Was the mind of God with the church at Corinth, when they perverted the right use of the Lord's supper?
Was the mind of God with the church of Rome, when they began to create titles, bishops, cardinals, archbishops, universal bishop, sovereign pontiff, Christ's vicar, prince of the apostles, &c. &c.--These measures were as innocent, I conceive, in their first appearance, as presidents, vice-presidents, corresponding secretaries, recording secretaries, board of directors, &c. which are all unscriptural titles, names and offices, unbecoming God's people.
And where did these titles lead to in the end? Why they came up to our lord god the Pope, sovereign Pontiff over the whole world; having the keys of heaven, hell, and purgatory; and whoever would go in, must pay a toll to his holiness the Pope, and bow to what he thought right, or enter the hellish inquisition, and suffer death in the most horrid forms. All this was brought about by getting off gospel ground, under the show of religion, out of the warrant of the New Testament. Shall we not then take care of those innocent things you call titles, the corrupters of the Church of God. These are the scorpions that have stings in their tails and have stricken thousands to ruin. Oh, ye sons of Columbia! stand up and look around yourselves; and behold what strides are making by an ever-busy clergy, to forge the chains of tyranny for your bodies and consciences! Be alarmed, before your necks are in the yoke--for these things must come in side-ways, or as an entering wedge; and one step off from gospel ground gives room for another until death is in the pot, and the devil at the wheel.
Was the mind of God with his people, when the dissenting clergy from popery in England, appointed King Henry head of the Church, and parliament the guardians of its affairs!! See what followed: persecution, religious taxation, fines, and imprisonment throughout England--the clergy prompting those in power, to do these things for their own gain. Surely the devil turned the wheel and voted in the voters. And does it not show us, as a beacon, on our own coast, how we should endeavor to keep the Church apart from any influence of the men of this world; for they know not the things of the spirit; and hence their influence is always bad. But the clergy want to get hold of their fat purses, and this is the way they have taken to do it: to build a sort of National Church, and let them come into it for pay; having a fixed price for members, directors, and presidents for life; and so they make a sort of half-brothers of the governors and rich men of this world.
As for God's putting it in the hearts of his people to go this way to work to convert the world, it is what I cannot yet believe. For God cannot change, nor do I think he will change his plan of carrying on his work;--and what monied institutions and societies do we find, supporting the prophets among the Jews;--or what self-created bodies for obtaining money, backed the apostles and first preachers of the gospel? Let some example, or authority, be shown from the word of God, if it can be. The authority of men will not answer for me, in a business of such importance. Give me--thus saith the Lord, or else give up the point.
Did monied societies support the Reformers? No; they hazarded all and suffered the loss of all things for the sake of Christ. Hence we see, that this modern practice of spreading religion by means of money, and monied societies, is neither sanctioned by the word of God, nor the example of the prophets, the apostles, or the reformers; but well agrees with the Church of Rome, and high Church of England. The cry of money, money, is heard throughout the Church of Rome, from the pope to the friar; and in the Church of England, from the bishop down to the warden constable.
Has God, after four thousand years, changed his plan of carrying on his work? Or has He lately seen that monied institutions are necessary means for converting the world? Certainly not, but the Lord's way of carrying on his work, does not suit men of high minds, who want to be gods themselves, and wrest from his hands the power of making christians in his own way; and prescribe paths for Jehovah to walk in that may please themselves, and the men of this world. Where, in all the Scriptures, shall we find any self-created societies, and monied institutions, to advance the cause of true religion! And if they cannot be found there, a man must be blind not to see that they are mere human inventions; and that the devil is turning the wheel; and will only corrupt the Church, and make mankind more degenerate and wicked.
Monied institutions have supported the church of Rome, and the high church of England, in their thirst for aggrandizement, and to lord it over the consciences of men. But dissenters, in no age, until of late, or about a century, have needed any such support. As for the Gospel, one of its chief glories is, that it stands on the arm of Omnipotence, and commends itself to the consciences of men--making its way through the kingdoms of this world, in spite of all opposition. Though the heathen rage, and kings, and governors, and rulers of this world, have stood up against the Gospel and God's anointed, and have employed prisons, gibbets, flames, and death, in all their torturing forms, yet have they not prevailed.
And how is it, that the rulers of this world, and the rich, and noble of the earth, who have in all ages opposed the Gospel, and voted against it, have now become its votaries and supporters!! I would as soon believe that the devil is turned a saint at last, as to believe this thing--that human nature should be so changed without a work of grace upon the heart. The truth lies here; the men of this world have always been willing to support that which was called Gospel, or a form of religion, but not the thing itself; for that they hate, and have in all ages of the world. To support the mere form of religion or false religion, corrupt men have always been ready enough. Witness their readiness to support idolatry--to support the See of Rome--the Crusades! the Pagan--Mohammedan, and all such false and formal religions! Witness how zealous the Pharisees were to support their forms of error, and the traditions of the elders, at the expense of the blood of Christ and his apostles! Witness the Pagan emperors, putting hundreds of thousands to death, to support their absurd Paganism! Witness the high church of England, and the church of Rome, destroying and persecuting the most pious in their borders, to support a form of godliness of their own invention, suited to the taste of corrupt lords, dukes, kings, queens, and emperors! Can I, with all these truths before me, and many more, believe that the pompous proceedings, and monied schemes of the present day, are of God!! It is only because the devil is in all these schemes and inventions, that his children support them, and honor them with their presence and approbation. This one circumstance is sufficient to convince me that these great works are not of God, and will only prove an injury to the cause of true religion.
And where did these titles lead to in the end? Why they came up to our lord god the Pope, sovereign Pontiff over the whole world; having the keys of heaven, hell, and purgatory; and whoever would go in, must pay a toll to his holiness the Pope, and bow to what he thought right, or enter the hellish inquisition, and suffer death in the most horrid forms. All this was brought about by getting off gospel ground, under the show of religion, out of the warrant of the New Testament. Shall we not then take care of those innocent things you call titles, the corrupters of the Church of God. These are the scorpions that have stings in their tails and have stricken thousands to ruin. Oh, ye sons of Columbia! stand up and look around yourselves; and behold what strides are making by an ever-busy clergy, to forge the chains of tyranny for your bodies and consciences! Be alarmed, before your necks are in the yoke--for these things must come in side-ways, or as an entering wedge; and one step off from gospel ground gives room for another until death is in the pot, and the devil at the wheel.
Was the mind of God with his people, when the dissenting clergy from popery in England, appointed King Henry head of the Church, and parliament the guardians of its affairs!! See what followed: persecution, religious taxation, fines, and imprisonment throughout England--the clergy prompting those in power, to do these things for their own gain. Surely the devil turned the wheel and voted in the voters. And does it not show us, as a beacon, on our own coast, how we should endeavor to keep the Church apart from any influence of the men of this world; for they know not the things of the spirit; and hence their influence is always bad. But the clergy want to get hold of their fat purses, and this is the way they have taken to do it: to build a sort of National Church, and let them come into it for pay; having a fixed price for members, directors, and presidents for life; and so they make a sort of half-brothers of the governors and rich men of this world.
As for God's putting it in the hearts of his people to go this way to work to convert the world, it is what I cannot yet believe. For God cannot change, nor do I think he will change his plan of carrying on his work;--and what monied institutions and societies do we find, supporting the prophets among the Jews;--or what self-created bodies for obtaining money, backed the apostles and first preachers of the gospel? Let some example, or authority, be shown from the word of God, if it can be. The authority of men will not answer for me, in a business of such importance. Give me--thus saith the Lord, or else give up the point.
Did monied societies support the Reformers? No; they hazarded all and suffered the loss of all things for the sake of Christ. Hence we see, that this modern practice of spreading religion by means of money, and monied societies, is neither sanctioned by the word of God, nor the example of the prophets, the apostles, or the reformers; but well agrees with the Church of Rome, and high Church of England. The cry of money, money, is heard throughout the Church of Rome, from the pope to the friar; and in the Church of England, from the bishop down to the warden constable.
Has God, after four thousand years, changed his plan of carrying on his work? Or has He lately seen that monied institutions are necessary means for converting the world? Certainly not, but the Lord's way of carrying on his work, does not suit men of high minds, who want to be gods themselves, and wrest from his hands the power of making christians in his own way; and prescribe paths for Jehovah to walk in that may please themselves, and the men of this world. Where, in all the Scriptures, shall we find any self-created societies, and monied institutions, to advance the cause of true religion! And if they cannot be found there, a man must be blind not to see that they are mere human inventions; and that the devil is turning the wheel; and will only corrupt the Church, and make mankind more degenerate and wicked.
Monied institutions have supported the church of Rome, and the high church of England, in their thirst for aggrandizement, and to lord it over the consciences of men. But dissenters, in no age, until of late, or about a century, have needed any such support. As for the Gospel, one of its chief glories is, that it stands on the arm of Omnipotence, and commends itself to the consciences of men--making its way through the kingdoms of this world, in spite of all opposition. Though the heathen rage, and kings, and governors, and rulers of this world, have stood up against the Gospel and God's anointed, and have employed prisons, gibbets, flames, and death, in all their torturing forms, yet have they not prevailed.
And how is it, that the rulers of this world, and the rich, and noble of the earth, who have in all ages opposed the Gospel, and voted against it, have now become its votaries and supporters!! I would as soon believe that the devil is turned a saint at last, as to believe this thing--that human nature should be so changed without a work of grace upon the heart. The truth lies here; the men of this world have always been willing to support that which was called Gospel, or a form of religion, but not the thing itself; for that they hate, and have in all ages of the world. To support the mere form of religion or false religion, corrupt men have always been ready enough. Witness their readiness to support idolatry--to support the See of Rome--the Crusades! the Pagan--Mohammedan, and all such false and formal religions! Witness how zealous the Pharisees were to support their forms of error, and the traditions of the elders, at the expense of the blood of Christ and his apostles! Witness the Pagan emperors, putting hundreds of thousands to death, to support their absurd Paganism! Witness the high church of England, and the church of Rome, destroying and persecuting the most pious in their borders, to support a form of godliness of their own invention, suited to the taste of corrupt lords, dukes, kings, queens, and emperors! Can I, with all these truths before me, and many more, believe that the pompous proceedings, and monied schemes of the present day, are of God!! It is only because the devil is in all these schemes and inventions, that his children support them, and honor them with their presence and approbation. This one circumstance is sufficient to convince me that these great works are not of God, and will only prove an injury to the cause of true religion.
To be continued.
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM WELSH TRACT PUBLICATIONS
THE COMPLETE DIGITAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES FROM 1832-2017
Please send me an email at gsantamaria685@gmail.com. We will accept payment in Zelle, Cash App, Venmo personal check, or postal money order. Please make sure you give your mailing address. I will not post my Zelle, CashApp, or Venmo information until you write me due to privacy concerns. For those mailing a check or money order, you may mail me at:
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PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM WELSH TRACT PUBLICATIONS
This is a very large file (10.11 gigabytes) If you don't have that much space, you may run it from the Flash Drive, but this will take more time. You need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free download) program installed and open it from there. The PDF is searchable, but some of the older issues, are smudged thus affecting the software's ability to find the words. Copying and pasting will be difficult due to the quality of some of the older issues. The price is $45.
Please send me an email at gsantamaria685@gmail.com. We will accept payment in Zelle, Cash App, Venmo personal check, or postal money order. Please make sure you give your mailing address. I will not post my Zelle, CashApp, or Venmo information until you write me due to privacy concerns. For those mailing a check or money order, you may mail me at:
Guillermo Santamaria
45 Westons Mill Road
East Brunswick, NJ 08816 USA
Email: gsantamaria685@gmail.com
For now, until Welsh Tract Publications is reorganized as an LLC, I will handle the financial transactions. Understand that Welsh Tract Church does NOT have any affiliation with Welsh Tract Publications. Like the website and the YouTube channel, these websites were created by the friends of Welsh Tract Church. We do not believe in any extra-church organizations or "ministries". Flash Drives are now available.
The Lord Bless you!
DIGITAL (POCKET) THOMPSON NOW AVAILABLE FROM WELSH TRACT PUBLICATIONS
For now, until Welsh Tract Publications is reorganized as an LLC, I will handle the financial transactions. Understand that Welsh Tract Church does NOT have any affiliation with Welsh Tract Publications. Like the website and the YouTube channel, these websites were created by the friends of Welsh Tract Church. We do not believe in any extra-church organizations or "ministries". Flash Drives are now available.
The Lord Bless you!
DIGITAL (POCKET) THOMPSON NOW AVAILABLE FROM WELSH TRACT PUBLICATIONS
This flashcard contains all of the known articles written by Elder Wilson Thompson from 1832 until he died in 1866. It also contains Simple Truths, His Autobiography in a PDF file as well as an audiobook as well as his work Triumphs of Truth. Also, these works will be fully searchable and will fit on your smartphone. It will also be suitable for printing. The cost will be $50 for the flash drive containing all this information. We accept Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, or personal checks. For more information write to gsantamaria685@gmail.com.
We are announcing also the shipment of the OSB Periodicals Flash Drive, containing all the Old School Baptist papers we can locate. Watch the video to know more.
TO ORDER you can send $50 to gsantamaria685@gmail.com. we accept Zelle, Cash App, personal check, or Venmo. Contact me for further information. the Lord Bless You!
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