[Mr. John Scot, minister of Oxnam, zealously adhered to the Protesters; and Rutherford’s letters to him have chiefly a reference to the proceedings of that party. After the restoration of Charles II., Scot was imprisoned for some time, but suffered less than others of his brethren. On being set at liberty, he was allowed to return to his parish, and to resume the exercise of his ministry. We find him continuing there down to 1664, when he was brought before the short-lived High Commission Court, erected in the beginning of that year, for having assisted at Communions which were reckoned contrary to law. How he was dealt with by that Court is not now known. In 1669 he became indulged minister of Oxnam. He must have died previous to 1684, as in that year the name of “Elizabeth Rae, relict of Mr. John Scot, late minister of Oxnam,” occurs among a list of names in the parish of Kelso, delated by the curate of that parish to the Committee of Privy Council which met at Jedburgh, with the view of proceeding against those guilty of “church disorders,” that is, against those who deserted their own parish church, and attended conventicles.]
Reverend and Dear Brother,—No man owes more to the church of God with you, than poor and wretched I. But when weakness of body, and the Lord by it, did forbid me to undertake a lesser journey to Edinburgh, I am forbidden far more to journey there. And believe it, nothing besides this hinders. I am unable to overtake what the Lord has laid upon me here; and, therefore, I desire to submit to sovereignty, and must be silent. If my prayers and best desires to the Lord could contribute anything for promoting of His work, my soul’s desire is that the wilderness, and that place to which I owe my first breathing, in which I fear Christ was scarce named, as touching any reality or power of godliness, may blossom as a rose.
So desiring, and praying that His name may be great among you, and asking that you may believe that the names of the Lord’s enemies will be written in the earth, and that “whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth to Jerusalem, to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even on there will be no rain,” and that the Lord “will create glory upon every assembly in Mount Zion,” I rest, your own brother in
Reverend and Dear Brother,—No man owes more to the church of God with you, than poor and wretched I. But when weakness of body, and the Lord by it, did forbid me to undertake a lesser journey to Edinburgh, I am forbidden far more to journey there. And believe it, nothing besides this hinders. I am unable to overtake what the Lord has laid upon me here; and, therefore, I desire to submit to sovereignty, and must be silent. If my prayers and best desires to the Lord could contribute anything for promoting of His work, my soul’s desire is that the wilderness, and that place to which I owe my first breathing, in which I fear Christ was scarce named, as touching any reality or power of godliness, may blossom as a rose.
So desiring, and praying that His name may be great among you, and asking that you may believe that the names of the Lord’s enemies will be written in the earth, and that “whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth to Jerusalem, to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even on there will be no rain,” and that the Lord “will create glory upon every assembly in Mount Zion,” I rest, your own brother in
the Lord, S. R.
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