this mistake; who dare not make themselves of the number, nor compare themselves with some that commend themselves: nor even with this Timothy in his glass; for if we did, we should be fools; though, no doubt, numbers will. "But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise," 2 Cor. x. 12.

Quote: Many of Zion's travellers have been alarmed by this folly, and have created themselves many an hour's sorrow.

Answer: It should have been; Many an hypocrite in Zion has been, and will be, alarmed, sooner or later, by this folly of comparing themselves with such who are only blind guides, and perverters of Scripture; who walk in craftiness, and handle the word of God deceitfully. For it is a mystery to me, how a man comes to Mount Zion, who never was pursued by blackness, darkness, the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, seeing Christ is only a covert from the tempest; and how he should come to God, the judge of all, and never find himself arraigned, neither by law nor conscience, is as great a mystery. Timothy's Christian will never come to the Mediator of the new covenant till he finds an angry God, and his wrath revealed against him, in the old: nor will he ever come to the blood of sprinkling that speaks peace, till the wrath and curse of God declare and wage war in his soul.

Quote: The remarkable Daniel Burgess, in answering this objection, says

Answer: Timothy, having charged his Christian with folly, for comparing himself with others, is going now to plunge him into the foolishness of comparing and trying the goodness of his state by a saying of Daniel Burgess. Now for the saying itself

Quote: 'The farmer never finds fault with his ploughman for his not having plowed the ground sufficiently deep, if his corn do but grow well.' Says he to the doubting soul, 'Look more at the corn, and less at the plough.'

Answer: We will try the validity of this saying; and I am sure it will neither stand the test of common sense, nor yet of the word of God. Pray, how is the farmer to know whether his corn will grow well or not, before his ground be plowed? And if, before the seed-time, he sees the ploughman has not gone a sufficient depth for the seed, and he expects his corn to grow well, he must be a fool. And, if it does grow well, it is a miracle, for God hath prospered his carelessness and indiscretion, which is not common. "Doth the ploughman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cumin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye, in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion." But who instructs Daniel Burgess's farmer, I know not: his dilatory method comes not from the Lord of Hosts; for he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working, Isa. xxviii. 29.Now let us try this shallow plowing by the word of God, and it will appear as far from truth as it is from common sense. "Plow up the fallow ground of your hearts," says God, "and sow not among thorns." Fallow ground is plowed three or four times over; and the plough is to go deep enough to root up legality; hypocrisy; self-righteousness; infidelity; and the love of money, the root of all evil. These thorns are all to be turned up. We are not to sow among thorns; and it must be deep plowing to root up all these. The way-side, the stony ground, and the thorny ground, were all sharers in this shallow plowing; and, for a time, the corn seemed to grow well: but it all withered away, and all for want of the plough going sufficiently deep. Christ says, "Forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." Our Timothy's shallow plowing, which is to settle his Christian, is here declared by the Saviour to be the first means of the apostasy and final damnation of hypocrites. I have heard a person, raving mad, running over the scriptures, who has spoken more truth, and better sense, than the Author of this Looking-glass. Not that I believe such doctrine as this will be of no use; it will undoubtedly separate the vile from the precious. This glass, or fan, will collect the chaff from every barn-floor in the neighbourhood: for I should think, there is not an arch, not an accomplished, not a profound, not a restless hypocrite, in all the metropolis, but will fly for refuge to, and take sanctuary under, the prolific and expanded wings of Timothy Priestley; where they may be sure of shallow plowing, slight healing, no legal convictions, but all bolsters, pillows, plaisters, smooth things, and pleasing songs, even to the end of the chapter!

Quote: While the soul is looking to the law for salvation, there is a necessity the law should be set home. Paul was looking for salvation by it, therefore it was applied with power.

Answer: All men are born under the law; all are, by nature, the children of wrath; all have the veil upon their hearts; and, by nature, no man knows of any way of salvation but by the works of the law. The way of salvation by grace is a way that is hid from the eyes of all living, till God appears, whose prerogative it is to make known the path of life. Now as salvation by works is the only way that is seen by the light of nature, and as this is the way that seemeth right unto a man, though the end thereof be the ways of death, it is a mystery to me, how our Timothy's Christian, who is veiled with darkness and ignorance, should come by so much more knowledge, discernment, and wisdom, than Paul had in his natural state: for thus it follows

Quote: Paul was looking for salvation by the law therefore it was applied with power: but many who are trained up under the gospel did never expect salvation by it.

Answer: There never was a man in the world, let him be trained up how, or under what he might, that never expected salvation by the law. Let a carnal sinner be trained up under the gospel, all that he can attain to is a little speculative knowledge, and perhaps he may learn to prate a little; but still he is under the law, and holds his notions of truth in an unjustified, unrighteous state; and in all his unrighteousness's, both original and actual. And if such an one stands in no need of a law-work, and is vain enough to think that the law will never bring him to a reckoning; sure I am that the law reveals its most dreadful contents against such an one; "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness," Rom. i. 18. This, Timothy, is making void, and setting aside, the lawful use of the law; and is rank Antinomianism, and the effect of a bad spirit.

Quote: Nothing is more common than for those who have had great terror by the law, to look on none to be Christians, but those who have gone through the same terrors themselves have experienced.

Answer: The sinner will never see, nor feel, his sin, till the law comes home to his heart; "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Nor will he ever see the way of salvation from sin, unless he has some brighter light than this Looking-glass affords. God declares, the terrors of the law shall find the sly sinner out. He shall know the severity, as well as the goodness, of the Lord. To the law he must go, as well as to the testimony of the Lord. The saint who dwells on high; whose place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; whose eyes shall see the King in his beauty, and the land that is very far off; even his heart shall meditate terror! Then where is this scribe got?

Quote: Though frequently such are seeing more and more into their own emptiness, and also into the fullness which is in Christ; a sure sign of growing.

Answer: One would think that a man whose knees are weak through fasting, and whose flesh failed of fatness, could never call looking through the window of a cook's shop, a sure sign of his growing fat. These views would have sunk David in despair, if it had not been for faith: "I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Sinners, in the great day, will see enough of their own emptiness, and of the fullness of glory in the Saviour; which will be no sign to them of growing, unless it is growing desperate. The Apostles tell us, that it is receiving out of Christ's fullness, and grace for grace, that is a sure sign of growing in grace.

Quote: It is a pleasing circumstance to meet with a person thirsting after greater attainments: and as carnal security and insensibility are the common badge of the hypocrite, such complaints as these are never made by them.

Answer: All hypocrites are thirsting after great attainments of some sort or other. Simon Magus thirsted for the gift of the Holy Ghost; Judas to be purse-bearer to the King of kings; Saul to be deemed a favourite of God, and for Samuel to honour him before the people as such; Jehu to be a zealot for the Lord, and a reformer of religion; and our Timothy thirsts to be deemed a standard of truth, a touchstone for sincerity, a Looking-glass for the Christian, and a guide to the timorous. But notwithstanding all their thirsting, the former were only promoted to shame; and the latter is left to betray his ignorance, and to discover his own nakedness. Nor are carnal security and insensibility the badge of every hypocrite. Some are given up to desperation; some to a fearful looking for of judgment; and others to violent persecution of the just, as Saul was. Nor are complaints peculiar to the saints; for there are more complaints among the hypocrites in hell, than there are among the saints in the church.

Quote: When the Spirit of God convinces the soul of sin, he never stops there, but goes on to convince of righteousness and judgment.

Answer: If the Spirit convinces of sin, one would think he must shew the sinner the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And if he convinces him of righteousness, he must make him see and feel the scantiness of his own obedience in that glass, and under the workings of the law; for that is the eternal rule of righteousness. The poor sinner will never see nor feel his scanty covering, till he sees the commandment to be exceeding broad.

Quote: When the Spirit of God convinces the soul of sin, he never stops there, but goes on to convince of righteousness and judgment.

Answer: If the Spirit convinces of sin, one would think he must shew the sinner the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And if he convinces him of righteousness, he must make him see and feel the scantiness of his own obedience in that glass, and under the workings of the law; for that is the eternal rule of righteousness. The poor sinner will never see nor feel his scanty covering, till he sees the commandment to be exceeding broad.

This quotation disannuls all that Timothy has enforced before, and makes a law-work absolutely necessary. I have got the name of an Antinomian, and of being led by a bad spirit: and I should think that both the charges were just, if I had been given up of God, or left to myself to publish to the church and world at large, such a piece of deception and confusion as this.

Quote: Even the common light of the gospel brings the natural man a light others have not, who never heard of it.

Answer: It does not appear so by this Looking-glass; for the Author has not common light, nor any light at all, neither into the law, nor the gospel. Nor did it appear so in the Saviour's days; for God hid these things from the wise and prudent, cast them into a deep sleep, closed their eyes and made their ears heavy; and for judgment Christ came into this world, that those that see might be made blind.

Quote: It is a great thing to be satisfied with the light we have received by the Gospel, is of a saving nature, such as no hypocrite in the world ever had.

Answer: I would be glad to know what light this is which no hypocrite ever had. Saul saw the safety of David, and his own future ruin; he knew when God was with him, and when he left him. Balaam saw the Almighty, and knew the knowledge of God: he saw the destruction of Amalek, the valour of Israel, the glorious rise of the future star of Jacob, and the afflictions of Eber. And others are allowed to have all knowledge, and understand all mysteries, and yet these persons were nothing. And these things are ten times more than ever Timothy saw; for he is like the untimely fruit of a woman, which never saw light.

Quote: Let it be observed, this is not a gift for a moment, but of an everlasting nature: the understanding will never be dark, as it was before this change; nor the soul be ever in a state of condemnation again.

Answer: This light in the understanding sets the sinner out of the reach of condemnation; though God says, the lamp of the wicked shall be put out, and the light of his fire shall not shine. And as for Timothy's Christian, as here described, he is no child of God, nor any thing like one. There is not one mark, criterion, or characteristic, in this piece, but the Bible will furnish us with the same, as being found upon ancient hypocrites; I say, not one. What, therefore, is to secure this Christian from condemnation? Repentance, faith, pardon, justification, and reconciliation, are neither insisted on, described, nor applied to him; nor will Timothy ever be able to describe these things, unless God shall give him grace.

I should like to see Timothy's testimony, or a treatise of his conversion: I think it would exercise every faculty of the curious; confound the judgment of the critical reviewers; and exhibit such a medley, as would afford a merry Christmas to the melancholy.

Quote: That divine work which is wrought in the poor soul, may be called that which is born of the Spirit; the real effects of the creating power of the Holy Ghost upon the soul.

Answer: This would puzzle the wise. Here is mention made of a divine work: this work is wrought; this work, wrought, has produced a, 'that;' and the mysterious, 'that,' is what is born of the Spirit; and this curious, 'that,' which is said to be born, is the real effects of creating power. If the Spirit operates upon a soul he regenerates and renews it, and such a soul is said to be born again; if the Spirit puts forth a creating power, a new creature would most likely be formed by such a power; such are said to be created anew, in Christ Jesus, unto good works; such a renewed person, united to the Saviour by the bond of covenant love, is said to be in Christ, and a new creature in Christ Jesus. But we must go to Timothy for an explanation.

Quote: It is a superior work to that which restrains a man from sin; for, by this, a man is possessed of a new nature. This seed will remain to the end: it is a plant of the Father's planting.

Answer: This work which is superior to that which restrains a man from sin, possesses the man with a new nature. One would have thought it would have been sufficient to make the man a new creature. However, this new nature is called a seed, and this seed is called a plant; not to take notice of any difference between seeds and plants. But how this work is performed, and what are the sinner's sensations under it, we are not informed; and what this new nature is, whether human or divine, that we must find out; and whether this seed be the word, the Spirit, brace, or the change itself, we are left in the dark. In the former Quotation, this seed is called a work wrought, and real effects; and the work itself is called, 'that,' which is born. So this work has produced a birth, and this birth has produced a work, for it is the work that is born. This part of the timorous soul's guide is enough to perplex, entangle, confuse, confound, and mislead, the whole family of wisdom. And dreadful must the case of that timorous soul be, who has no better guide than this glass! Such authors, and such productions as these, load the Christian religion and name with reproach. Pray, what could a man of wisdom, much less a novice, or green disciple, make of such a pedigree and genealogy of the new creature, as this, which is to be, found in the fifty-third page of this glass; that divine work, which is wrought, which is, 'that,' which is born, which is real effects, which is creating power, which is a superior work, which is a new nature, which is a seed, which is a plant? God saves us by the washing of regeneration; which consists in purging stubbornness and rebellion from the will; gross darkness from the understanding; carnality and enmity from the mind; corrupt and vile affections from the heart; insensibility, guilt, and dead works, from the conscience. And to regenerate or renew a man by the Holy Ghost, is to produce submission and resignation in his will; to enlighten his understanding with the light of life, to see and feel the spirituality of the law, and his lost estate; to see salvation in the Saviour, and to have the knowledge of it by the forgiveness of sins; to influence his mind with faith, and entertain it with heavenly things; to shed abroad God's love in the heart; and to give him the enjoyment of a purged and pure conscience, and the voice or witness of the Spirit bearing witness therein and thereto that such a soul is justified by his faith, and is a child of God by adoption and grace. I would advise thee, professor, whoever thou art, who art admiring thyself in this glass; and thou timorous soul, whoever thou art, who art seeking directions from this guide; to throw away this false mirror and deceitful guide. And thou, Timothy the founder and manufacturer of this glass, come thou, in company with thy Christian, and thy misguided weakling, to the law, and to the testimony, to the word of God, the touchstone and standard of Heaven; did you, or either of you, ever receive the word, not as the word of man, but, as it is indeed and in truth, the word of God? Did it come home to your heart in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power? Were the thoughts of your hearts made manifest? Was you, or any of you, convinced thereby, and judged thereby; and was your proud heart humbled? Was you brought to fall on your face before God, and to report that God is the supreme and internal speaker of a truth? If you are all strangers to this power, you are deceived, and deceiving one another; and must "err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." The scriptures are clear and conclusive, therefore attend to that divine glass. The scriptures cannot be broken, the Saviour's word shall never pass away; therefore come to this sure guide: the young man must cleanse his way by taking heed thereto. Attend, therefore, to a scriptural pedigree and genealogy of a new creature in Christ. If the word of God never came to your heart with power, you cannot say, "God, of his own will, begat us with the word of truth." And if the sword of the Spirit never cut you to your heart, the caul of your heart, the vail of your heart, was never rent; you have had no true sight nor real sense of sin to humble you; nor can you say, we have received with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. The word must come with power, and in the Holy Ghost, to the lifeless soul, before there can be any spiritual life, motion, or activity, toward God. His children are "born again of incorruptible seed, the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The word of God, when attended by the Spirit of power, is the word of life. "Faith comes by hearing," while the devil and infidelity oppose themselves to faith, hence come conflicts and soul exercise, attended with slavish fear and torment: "He that feareth, hath torment; he that feareth, is not made perfect in love." "Thine heart," says God, "shall meditate terror." "The pains of a travailing woman shall come upon him;" Zion herself shall be in pain to bring forth. The followers of Christ in his personal ministry, who spoke as never man spake, had sorrow as a woman in labour has sorrow; but he saw them again, and their hearts rejoiced. And Christ must be revealed in you; and, if you are his elect, he will manifest himself to you; and then, but not till then, will perfect love cast out fear; and not till then will the birth be made clear: "Everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love;" and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Let no man deceive you, nor deceive one another, "for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." Thou must prove thy own work, Christian, and then thou shalt have rejoicing in thyself alone, and not in another. The witness of men is not sufficient; the witness of God is sure, Nor must thy faith stand in man's wisdom, much less in his craftiness; but in the power of God it must stand. Let no Timothy trust in his own heart; let no Timothy deceive thee, Reader. "He that trusts in his own heart is a fool;" and he that trusts a false guide is no better. "Trust ye not in a friend; put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom." The saint is begotten by God himself; he is quickened by the word of life and Spirit of power. Corruptions oppose the grace of the Spirit, and grace opposes corruptions: the former must yield, and the latter prevail. "Sin shall not have dominion; grace shall reign." Pardoning love, by the Spirit, casts out fear and torment, enlarges the straitened soul, and ushers it into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Such an one has the earnest and witness of the Spirit; the word is rooted in him, lives, grows, and prevails, as an incorruptible seed. And a principle of grace, wrought by the Spirit from the Saviour's fullness, and lodged in the soul, is the seed of God, which cannot sin; and, with the allowance and consent of which, the believer himself cannot sin, because he is born of God. "It is no more I," says Paul, ''but sin that dwelleth in me." This is the man that is a plant of our heavenly Father's planting, which shall never be plucked up. But, as for Timothy and his Christian, they neither see God nor themselves; they have no views nor experience either of law or gospel, sin or grace: there is neither pulling down nor building up, neither rooting up nor planting, seen or described in all this dark lantern.

Quote: But those whose hearts are changed by grace, see a pleasure in religion superior to any this world can pretend to.

Answer: Timothy's Christian, with all his changes, with all his fluxes and refluxes, is allowed no more than an eye; he can only see a pleasure in religion; the feeling part Timothy cannot come at, nor touch on, for the want of quickening grace. He beats about the bush, he gropes about the mount, he peeps here, and mutters there; but, to save his soul, he cannot come to the mark, nor be at a point, in any one truth that is essential to salvation. God resists him, and keeps him at a distance; and his own conscience knows it. Your eyes do not see, Timothy; you see nothing, in comparison to that which some of the ancient hypocrites have seen. Job's seeing eye was not enough; he must feel his captivity turned. The eyes must see, the ears must hear, and the hands must handle, the word of life; eternal life must be laid hold of; Christ must be received into the heart by faith. Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth.

Quote: That religion must be true that springs purely from choice, and which Is the element the soul can only find real pleasure in.

Answer: Then the religion of Simon Magus, and of the Nicolaitans, and of Arius, and of John Wesley, and of Timothy Priestley, must be true; though there does not appear to me to be a grain of grace or true in either of them; and yet all their religion sprung purely from choice, and from a choice purely their own: for none of all these have ever yet dropped any one hint sufficient to satisfy the righteous that either their religion, or their persons, were of God's choosing. And in the religion that sprung from their own choice they took real pleasure. The scriptures say, such "take pleasure in unrighteousness;" and where else can they find it? Not in God, for the carnal mind is enmity; nor in the truth, for it is hidden from their eyes; nor in the power of religion, for they never felt it; nor in the Saviour, for they never knew him.

Quote: Fear and terror may, for a season, cause a man to appear as if his motives were heavenly and spiritual; but religion, which comes from no higher a cause than this will soon vanish, and leave a man worse than he was before.

Answer: Then those poor wretches to whom God comes near, in order to bring them to a reckoning, must be badly off; for they tremble even at his word: and yet he says he will look to such, and dwell with such. God's elect, sooner or later, are sure to feel something of this. Fearfulness and trembling seized the Psalmist. A horror of great darkness fell upon Abraham. Hezekiah and Job did not escape it. And yet, their dreadful fear, and yet their religion, came from a higher cause than Timothy's glass ever knew. "For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people; saying, say ye not, a confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, a confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Paul knew the terrors of the Lord, as well as his love. God's saints see his goodness and severity. As is his fear, so is his wrath. They sing of mercy and of judgment. But our Timothy's Christian is trained up under the Gospel: he never looked to the law for salvation; nor has he ever found it in the Gospel. Here is no account of the covert; and the reason is, because he has never felt the storm.

Quote: Nothing is more common than for creatures to act according to their kind.

Answer: It is true, in one sense. Nevertheless, I have discerned in a certain Looking-glass that there are creatures in the world that would act, if they could, contrary to their nature; and appear to be of a kind, with which there is no more comparison than between a man and a monkey: the latter is only an ugly likeness of the former. There are serpents that would appear as doves; there are goats and wolves that would fain appear to be sheep; there are asses that would like to be thought oxen that tread out the corn; there are fools who would wish to be thought Wise; hypocrites would like the name sincere; impostors would fain appear to be ambassadors; and ministers of Satan have been called apostles. This is not very uncommon. Timothy himself, in the compass of his great knowledge, must have seen, if not have felt, something of this.

Quote: Where there is a growing in grace and knowledge, there will be an increasing' desire to see more clearly into all divine truth, and a greater sensibility of the necessity of the assistance of the Holy Ghost to open the understanding.

Answer: It is necessary that a man be a partaker of grace before he be set to growing. This Christian has only seen his own emptiness, and the Saviour's sufficiency. `An increasing desire to see clearly,' will not do: it is not a desire, but the desire accomplished, that is sweet to the soul. It is not a desire to see divine truth, that will constitute a saint. Behold, God desires truth in the inward parts, Psal. li. 6. Nor will 'a greater sensibility of the necessity of the assistance of the Holy Ghost to open the understanding' do: he must be quickened by the Spirit, be brought into liberty by the Spirit, and have the seal, the witness, and the earnest, of the Spirit; or else, so far from his being a regenerated child of God, he will be as ignorant of it, as far from it, as destitute of it, the nature of it, the account of it, or the common notions of it, as Timothy's glass itself. I doubt not but this close shaving will offend many a reader, of this. My answer to such is, it was not thou, reader, that called me, commissioned me, or sent me. Gainsayers' mouths must be stopped, or they will subvert whole houses. Let me stand or fall to my own master: he shall shew, in the great day, who is influenced by a bad spirit, and who by a good one; who is the deceiver, and who is a true guide; and who bears a false testimony for God, and who a true one; William Huntington, or Timothy Priestley. One of the two is most surely wrong, and the author of palpable deception.

Quote: As a sailor, in a storm, is supposed to use all the skill he is master of, so should a christian on his knees. All his light and knowledge ought to be in full exercise.

Answer: Light is God, for God is light; and the Christian is not able to exercise this great light as he can wave a torch or a taper. It is not in his power to command the light to shine out of darkness, nor to shine into it: he has no power nor authority to command the sun, nor the day-spring to know his place. And as to his exercising his knowledge, it is of but little use, seeing knowledge puffeth up; nor has such a dead sinner much encouragement to exercise his knowledge upon God, seeing God allows a hypocrite to have all knowledge, and yet be nothing. But why do I go such a round to answer this, seeing Timothy's Christian, and Timothy himself, have neither light nor knowledge to exercise?

Quote: It is not the multitude of our words, but how our minds lay hold on an invisible God.

Answer: Neither the carnal nor the renewed mind can do this: it is peculiar to faith to lay hold; and it must be the faith of God's elect, or that faith which is of the operation of the Spirit of God, or else it cannot take hold. And I add, the mind must not only be enlightened, but it must be influenced by the Spirit of faith, and be purified by faith; yea, and the object must be presented to the mind, before any hold can be laid: the Lord must take hold of us, or our hold of him will be of little use. Nor is an invisible God, or unincarnate divinity, the first object of our hold: the real child of God knows that the son of man, the covenant head, who is called the covenant, the skirt of that Jew, the man made strong, is the object of hold. They "shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew;" "Let them take hold of my covenant;" "Let him take hold of my strength, and he shall make peace with me." This is not coming by the door; this is not going, in the consecrated way, through the veil of Christ's flesh: this is casting anchor, but not considering the veil. "No man can come to the Father but by me." This, Timothy, is climbing up the wrong way. Not one page in all this devilish glass but what is pregnant with confusion and deception. If my reader thinks me censorious or false, let him point out any one page, and I will confine my razor to that.

Quote: The believer has his mind wholly taken up with the general doctrines of the gospel. He may see those so clear and distinct, as to be puffed up with high notions of his own attainments: but this is the fault of his corrupt nature. A little knowledge puffeth up; but great knowledge lays the soul low.

Answer: Here we have a believer, whose mind is wholly taken up with gospel doctrines: he sees them clear and distinct. This believer's doctrines are afterwards called his notions, and his attainments; yet this believer is wholly taken up with these doctrines, and sees them both clear and distinct; therefore his knowledge must be great. However, Timothy having asserted that this clear and distinct viewer is puffed up, he then settles the point, by declaring that a little knowledge puffeth up, but great knowledge, such as seeing things clear and distinct, lays the soul low. I will not say, that he builds again that which he destroyed, and so makes himself a transgressor; but this I will say, that he himself disproves what he before asserted, and so makes himself inconsistent, though not a transgressor.

Paul had great knowledge, and he fetched some of it from the third heaven; and had a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him, lest he should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. And if our Timothy had some of the same devil's stirrup-oil, his mouth would be stopped from speaking lies. Nevertheless, there is some truth in what Tim says, if he will take it to himself; for he has but little knowledge, and yet is greatly puffed up. Had he great knowledge, either of God or himself, he would curse this Looking-glass, and repent in dust and ashes for his folly in sending it abroad into the world; and I think he will do it, either in the land of the living or beyond the grave.

Quote: As in many other cases, it is only the sincere Christian who is exercised with such fears.

Answer: Timothy having formerly asserted, that the religion which rises from no higher cause than fear, will soon vanish, and leave a man worse than he was before, now declares, that 'it is only the sincere Christian who is exercised with such fears.' To which I reply, that the Christian who sees himself in this mirror, and the timorous soul who trusts in this guide, are not alone, nor singular, in this respect. Other hypocrites, as well as these sincere souls, have had these fears about them: "The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Hence it appears that ancient hypocrites, as well as modern; Judas the traitor, as well as Timothy's Christian; have been exercised with the same fears; and that not without some real ground, nor yet without a just cause. And I wish that Tim and his Christian were exercised sharply therewith: they might keep them back from presumptuous sins, so that they might not have a complete dominion over them; though they would not, in another sense, be upright before God, nor innocent from the great transgression.

Quote: Sometimes the Christian will find much difficulty in his mind what person to pray to. Satan, if permitted, will be very active at such a season, and tempt the believer to go by the light of fancy, and not by the word of God.

Answer: I know not how he should be otherwise than perplexed with difficulty what person to pray to. The lawful use of the law is denied, in which the Father teacheth us; the manifestation of Christ is neither enforced nor described, by which alone the Saviour is known; nor the real operations of the Holy Ghost in any sense laid down or displayed; therefore the Reader must be as much perplexed as the glass itself: for, as the Author cannot describe the operations of any one person in the Trinity, it is not likely that his readers should know the way to, or how to address, either of them. But should God, in the displays of grace, ever bring any of them to experience the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, they would then see and know, not only what Paul means by "making all men see what is the fellow ship of this mystery, and what the riches of the glory of this inheritance in the saints;" but they would likewise see what are the deceptions and damnable delusions of Timothy's glass also. If Timothy's pupil goes by the light of fancy, he will act just as his tutor does; for he himself has no other light than what is reflected either from the devil, or his own imagination, neither of which can be called the true light which now shineth: for the darkness, according to this glass, is by no means past; but rather the shadows of the evening are stretched out. This glass reflects a wonderful composition. By the Author's setting aside the lawful use of the law, an ingredient of Antinomianism appears. By his directing the sinner's mind to lay hold of an invisible God, an ingredient of Deism is exhibited. By his allowing the Christian no more than a sight of spiritual objects, one would think Swedenborgianism was intended, And as the Christian of this glass has neither feeling nor application described, one would think that Sandemanianism was aimed at. And by the safety of those who are of little knowledge, one would think Popery, or Ignorance, the mother of devotion, was to be established. But as great knowledge lays the soul low, one would be led to conclude that the kingdom of God in word, not in power, is to be exalted and established by this wonderful mirror. If the Author of this Looking-glass be not an unenlightened, unconverted, unregenerated, uninstructed, uninspired, and unrenewed professor; and if he be not an uncommissioned, uncalled, unsent, unqualified minister; let him, for his own honour, and for the glory of God, publish a reason of his hope, and an account of his call to the office he holds: for I must confess that I stand in doubt of him. This is commanded by the King of kings, and is what the laws of Zion allow; "Give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you;" "The Spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets;" We are to "try the spirits, whether they are of God." And to try them which say they are apostles; and to prove them liars, if they are not. These things being a divine grant, I call upon thee, Timothy, for a reason of thy hope, and for thy commission from God as a guide to the timorous. I am warranted, by the word of the Lord, to call for this; and as a citizen of Zion, I use my liberty, assert my rights, and call for thy confession.

Having spent 64 pages in poring upon the understanding, and seen nothing; and having toiled all the night, and taken nothing: we are going now to let our light shine, and to let down our net for a draught. You shall now see us hammering and mauling our second general head.

Quote: Having taken notice of the change made in the understanding by regeneration, I would, secondly, shew how those who are born of the Spirit are said to be made partakers of the divine nature. This is not by a participation of the divine essence, which is incommunicable to any creature.

Answer: In this last quotation, Reader, you may see the devil, and Timothy too. Take notice here, the Christian is allowed to be a partaker of the divine nature, but not of the divine essence. Here is a difference made between divine nature and divine essence: the former we may have; the latter is incommunicable. The scriptures declare, that we are made partakers of Christ, and partakers of the Holy Ghost. Timothy seems, to me, to deny the Saviour and the Holy Ghost to be essentially God, because the saints are not partakers of the divine essence. One would think that the essence and quintessence of deity must be holiness; and Paul says, God chastens us for our profit, "that we might be partakers of his holiness." By this clause Timothy unintentionally gives us to understand that nothing divine has ever yet been communicated to him, which is what I firmly believe both in my heart and conscience. I should be glad for Tim, to shew what he means by divine essence, and the difference between what he calls divine nature and divine essence. Peter's meaning is, that the Holy Ghost is promised in the word of God; and, when we embrace the promise in faith, the Spirit comes as a comforter into the heart; "We receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." This doctrine seems to be calculated to deceive and entangle those who received not the truth in the love of it; who are given up to believe a lie, that they might be damned. Those who are thus given up of God, I expect not to undeceive: it is for the sake of elect sinners, who may be deceived by this glass, that I take this work in hand. In the two last quotations, Reader, are three scraps of the damnable delusions of Doctor Priestley. This Timothy is a snake in the grass; he is rotten at bottom, and empty throughout: but, by the help of God, I will unease him, and expose his secret treasures of darkness.

Quote: Nor is it by a personal union with the divine nature.

Answer: I don't read the word personal in the Bible. We may well content ourselves with speaking as the oracles of God. The head and the members, the vine and the branch, the foundation and the building, the king and his subjects, the lamb and his wife, are in union: which is an union of persons, if not a personal union. And these two are one; two are one flesh. "We are of his flesh, and of his bone. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." "He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are both of one." "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." This is Bible language. And again, "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." "I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." These things declare a blessed oneness, and a glorious union. We have fellowship with the Father, and his son Jesus Christ; and we have communion with the Holy Ghost. And how we can have communion with the Holy Ghost, without any union, is a mystery that I cannot find out, and a mystery that Timothy's glass can never explain. If the Holy Ghost dwells in the believer, one would think there must be a union with him, and a close union too. Paul says, we are partakers of the Holy Ghost; and declares, that the Holy Ghost is Jehovah: "Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Quote: But those who were by nature children of wrath, and might be said to be of their father the devil, on account of their natures, by this change are renewed in the spirit of their minds.

Answer: That which has been all along called a light in the understanding, is now called a renewing in the spirit of the mind. The aforesaid light, and the aforesaid understanding, which now appear to be a renewing in the mind, is introduced and held forth instead of spiritual, vital, and heart-felt, union with the Lord. Let the devil alone for this: he knows what he is at, though Timothy does not.

Quote: And by the Holy Spirit they have put upon them the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness; therefore may be said to be partakers of a divine nature.

Answer: This quotation requires some degree of wisdom. `By the Spirit they have put upon them the new man.' Take notice here, Reader, that there is nothing said, revealed, applied, or done, by the Spirit: his name is only mentioned or brought in, just for a cloak or a blind; he is not represented as saying, revealing, bringing, applying, or doing, any thing. The sinner is the grand agent in the whole of this business. 'By the Spirit they have put upon them the new man:' but whether Timothy's new man be put upon their heads, or their shoulders, we are not informed. However, this man is not Peter's hidden man of the heart; for Timothy's new man is put upon his Christian. Paul speaks of putting on the new man; but he is only directing a regenerate person how to behave himself: "Put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, and put on the new man;" let him appear in your conversation, But our Tim is shewing the work of regeneration itself; and tells us that his believer puts upon him this new man of his: but who made this new man, where he came from, and how Timothy's Christian came by him, and where he has placed him, is what we must find out. But we are farther informed, that this new man, which Timothy's Christian puts upon himself, is created in righteousness and true holiness. If in righteousness, one would think it must be something revealed in him, instead of his putting it upon him; For it is "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness:" and, if Timothy's new man "is created in true holiness," one would be ready to conclude it must be the holy and blessed Spirit of God, for I know of no true holiness but what is divine. Only we must observe that the new man of the scripture is wrought in the believer while Timothy's new man is put upon his Christian, and that by himself.

As this 65th page is a dangerous and damnable bog, I must spend some time here; and therefore I will dissect every inch of it in order to get to the bottom of it, lest any of Christ's sheep should happen to fall in it. And for this labour I expect but little thanks; for when graceless professors take shelter under, and measure and compare themselves with, a blind guide, they huddle together like pigs in a pound, and are ready to laugh the Hebrews to scorn: but, when the word of truth exposes the cheat, and makes manifest the folly of the deceiver, the hypocrites are as fierce as the Philistines of Gath. From this class I expect no mercy.

Quote: The nature such have, before regeneration, is called sensual, carnal, and earthy: now being changed, they are, in their measure, spiritual, heavenly, and holy.

Answer: Tim having described these two grand branches of a divine change; the first, is seeing a man's own emptiness, and the Saviour's fullness; the second, is the sinner's putting upon himself a new man; now proceeds to shew the effect; which is, that they are spiritual, heavenly, and holy. Who would think that a carnal, sensual sinner, by seeing his own emptiness, and putting Timothy's fancied man upon him, could have such a treasure in him, especially as the Saviour, the Spirit, and holiness, have no place in the soul?

Quote: The change is from darkness to light, from enmity to love, from sin to holiness, and from death to life.

Answer: All this Tim took from my writings: I will not say he stole them, because it may be he bought the book. But I know my own doctrines, and I know they are badly applied here; for there is neither light, love, holiness, nor life, in all this Looking-glass, nor yet in the Author of it; if there had, it would have been discovered: for it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. "Counsel in the heart of man is as deep waters; and the wards of wisdom a flowing brook." The ointment of the right hand will betray itself; Prov. xxvii. 16. How Tim's Christian should have light without the candle of the Lord searching the innermost parts of the belly; and how he should get love without dwelling in God, and God dwelling in him, I know not; and how he should have life, without the Lord of life and glory living in him, is what I cannot get at, and it is what Timothy cannot bring out.

Quote: All kinds of creatures have natures peculiar to themselves, and the end for which they are designed of God: so there are a peculiar people, of whom God may say, "This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise."

Answer: So they have: both hypocrites and devils have a nature peculiar to them, and are overruled to answer God's designs, though they mean not so. And it is true God has a peculiar people, of whom he may say, of whom he hath said, and does say, "This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise." But Timothy's Christian is one of his own forming. A man with a dark lantern on his head, and a new man upon him, differs widely from a vessel of mercy, or from one of the Lord's new creation. God doth not make a man a monster, but a new creature.

Quote: Few are aware how near to God such a change brings a man. Paul says, "we, who were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

Answer: Paul is treating of the purgation of sin by blood: Tim is talking about the words, change and regeneration, by the Spirit. By Tim's change we are made nigh by blood, and yet few are aware of it. It is sin that separates between God and the soul. The sinner's conscience must be purged by atoning blood: and he must have the knowledge of salvation from sin by the forgiveness of it, and be renewed in the spirit of his mind afterwards, or else he must die in his sin, and perish. Regeneration, but no pardon! no repentance! Strange doctrine this; and more strange still to be brought nigh, and not to be aware of it! The self-lost, self-condemned, dejected, weary, heavy laden, wounded, perishing sinner, who is brought nigh to God, to obtain pardon, peace, rest, quietude, righteousness and strength, hope and happiness, life and love, will soon be aware of it, feel it, know it, exult and rejoice in it, and be thankful for it, and be telling everybody of it: but this soul-change, the power and experience of religion, Timothy Priestley knows nothing of; and his own conscience knows it.

Quote: Isaac's being heir was on account of his being the son of Abraham.

Answer: Paul says, no; "Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children." The rich man who lifted up his eyes in hell was a son of Abraham; and so was Ishmael, as well as Isaac. It was because Isaac was an elected heir of promise, a child of God by pre-adoption, that he was made heir of Abraham's blessing and substance. "The children of the promise are counted for the seed."

Quote: Many truly gracious persons pass much of their time groping in the dark; but this is chiefly owing to a defect in the understanding.

Answer: And the chief cause of the aforesaid groping, and defects in their understanding, is because blind guides pretend to lead them. If the Spirit of God, which is as a candle, burns and shines in the preacher, he becomes a burning and a shining light, and gives light to all that are in the house; yea, the whole body, that he ministers to, shall be full of light: but when a wolf; or an hypocrite, gets into such an office, his eye is evil, and the whole body is full of darkness. Can publishing such confusion as this be called sowing light for the righteous, or gladness for the upright in heart, when there is not one page sound, not one scripture explained, nor one text quoted, but what is falsely applied, or perverted, in the whole book? If Timothy denies the charge, let him point out one; and, if God will, I will answer him. Let the timorous soul censure me, and let the hypocrite revile me as much as he may, I insist upon it, in the face of heaven and earth, that this book is nothing but deception, and can only betray the ignorant blindfold into the hands of Satan; for, by the doctrine of this glass and this guide, he shall never see his interest clear in this world, nor God with acceptance in the next. I will not say that Timothy writes in a bad spirit; but this I will say, that this book is dictated by a lying spirit; for there is not one evidence drawn up, nor one criterion in it, but what contradicts the bible, and the bible contradicts that.

Quote: As the Holy Spirit is not at all honoured by the carnal, so he is only by the Christian as he grows in experience.

Answer: I would be glad to know what experience. In your account of a change in the understanding, the sinner sees his own emptiness, and the Saviour's fullness; and I insist upon it, that every desperate and despairing hypocrite sees the same, but he cannot apply it; and the damned themselves, in the great day; will see the same. Not one humbling view of actual transgressions; no sight or sense of secret sins being set in the light of God's countenance; no sight nor sense of the native enmity and desperate wickedness of the human heart; no sight of the spirituality of God's holy law; no sight nor sense of the terrible majesty of an angry God; nor yet of our sins being sensibly removed, and cast behind God's back; in all this piece of deception, falsely called a glass and a guide. Then what experience has he? None, nor any hope; for it is experience that worketh hope.

Quote: We are exhorted to be angry, and not sin.

Answer: Then we must be angry at nothing but sin: and in this sense God is angry; for he is angry with the wicked every day. Being encouraged by this quotation, I may proceed with the Barber; for I am angry with nothing in Timothy, nor with any thing in his book, but what I know to be lies and deception, which appear to me to be sin: For, "He that speaketh flattery to his friends, the eyes of his children shall fail."

Quote: The man that conquers his spirit, does more than he that takes a city,

Answer: I am glad that I am permitted to shave a man who is not moved with choler. `Grace will, in the issue, mollify the most lion-like temper.' I believe it will; and teach a man to rend his own heart, sooner than rend his neighbour's garment; and if Timothy had conquered his pride, this book had not appeared abroad.

Quote: The seaman's compass may toss in the storm; but, when the wind ceases, it will not rest until it stands due north.

Answer: But the believer has got a compass that no storm can toss, though the believer may: nor will his compass ever let him rest at quiet, till his eyes can behold the sun, and be at a point about the state of his soul.

Quote: It is the art of the adversary to put us upon examining ourselves in a storm.

Answer: If ever Timothy did examine himself, it must have been at such a time; for he is in the storm yet; nor does he appear to have been out of it: nor do I believe the adversary ever troubled him much; for the criterions of this book appear to me to be the devil's own manufactory, and we are informed that Satan is not divided against himself.

Timothy has spent 64 pages upon the understanding of his Christian; his Christian I call him, for a real one is quite another man; and he has brought him to see his own emptiness, and likewise to put upon himself a new man: and then he has represented him as being a partaker of the Holy Ghost. And, notwithstanding all this toil and labour, Tim has some doubts upon his mind, whether this Christian of his has any real life in him or not: for my part, I am certain he has not. However, in order to make sure work of it, Tim, now proceeds to his resurrection, or to raise him from the dead, though one would have thought, that a soul must have been alarmed, awakened, and quickened, antecedent to his being spiritually born, or brought forth into the liberty of the children of God. To talk of quickening to life, after the birth is over, is to expose our judgment to the criticisms of all the old matrons in the nation. Regardless, however, of the opinion of these old women, we shall proceed to a resurrection, in which our sense and meaning shall appear as conspicuous as the sun at midnight, and our judgment in the thing as clear as a cloudy day. From what part of Timothy's text this resurrection is drawn, I do not know, nor has he told me.

Quote: I come now to the third thing proposed: to shew why this great change is compared to a resurrection, or raising us up again.

Answer: Here is not one spiritual or experimental description of a resurrection. Here is no description of the great trumpet being blown, to awake the sleepy conscience; no description of the Spirit of life from God entering, and quicken the dead sinner, in order to set him upon his feet; no description of the veil of ignorance, the shackles of guilt, and his filthy rags; those head-bands, feet-bands, and grave-clothes, that are wrapped about the sinner being taken off; no account of the piercing, cutting, heart-searching, sin-manifesting, voice of the Son of God; which, Paul says, "is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword; piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," Heb. iv. 12. This heart-work and deep ploughing are left for the servants of Christ to describe. Tim's productions are to please men. However, this I know, that if hypocrites do not condemn a servant of Christ for his faithfulness, Christ will condemn him for the want of it: "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers of the false prophets."

Quote: If we could discern the soul as distinctly as we do the body, and see the change made in it by the power of God, we should be struck with as much surprise as in seeing Lazarus come from his grave.

Answer: The reason why you cannot see the soul as distinctly as the body, is, because the word and Spirit of God have not searched your heart, nor tried your reins, nor made manifest the counsels, thoughts, and intents of your heart. If these things had been done in you, you would have found that there is nothing in your soul but what would have been made manifest by this light, which doth appear. Nor can you expect to see a change in your soul, when you know that there never was any change made. That which brought Lazarus from the grave was power communicated, and that to the glory of God.

The few lines at the bottom of page 87, which express the opposition of the sinner's soul to a work of grace, were pilfered out of my book entitled, 'The Justification of a Sinner, and Satan's Law-suit with him.' And, indeed, it was my ' History of Little Faith,' that first gave rise and birth to this dim Looking-glass and blind guide for timorous souls.

Quote: Lazarus, when raised from the dead, might walk among the tombs with a peculiar feeling; and think, when among the dead, what himself was but the other day. We should take such walks every day, and never forget the hole from whence we have been digged.

Answer: That, Timothy, is as much as can be expected from you; but if the devil was cast out of your heart, you would not be found groping or lodging among the tombs. Souls that are effectually risen with Christ, do not seek the living among the dead; they know he is not there, but risen. Lazarus's tomb is the hole of the pit whence Timothy and his Christian were digged. I think the womb of Sarah, and the tomb of Lazarus, are two distinct things. The first was quickened to bear the living, the other opened to receive the dead.

Quote: If the Christian gets one peep at the infinite and everlasting love, which is the cause of such a change, how will it engage his thoughts! animate him in every duty! how support him in every difficulty!

Answer: Cain had not only a peep at this love, but an open view of it, in the acceptance of Abel and his offering. Esau had the same peep when Jacob had got the blessing. And Saul peeped at it also, when he saw that the Lord was with David, and the devil with him. And yet neither of those peepers were animated in duty, nor supported in difficulty. A real saint beholds with open face the glory of the Lord: but peeping and muttering are palmed upon devils and wizards, Isa. viii. 19.

Quote: We shall perfectly see the design and the end of our being raised again at the general resurrection: but why do not we see this, as we might, if we were more engaged in the study of it?

Answer: It is a poor spiritual resurrection from a death in sin, and hardly worth the name, if the risen soul sees neither the design nor the end of it. However, Tim perhaps, may wait till then; for, as yet, he sees nothing of it. Nor will engaging in study effect it: it is Almighty Power displayed, and not man's thinking, that brings it about.

Quote: In all the work of God's hands, something of his design may be seen.

Answer: Solomon says, No. "No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him;" though a child of God knows both, by what God has done in him.

Quote: Suppose the prodigal had understood animate him in every duty! how support him in every difficulty!

Answer: Cain had not only a peep at this love, but an open view of it, in the acceptance of Abel and his offering. Esau had the same peep when Jacob had got the blessing. And Saul peeped at it also, when he saw that the Lord was with David, and the devil with him. And yet neither of those peepers were animated in duty, nor supported in difficulty. A real saint beholds with open face the glory of the Lord: but peeping and muttering are palmed upon devils and wizards, Isa. viii. 19.

Quote: We shall perfectly see the design and the end of our being raised again at the general resurrection: but why do not we see this, as we might, if we were more engaged in the study of it?

Answer: It is a poor spiritual resurrection from a death in sin, and hardly worth the name, if the risen soul sees neither the design nor the end of it. However, Tim. perhaps, may wait till then; for, as yet, he sees nothing of it. Nor will engaging in study effect it: it is Almighty Power displayed, and not man's thinking, that brings it about.

Quote: In all the work of God's hands, something of his design may be seen.

Answer: Solomon says, No. "No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him;" though a child of God knows both, by what God has done in him.

Quote: Suppose the prodigal had understood the design of God in bringing him to himself, what a change would have taken place in his frame!

Answer: Understanding a future design does not change the frame. The devils know that the Judge will bring them to his bar at the great day; yea, they believe, and tremble, which is more; yea, they have some guess at the time when, and asked the Lord, if he were come to torment them before the time? and yet this produces no change in their frame. That which changes the sinner's frame, is the Holy Ghost given to the believer, who is essentially God; and that which purifies the heart is faith, which is "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Future designs are understood by many, but this faith is found in but few.

Quote: Go to a man in prison for debt, and capital crimes. Suppose his body full of sores. Shew this man, in a mirror, his debts paid, his crimes pardoned, his body cured, and himself made heir of an immense fortune; and all this from a peculiar regard the king had for him. Inform him, the king had a fixed intention to make him the first nobleman in the kingdom. Tell him, he must come out of this prison, and converse with this king to the end of his life, how would such a man feel?

Answer: Just as Israel did when his sons told him that Joseph was alive: "Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not." And as the Apostles did, when the woman told them the Saviour was risen, whose words were taken for idle tales. And Timothy's supposed debtor would say in his heart, that all men are liars unless the bearers of such good tidings could work faith in the debtor's heart to believe them. It is not seeing things in a mirror, but the accomplishment of the things themselves, that would produce good feelings, and enable our supposed debtor to confess the bearers of such tidings to be good men, and that the word in their mouth was truth.

Quote: If we understood more fully the resurrection of Christ, and knew more how we are raised together with him, we should see more than a pledge of all this in him who is the mark and prize of our high calling.

Answer: If the Saviour was not the quickening Spirit, the Lord from Heaven, when he descended, 1 Cor. xv. 45, 47; if he was not essentially God, when he was made flesh, John i. 14; if he was not the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, when a child born, and a son given, Isa, ix. 6; if he was not Immanuel, God with us, when upon earth, Matt. i. 23; if he was not the Most Holy, when he was anointed, Dan. ix. 24; if he was not the Prince of Life, and Lord of Glory, when put to death, Acts iii. 15. 1 Cor. ii.; if he was not the Holy One which did not see corruption, Psalm xvi. 10; if he was not declared to be the son of God with power, by his resurrection from the dead, Rom, i. 4; if he was not the Lord of Hosts, mighty in battle, when he ascended up on high, and led captivity captive, Psal. lxviii. 1 S; xxiv. 28; if he is not the first and the last, the Almighty, and King of Glory on his throne, Rev. xxii. 13; if he be not the omniscient God, who makes all the churches know that he searches the reins and the hearts, Rev. ii. 23; if he be not the omnipotent God, who bears up the pillars of heaven and earth; if he be not the omnipresent God, who is with his people always to the end of the world; if he be not a distinct person from the Father, who is to be honoured by all men with equal honour, John v. 23; if he be not equal with his rather, and that without robbery, Phil. ii:6, his resurrection will be of no more use to Timothy's Christian than the resurrection of Lazarus. No man can redeem his brother from the grave, nor pay to God a ransom for him; the redemption of the soul is precious, Psal. xlix. 7, 8. To talk of being risen with Christ, being a new creature, and partakers of the Holy Ghost, without being assured of it, is strange language! By God's help, Timothy, I will bring you forth to the light. "If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins." "The mystery of God, of the Father, and of Christ," must be acknowledged; and fellowship with this mystery, must he seen and felt, Timothy. The Father's love must draw the sinner to the Son. Eternal life must be communicated to the soul, when Christ, who is our life is received by faith; and the Spirit must bear his witness within the believer, before he can have any fellowship with this mystery, and insight into it, or experimental knowledge of it. You do err, Timothy, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, Timothy. He had a glory with the Father, as an equal to him; not of the Father, as a dependant on him; and that before the world was, John xvii. 5. In the purpose of God, in the covenant of grace, and as considered future Man, or Covenant head, he was set up from everlasting to be King and Mediator, or mediatorial King, by an assumption of human nature, which he then agreed to assume in future; for in no other sense can the first and the last, the self-existent I am, and the Most High God, be said to be set up. But, as for the damnable delusion of Doctor Priestley; and of which our Timothy sends forth a stinking savour; namely, that of 'the human soul of Christ pre-existing,' it is a most damnable error, and never had any foundation or existence even in the conscience of devils, for they know better; but only in the hearts of Satan's children, with whom any thing goes down, because they are out of hell. "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." So that Christ's human soul could not pre-exist from eternity; for nothing was made but in those six days: neither heaven, nor earth, nor any thing else, was made till time and creation began. Besides, it is said of the Eternal Logos, that "all things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." So that, otherwise, he must make himself; and then the question will be, Who is that Maker? The scriptures declare, that "for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things."

You secretly stick fast in this damnable bog, friend Timothy; nor do I expect to bring you out, unless it be to discover you, that you may not lead others into it

Quote: What is that life we shall live with him, who is the Lord of life, in the upper world?

Answer: Christ is here called the Lord of life, but then it is in the upper world. Why this curtailing? Why this keeping things back that are so profitable? Why this walking in craftiness, and handling the word of God deceitfully? Why this cunning, this damnable deception, Timothy? Why hast thou kept back part of the price of the potter's field?" The scriptures declare that it was the Prince of Life, and Lord of Glory, that was put to death for us, Acts iii. 15; 1 Cor. ii. 3. Why is the word, glory, left out? And why is he, under this title, the Lord of life, confined to the upper world? The Holy Ghost says, "The God of the whole earth shall he be called," as well as the Lord of Hosts, and King of Glory, in heaven, Psal, xxiv. 7, 9.

I am reproached as being influenced by a bad spirit, let it be so; and am called an Antinomian, and I have no objection to that: but I would not be found, in the great day, to be the author of, and to have my name stand affixed to, such a damnable piece of craftiness, lies, and deception, as this Looking-glass, for a million worlds. I doubt not but many poor, weak believers, who read this, may wish that I had treated this Author as a reverend Divine, a servant of the Lord, a fellow-labourer, a brother in the faith, or as a Christian at least. If I had proceeded thus, I must have acted the hypocrite, as this Author has done; I must have belied my own conscience, and have filled my pages with confusion, lies, and deception; because I do not in my heart believe him to be either a servant of the Lord, a brother, or a real Christian. In this respect, we are not to answer a fool according to his folly, lest we be like unto him. As a poor sinner saved, I dare not measure nor compare myself with him, nor does the Holy Ghost call such men the servants of the Lord, the angels of the churches, or the officers of them; but rather the filth and fag-end of a nation: "The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail," Isa. ix. 15.

Quote: We are exhorted to set our affections on things above: but how shall we, if we neglect looking at these things by faith?

Answer: Man's affections are natural, vile, and corrupt. God's love must be shed abroad in the heart first. "God is love." God must dwell in the saint, and the saint in God, before he can set his affections on things above; and this you know nothing of. Faith is the work of God: it is his arm put forth and revealed that enables a man to believe the gospel report. But then this power, this arm revealed, must be known and felt.

Quote: Those very complaints prove he is quickened, and passed from death to life.

Answer: The fool troubles his own house; and "He that is cruel, troubleth his own flesh." Fools, because of their iniquities, are plagued: some have howled upon their beds, and others have been possessed and worn down by the devil. All these are full of complaints; and yet their complaints were no proof of their being quickened, nor of their passing from death to life, but rather from life to death. God had many complainers and murmurers in the wilderness; especially those against whom he swore, in his wrath, that they should not enter his rest. It is being purged from guilt, which is the sting of death; and being delivered from the law, which is the ministration of death; and receiving Christ into the heart, by faith, that brings a soul from death to life, so as never more to come into condemnation: and surely such a soul is not a complainer!

Quote: Those great joys which many have when they are in their first love, is not on account of the understanding being particularly concerned in it; it is a joy founded in sense, which is very uncertain.

Answer: This first love and great joy, which are so very uncertain, are preferred by the Lord to every thing else. "I know thy works and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou has tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen." Timothy tells us that joy, which springs from first love, is a joy founded in sense, and is very uncertain. However, the apostle John gloried in it; our eyes have seen, our ears have heard, and our hands have handled, the word of Life, 1 John i. I. And sure I am that Jesus blessed the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the loving soul; and I think the word, sense, implies all these: for if seeing, hearing, and feeling, is not sense, I do not know what is. And Paul says, let a man have all knowledge, and understand all mysteries; if he hath not charity, he is nothing; "Charity never faileth." So that Timothy's very uncertain criterion is the apostle's never-failing evidence.

Quote: In all appearance, it will be found to be only the effect of force and fear, not of will and choice.

Answer: When the commandment came to Paul with power, force was felt; and, as soon as he trembled and feared, he departed from evil: a divine power made him willing, and then he willed that which was good. And when Ananias informed him that God had chosen him, he was influenced to choose the good part; "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," saith the Saviour. Paul's conversion was the effect of force, fear, will, and choice; and all was of grace.

Quote: Nothing will bring a man to seek his happiness in God, in this world, but real grace.

Answer: "When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, then he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail." "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me," John vii. 34. "Ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins." "Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." All these seek for happiness in God, but find it not; therefore are not partakers of real grace.

Quote: The splendid professor may soar aloft in the air; but, like the crow, he comes to the earth for his food.

Answer: It is peculiar to the real saints to soar aloft. God is said to bear them as upon eagles' wings; and it is added, "They shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Nor is Tim's splendid professor obliged to come to the earth for his food; the Devil, who is the prince of the power of the air, and who keeps his court there, can just as well feed him in the air as upon the earth.

Quote: The evangelist mentions some "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would, no doubt, have continued with us."

Answer: To go out of a church that is planted and watered by the ministry of an evangelist, is a scriptural mark of reprobation; but to forsake the ministry, the doctrines, and the rule or government, of such a man as Timothy Priestley, appears to me to be a mark of real grace, for it is obedience to the Father's will; "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge." And it is added, by way of threatening, that "the companion of fools shall be destroyed."

Quote: A covetous man, in a dangerous disorder, especially in extreme pain, will part with his money to a physician or surgeon, rather than lose his life or limb; but this is purely force.

Answer: How can it be purely force, when it is at every man's option whether he will have a doctor or not? Besides, you say he will part with his money rather than lose a limb; and if he does this willingly, how can it be force? There is the force of truth, and often force of argument, and always the force of divine power, used in bringing every elect sinner to God. "Compel them to come pain;" "Bring them in;" "They shall come after me in chains." There is force in all these expressions; but, for the want of regeneration, Timothy cannot describe it, therefore his aim is to set it aside. If he had said, �l forced myself into the vineyard, and I forced myself to publish this glass, just as Saul forced himself to offer an offering,' he would have said the truth; and his own conscience would have borne witness to it.

Quote: It is love that is the cause why we see ourselves.

Answer: I should have thought that light had been the sole cause of self-discovery. "Whatsoever maketh manifest is light." The word, ourselves, should have been left out: for Timothy never had one real view of his own heart; nor of the desperate evil of sin; nor of the spirituality of the law; nor of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We need no other proof than this Looking-glass.

Quote: The unregenerate man, whatever effect terror or conviction may have on him, will only comply with religion on account of something future, such as an escape from eternal punishment.

Answer: Paul began here: he knew the terrors of the Lord, and therefore persuaded men. The Psalmist began here also; "Fearfulness and trembling hath taken hold upon me, and I am afraid of thy judgments." This was part of Noah's religion. He was warned of God of future things, of things not seen as yet: and being moved with fear, he prepared an ark to the saving of his house: and by this he condemned the world. Such souls fear, and depart from evil. They foresee the evil, and hide themselves; while the wicked pass on and are punished. John's pupils had fear and torment, till perfect love cast it out: all sincere souls comply with religion, on account of something future; to escape hell, and obtain heaven, is all they have in view.

Quote: Could any one assure him he should overcome all sin, and never turn back to folly, it would be more than taking a thorn out of his foot; it would be a salvation above all salvations.

Answer: It is true: to assure a man of his own salvation is a greater miracle than that of drawing a thorn out of the foot. The latter may be done with a pair of pliers, or pincers; but the former is the work of omnipotence put forth, communicated, and displayed; it is Almighty strength made perfect in human weakness. And salvation from sin is greater than all salvations. It is the first revealed branch of it. Jesus shall save his people from their sins, from devils, from wrath, from death, and from hell, and saves them to heaven. Tim has illuminated his christian, put a new man upon him, raised him from the dead, and regenerated him; and yet he tacitly owns that he is not saved from sin, and that he has not faith. This is evident, because Tim wants some man to assure him that he shall overcome sin; and, by doing this, the miracle would be greater than drawing a thorn out of his foot. I should like to take a thorn out of Timothy's hand; for I am sure these abominable lies and confusion, which are called an account of regeneration, will wound, perplex, entangle, and pierce, many a poor seeking sinner. "As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard; so is a parable in the mouth of fools," Prov. xxvi. 9,

Quote: The false convert moves like a machine which has a weight, or spring, which is the cause of all the motion.

Answer: One would think this is a description of a sound convert; for he is like a machine under the work of regeneration: it is God that worketh all his works in him, and he hath both a weight and a spring in him: he has the weight of a daily cross on him, and a spring of living water in him, which keeps him in motion.

Quote: Take that off, and all the wheels are motionless.

Answer: I say, no: the convert that has got a weight on him, and a spring in him, cannot lose them; they cannot be taken away: therefore the wheels will not be motionless; for the spirit of the living creature is in the wheels.

Quote: But he who is born of the Spirit has a principle of life within himself.

Answer: If he has got a principle of life within him, Christ, who is the life, and the living God, must take up his residence in him; and such an one is dead, yet Christ liveth in him.

Quote: It is impossible for artists to imitate nature, both in shape and motion; but to give such an image life, and an appetite for food, only an Almighty Jehovah can do this.

Answer: Here is wisdom! The nominative is 'It is impossible for an artist to imitate nature in shape and motion:' but when the artist has done this impossible work of imitating nature, and has produced an automaton figure, in imitation of nature both in shape and motion, then Tim avers, that to give such an image life, and an appetite for food, only an Almighty Jehovah can do this. How wickedly and scandalously does this novice bring in the sacred name of Jehovah, in talking of almighty power giving life and appetite to an image, possibly carved and made by the impossible skill of an artist!

Quote: Satan can imitate the work of God.

Answer: It is plain he tries at it by this wretched Looking-glass; for surely the devil never worked more in order to imitate God's work, and deceive the simple, than in the dictating this book. Nevertheless, his cloven foot is not hid, for it appears in every page. Blessed be God, we are not ignorant of Satan's devices; for there is no more imitation or comparison between the regenerating work of God upon the soul, and the account of it in this book by Timothy Priestley, than between light and darkness, Christ and Belial. Satan is no more hid under the gown and wig of Timothy Priestley, than he was under the petticoat of the witch of Endor. The devil is the devil still, whether he comes in long clothing, a rough garment to deceive, or in the attire of an harlot. Yea, the scripture character of him appears in this very book. It is his business to draw ignorant souls, into sin, and then to father it upon the instruments instead of himself; and it is verified in this Looking-glass: Timothy Priestley's name stands affixed to it, whereas any discerning Christian may see, with half an eye, that the devil, and none but the devil, was the sole and whole author of it. Thus are the sons of men ensnared in an evil time. The penman of this book may be pitied; but as for the principal Author, who can recommend him to mercy: None but Mr. Winchester.

Quote: But Satan cannot give a man an appetite for spiritual food.

Answer: This is verified in the Canaanitish woman, who begged for a crumb of the children's bread that fell from their master's table, her daughter being grievously vexed with the devil. And I think that, if our Timothy and his christian were vexed in the like manner, they would be driven to hunger, and to seek the bread and water of life with as much earnestness as the rich man tormented in hell begged for a drop of water to cool his tongue. A sinner, sensibly in the tormenting hands of the devil, can no more fill his belly with Timothy's doctrine, which is nothing but the east wind, than the man in hell could satisfy his drought with devouring flames.

Quote: The love of fame has done surprising things; and such things may be done without any principle of grace in the heart.

Answer: This is verified in our Timothy, fame and money have produced all the surprising things that he has held forth in the pulpit, and published to the world. I am not alone in my judgment; Tim's conscience is on my side, and is of the same opinion with me. Paul, knowing the terrors of the Lord, persuaded men; which terrors, Timothy says, leave a man worse than they found him. The love of Christ constrained Paul; but God is love. And nothing which is essentially divine, or divine essence, can be communicated! Therefore our Tim is neither drove to persuade by terror, nor constrained by love. Hence I conclude, from Timothy's own premises, that love of fame, of idleness, and the love of money, are the only weights and springs that keep him in motion; and that when these fail, all his wheels will be motionless; "And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?" Job xxiv. 22. Our Tim has got a son training up for the same business with himself, which cannot spring, I think, from a principle of grace. For even I, who am declared, and that by divines, even such as Timothy Priestley himself, to be of a bad spirit, which is far enough from a principle of grace, would sooner put a child of mine to a chimney-sweeper, a night-man, to a peter-boat, or even a hangman; yea, would sooner see them in a pillory, than I would see them in a pulpit mocking their Maker, destroying of souls, and exposing themselves to a treble damnation, by thrusting them, or permitting them to thrust themselves, into the priest's office for a morsel of bread. And if a man of a bad spirit has such fear and feeling, what proof of a principle of grace does our Tim give, who does such things?