a Saviour and that thy Life is hid with Christ in God It is Gods infinite goodness to Men that he will hide pride from them and humble them under his mighty hand This is the Condition of poor Creatures that are slain by the hands of the most High How may I know when I am slain and baptized and come to have sincerity They that have this Baptism enter into the Heavenly Life if you love the light of Christ Jesus it will be thus with you God will make short work in the Earth He will set thy Sins in order before thee and make thee watchful unto Prayer and lead thee to holiness of Life and Conversation and make thee abhor thy self and despise all the Pomps and Pleasures and Vanities of the World when he hath adorned thee with his Graces then watch for the Light and in the Light of Christ thou shalt see Light and that all thou hast done and canst do is but thy Duty All this thou oughtest to do thou art Gods Creature and all this will not justifie thee in order to thy Eternal Salvation for these services thou owest unto God If thou diligently wait thou shalt see more light then the Sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Christ who is called the word of God will cut thee off from all thy hopes of Salvation from any thing thou hast done from any of thy qualifications from any thing that thou canst do so that thou wilt be a hopeless Soul nothing in thy own sense and apprehension the power of the first Adam must die before him and thou wilt cry out I am a dead lost and undone Creature but there is a Life hid with Christ in God for me but I can never have it 'till I be slain into the will of God and become as a little Child and be stript of all my own Excellency that I have attained I must come to a sense of my own misery and fall down at the foot of God when I am become as a little Child humbled and slain as to my own will and confidence in my own righteousness I will not then question but I shall live a Holy Life but I will give all that Life I had for that Life which is hid with Christ in God O! there is none come so far that ever miss of Eternal Life All Shuffling People that would have Salvation by Christ and will not let him exercise his Heavenly Power his Princely Glorious Power to Baptize them into his Death it is they that come short of Salvation but all those that yield themselves up to Christ to be Redeemed through Judgment and are become as little Children these are sn a happy state You know that our Lord Jesus Christ took a little Child in his Arms and said whosoever becomes not as a little Child cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven you must all of you become as little Children and depend upon the Mercy and Free Grace of God you must all come to a Holy resignation of your selves to Gods disposal If you come to Christ as little Children and depend upon him you cannot miss of Salvation it is entailed upon such Souls as hear the Voice of Christ they that hear the Voice of the Son of the God shall live I Stand here as a Witness for the God of Heaven I never heard the Voice of Christ as his follower till I was slain and Baptized and lay as a little Child under his Heavenly Chastisements as soon as ever my Soul was brought to this in my Humiliation O then the dreadful Judgment was taken aaway and the Book of Life was opened unto me and the Lord spake comfortably to me I have lovâ—d thee with an Everlasting Live and I was made a Christian through a Day of Vengeance and of burning as an Oven and the haughtiness and Pride of Man in me was brought low Now in this conformity to Christ's Death People may die into Life and Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them Away with all your own Wills and your Pride and Haughtiness and your Hypocrisie and Deceit and all depend ancy upon any qualification of your own you must come to have your Life seperated from you else you will all perish Those that will die with Christ and be willing to die for him he is revealed as a Saviour to them He was before us in the Days of his flesh and complyed with his Father's Will he was Nailed to the Cross The Son of God when he was come to the depth of his sufferings what was his cry My God My God Why hast thou forsaken me This was for thy sake and my sake and every Man and Woman's sake that do believe in him he drank the Cup which his Father gave him to drink If it was done thus to the Green Tree What shall be done unto the Dry He went before us and when he cometh again he will take us to himself and take us from the filth of Sin that we may be made New Creatures Now except we be born again we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and there is no becoming new Creatures tell we be slain to the Old man Thou must be slain to thy Pride and Haughtiness and the corruption of thine own Will and all selfishness thou must have God to burn it np in thee The Holy Ghost will destroy and burn up nothing in thee but that which will bring an Eternal fire upon thy Soul shew me thou whom my Soul Loveth where is the Path of Life the footsteps of the Flock of thy Companions Why should I be as one that goes aside Now every one that lives at home in the bosom of self take this with you though you profess the truth and live in an outward conformity thereunto yet if you secretly indulge your corrupt wills and live a Flesh-pleasing Life and consult with Flesh and Blood and are not rent off from your Lusts you cannot enjoy the Lord of Life While I am at home in the body I am absent from the Lord. The body of Sin is as a Loadstone to draw you from the Life of God and from Glorying in the Cross of Christ This is flesh and blood and flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God For the Lord's sake for your Soul's sake and for the sake of your Eternal Happiness put not off this work but persue it and it will be perfected See how Christ is revealed in you by the Holy Ghost and with fire God will Redeem you by the Spirit of Judgment and burning It is not ranging abroad with your minds but you must know Christ is in you except you be Reprobates If he hath set your Eyes and Hearts upon himself and made you to Water your Couch with your Tears If he hath broken your sleep so as you have cry'd out I shall be damned and never come to Salvation This
he hath given us a Measure of his Spirit to profit withal The Son of God is come to wash and purge Men from their Sins and to destroy the Works of the Devil and to waste and consume that Nature that hath separated Man from God and the Root and Ground of it that hath hindered our approaching near to God Christ is come to finish transgression and to make an end of sin to take it away and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness I would intreat you all in the Love and Tender Compassions of God to open to this coming of the Lord Jesus Christ He is come near to you he knocks at the Door of your Hearts by his secret Reproofs and Heavenly smilings in the Soul and shews People their evil Ways and Courses Now if you in Faith open to Christ when he knocks at the Door of your Hearts He will Work the Work of God in you He will work that in you and for you that no man can work for himself nor for another now the Lord Jesus Christ he is come to Work that Work which his Father hath given him to do which is to take away that which hath separated thee from God and made thee a Child of Wrath and an Object of Gods displeasure he will remove it and wash it away in his Blood it is the Blood of Jesus that cleanseth us from all Sin O the wonderful Love of the Son of God that he manifested to us in that Body which was prepared for him to do the Will of God in submitting to the Death and being a Sacrifice once for all If thou wilt hearken to his Reproofs and Instructions he will Work the Work of God in thee and he will wash thee and cleanse thee from Sin in his own Blood and thou must be acquainted with this washing cleansing Work or thou hast no part in Jesus the Mediatour for he said to Peter If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me He doth purge and wash and purifie all that have a part in him who is the Fountain that God hath set open for the House of Judah and Jerusalem for Sin and for Uncleanness that you may wash in it and be clean Seeing the Fountain of Gods Love is opened to thee in the Lord Jesus Christ turn to him and feel the operation of his Blood it will take away thy Sin and Uncleanness yea the very Root of Evil. And every Plant as Christ said that the Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up Mat. 15. 13. When thou comest to know the plucking up of these Plants and art willing to be purged by Christ and washed in his Blood in that Fountain that is opened for Sin and Uncleanness and comest to be made a Vessel meet for thy Masters Use and comest to be a Vessel in Gods House and fit toper form the Worship of God that stands in the Spirit thou wilt then find acceptance with God through Jesus Christ But this Reformation must not be outward only but a Reformation of the Mind and Soul and the Inward Man and a being truly rectified there and this is to make clean the Inside as Christ said Then thou wilt come to have a Discovery of and to be acquainted with the Mind and Will of God and thou wilt then feel a cry in thy Soul on this wise O Lord enable me to perform my Duty to thee and thou wilt find the Promise made good to thee and here thy waiting will be upon God They that wait upon the Lord shal renew their strength they shall mount up with Wings like Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Thus when thou art waiting upon God and doing his Will thou wilt perform thy Duty without weariness or fainting and Serve God and Gloriâ—â— him in Thoughts Words and Actions and thâ—â— thou wilt answer the end for which thou wast made and wilt Worship and Serve God in that ability of Grace which he hath given thee and thou wilt experience what it is to be under the conduct and guidance of the Spirit of God and wilt Worship God in Spirit and in Truth The Father seeketh such to Worship him for the Worship of God doth not stand in outward Observation nor in any thing barely that a Man can do outwardly but in Spirit and Truth They that are thus exercised they Live to God and in daily feeling of his Redeeming Arm and the Ransoming power of the Lord which hath broken the Chains of Darkness in which they were held and how the Lord hath brought them near to himself and filled them with a living sense of that Power that hath redeemed them and they cannot but fall into an holy admiration of God and admire his Love and bounty and Wisdom Power and Goodness Here is a Man that Worships God aright that truly performs the Worship and Service of God when the mind is truly humble and dwells in lowlyness such find life to spring from God the fountain of it and thereby their Souls are kept in a lively frame before him for it is the living that worship God it is the Living that praise him the Dead cannot praise his Name The Grave saith Hezekiah cannot praise thee O God Death cannot Celebrate thee The Living the living he shall praise thee as I do this Day Those that truly Worship God in Spirit they have Holiness to the Lord written upon them stampt on their outside And as they have born the Image of the Earthly so now they bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam These perform Duty to God aright and they are made meet to serve him and Worship him and they have a deep sense of the Love and mercy of God to them and in that Sense give Glory to God to whom it does belong for ever more Secondly As there is a duty we owe unto God so there is a Duty which we owe to our Neighbour and this Duty cannot be performed but as we are preserved in a sense of that power which hath quickned us to God Therein we are made Instruments in his hands to call upon others to turn to God and do good to them by our Exemplary Lives and that as we make a Profession of Godliness so we ought to walk in Love and have bowells of Compassion and Love to our Neighbours that they may be saved and brought near to God And therefore let us shew forth all Meekness Goodness Lowlyness Justice Truth Equity and all manner of Holy Conversation and Godliness and Love God with all our Heart with all our Mind and with all our Soul and our Neighbour as our selves These are the two great Lessons which we ought to learn and I am sensible many are short in not loving their Neighbours as themselves but are seeking rather to Circumvent and to defraud one another letting up bitterness and malice one against another Too many Instances may be given of these things but
is a King that shall Reign in Righteousness and the Isles shall wait for his Law the Law shall go forth from Mount Sitn and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem so that Christ is spoken of as a King that shall Reign and Rule and his Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom As Christ is a King to Reign and Rule so he is also a Priest for ever not after the Order of Aaron but after the Order of Melchizedeek He is a Priest what for To finish Transgression to make an end of Sin and purge it away Now the Priests under the Law after the order of Aaron they could not do this they made use of Blood they Sprinkled the Sacrifice with Blood but they could not cleanse the Souls from Sin but Christ he comes he is a Priest and he offers a Sacrifice for all and he offers up himself and by that one Offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified he doth it effectually so Daniel Prophecied he shall make an end of Sin and bring in an everlasting Righteousness O say some People we will allow all this to Christ when he comes to Reign with his Church then shall his Reign be one and his Government one but you should let him be a King now and a a Priest now consider the reason of it why it should be now their is Sin and Iniquity in this World but there is no Iniquity in the Kingdom of Heaven nothing that worketh Abomination nor maketh a Lye can come there if Christ will purge us from Sin he must come down from Heaven among us and so he doth blessed be his Name for ever he is the High Priest of our Profession and he hath made us partakers of the Blessing of Cleansing from Sin by the purifying vertue of his own precious blood and the Sanctification of his Spirit Then consider in the next place Christ is a Prophet to teach and instruct his People in the things that belong to their Everlasting Peace If there was an Inspired Prophet in this Land we should be willing to hear what that Prophet did say if he had good things to tell and would warn us what evils we should escape Friends you have a Prophet now but you do not hear him this is according to the Testimony of Moses of old A Prophet saith Moses shall the Lord God raise up like unto me and him shall you hear in all things Do you hear this Prophet Who is it It is the Lord Jesus Christ hear this great Prophet what if we do not hear him He that heareth him not shall be cut off from among the People the Apostle when he writes to the Hebrews he asserts the Divinity of Christ and his Priestly Office and we do own and assert the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ also Now to make the Application of this to your Souls Let Christ be your High-Priest Prophet and King your Law-giver Counsellor and Leader that he may bring you to Glory to a blessed state of Salvation and Eternal Life and so to the Lord Jesus Christ I do recommend you and leave you you may find much of this fulfilled in you as you give up your selves to the Teaching of the Spirit of God and of the grace of God for if People will not be thus taught they will never learn Christianity so that People must come to Christ the great Prophet to learn of him and be taught by him else they can never be good Christians Do not you read this Prophecy concerning God's People They shall be all taught of God and the Apostle Paul tells us the Grace of God the favour of God through Jesus Christ hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and Worldly Lust we should live soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of all good works So that my Friends this is an excellent State and Condition the Lord bring you all into it and bring you to a certain and saving knowledge of Christ this is my desire this day that you may be Christians indeed and be Followers of Christ and obedient unto him who is the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him His Prayer after Sermon Everlasting God and Fountain of Life from whom all Comforts and Blessings flow unto thy People through thy dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christ before thee O thou Great and Almighty God we are gathered and assembled this day if thou Lord be not with us to open our hearts we cannot be edified or comforted aright Therefore the cry of thy Servants is that thou wouldest this day open the hearts of thy People and Children that infinite God of Life we may have access to thee in and through the Spirit of thy dear Son that thou mayst help us on in the way that we should go and blessed Father of Life our eyes are unto thee and our expectation is from thee for thou alone art the Comforter of thy People and Children Lord thy People of old did look dnto thee their hearts were only to thee from whence all their Beings came thou Infinite God and Fountain of all fulness let our Souls have respect to thee this day that so in our solemn Meeting and gathering together before thee we may be refreshed we may be opened we may be comforted and sustained by thee Lord God of Life we have need of thy Power and of thy strength to sustain us in our Pilgrimage and Journey thraugh this World Holy Farher we beseech thee to remember us and lead us and guide us in thy ways and preserve us by thy out-stretched arm thou didst make it bare for thy People of old make it bare we pray thee this day for the sake of thy People that so infinite God we may be conducted through the whole course of our Lives in this World that when our days and time come to an end our Portion may be with thee and thou be the Lot of our Inheritance that so we may live with thee in thy Kingdom for ever Glorious God of Life thou that didst hear the cry of thy People of old and didst open thine ear to their Prayer and Supplicatsons hear thy Children this day that cry to thee for thou hast regard to the cry of the Poor and to the sighing of the Needy In all their exercises in this World in their many afflictions and distresses be thou near to them and be thou near to us here and comfort and refresh us we pray thee that so we may persevere to the end of our days in thy fear and die in thy favour O Lord God thou Holy one of Israel this is the cry of thy Children to thee for whom have we in Heaven but thee and there is none