ingrafted word which is able to save my Soul I shall not only hear the word but live in obedience to it What signifies it to make a Profession that I have the Light within if I do not give obedience to it for without that it is all Hypocrisie all Pretence to Holiness Righteousness Mortification is but Hypocrisie any further than we find the power of Truth making an impression upon our Hearts and Minds bringing us to the obedience of Faith Let them therefore that profess Righteousness live Righteously and they that hear the Gospel live in obedience to it and those that profess to be Christians let them live like Christians indeed When every one comes to know within himself so far as the Gospel has shined upon him that they have received the Truth in the Love of it and love the Truth as it is in Jesus and are obedient to the Gospel they shall know the Salvation of it There is a discovery of Gods Power in the Gospel and there is a believing of it and a hoping in it this is that which belongs to a Christian this is the beginning and the first step to a Christian Life we must believe in Christ for without Faith it is impossible to please God He that believeth should be careful to walk in the truth that he hath received and then he shall have a Testimony of the Power and Vertue of it in his own Soul This Vertue and Power if he joins with it hath the Government of his Heart and Life and gives him Victory over the World and the Temptations of Satan You know in the Primitive Times there were Believers that not only had Faith but lived by Faith and by that Faith they got Victory over all the allurements and pleasure and vanities of the World I have fought a good fight saith the Apostle 2 Tim 4.7 8. I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that Day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing I have got the victory and there remains an Eternal Weight of Glory for me My Friends this is our ambition and all our Labour among you that you may be built up in your most Holy Faith that you may be brought home to Christ in all your Meetings and gatherings together you should desire to be enriched with Faith and to have your own Store-house filled with all the Fruits of the Spirit and not only seek for the knowledge of the truth but be subject and obedient to what you know otherwise by your Religion you will but hurt your selves And the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1.12 speaks of knowing the Truth and of being established in it and of some that after they had escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome and the latter end with them is worse than the beginning for it had beed better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered to them There is a Power goes along with the Preaching of the Gospel that will enable you to do what you know the Gospel is a powerful Doctrine whether you know it or not or whether you submit to it or not yet pray remember that Gods People are a willing People in the day of his Power they are a certain sort of People that are devoted to God and submit all their Worldly Honours Interests Profits and Pleasures to the pleasure of God and desire no other pleasure or happiness but to enjoy his presence and favour they are satisfied with this and they are a happy People being made a willing People in the day of Gods Power they are willing to deny themselves to take up their daily Cross to follow Christ have Salvation upon his terms There are a great many Professors that have notions and out-side appearances but they want that Vertue and Life and power that should settle them in Religion and a love of the Truth The Lord that knows our Hearts knows that our Labour and Travel among you hath been designed for your good and that our hearts desire is that you may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus We would have People consider and attend and hear what God speaks and remember what he hath taught you by the Ministers of the Gospel We have all ears to hear let us thank God for that blessed be God that there is a power and an ability of hearing with an outward ear but there are many that will not so much as give the hearing to what might from the Lord be spoken to them He that hath ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches and what he saith to his own Soul hear what the Spirit saith of your own State and Condition if it be good bless God for it are you in so good a Condition that you have no trouble no distress to lament no wants to supply blessed are you that have none but if you find you have done amiss and if the Lord should call you this Night to give up your account the Lord hath a great deal against you I am sure and I tell you it is your duty to turn to the Lord with unfeigned Repentance that through Christ Jesus you may receive Pardon and Remission of all your Sins and so hear what the Spirit saith to your selves and in your selves Pray come and make it your work and business the rest of the time that you have to live to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling that when Christ comes you may say come Lord Jesus come quickly purfie me and sanctifie me and prepare me to be presented to the Father without spot and blameless the day is coming that this will be the desire of every one of you And it is the earnest breathing and desire of my Soul that every one of you may have an eye unto the Lord and he will look down from Heaven and have regard to the cry and the sighing of the Needy Soul God will arise and find out the People that breath after him and that desire to be reconciled to him through the Mediatour Christ Jesus the Lord loveth to find out such a People and I am glad to Preach to such a People the glad tidings of the Gospel and to teach them as God hath taught me Good and Upright is the Lord therefore will he teach and guide you in the way which you should go Walk humbly with God he will resist the Proud but he will give Grace unto the humble Walk uprightly before the Lord in this Gospel Day that shines upon you love the appearance of God and prize it though it hath not been so Glorious to you as to some others yet
from God and a preparing for Life that Life that unites us to God again and when People are in earnest in this travel they are really resigned up to the government direction and leading of him that is gone before that hath made a way for us and will further our Progerss towards the Kingdom of God And therefore my Friends you know the way and know how the Power hath reached to you and hath opened your understandings that you may be faithful to that power in your own Souls and may have the true use and improvement of this and all other such Mettings as this for the gathering of your Minds out of all visible and changeable Objects unto that Life which God hath revealed that so in the exercise of it you may hold your fellowship with God and with one another here is the bond of Perfection here is that in which God hath Created Peace and Rest and Joy for his People so far as every one is Partaker of this innocent Life and feels himself changed into it they are gathered into the Church and they are gathered into fellowship with the head of it and are comforted in their Membership in their partaking together Though I be but a little one yet I pertake of the same vertue which the Lord ad-administreth to the greatest Saints while I am waiting upon him and of the same Divine Consolation and Operation and Power that weaneth me more and more from the World and that which is corruptible and raiseth up in me daily more and more fervent desires after that Bread which perisheth not Now herein Men and Women have an evidence of that Christianity in themselves the Spirit of God bearing Record and Witness to their Spirits which all the loose Professors of Christianity in the World are strangers to their evidence in themselves being against them they seek to have evidence without them and to gather up some kind of marks and tokens and sayings and sentences from without to make them believe that they are in Covenant with God and that they are in a state of Salvation by Christ but he that ttuly believeth hath an evidence of his Christianity and of his Reconciliation with God and he hath this evidence in himself a Divine Spiritual Testimony that answereth to his own Spirit that witnesseth to him that he is one of the Children of God And my Friends to this you are called whether you are come to it or no it is this you are called to with a Heavenly call that you might no longer live in the Rudiments of this World to be seeking and looking here and there for a ground of Peace and of Rest a ground of Hope but may know and feel the same thing the same ground of Eternal hope that the Saints of old had what is that What reason did they give and render of their hope of Eternal glory The Apostle tells you plainly the ground or reason of their hope of being glorified in the World to come was Christ in them the hope of Glory they witnessed that Christ gave his Life for the World Take the Glorious Testimony that the Apostle did bear in one of his Epistles saith he the life was manifested in me it was not covered up or hidden that People could not find it God was pleased to bring it to Light by the Gospel When a thing is brought to light you may see it This he affirmed in his day and the same is affirmed in our day The Life is manifested what Life Not the Life of this World but a Life not defiled not polluted but the Life that is of God a Heavenly Life that is Holy and Pure that Life is manifested we have seen it and we exhort all to lay hold of it to lay hold of Eternal Life some had a sight of it that had not laid hold of it they saw it in a Vision and they might say possibly Oh that I could live such a Life that there were no sin in me in my words or thoughts or actions what a gracious Life would that be They had seen that Life they had tasted of it but they did not lay hold of it but let it go by them take heed of that when you have seen it with open eyes Blessed are your eyes for they have seen and your ears for they have heard saith Christ to his Disciples They saw that Life that was holy harmless and undefiled lay hold on this Life especially when you are thus assembled together in a solemn manner in the presence of the Lord waiting to behold it and to see it more and more discovered to you and labour to have that gathering Power that will bring you to it that you may know the strength â—hat comes by it to the Soul There is none of you but you will meet with Temptations in this World that will draw you into Death and Darkness to things That are Carnal and Sensual and Devilish sometimes How shall I stand if I be not centered in that Life that was before the World began and before the Devil was If I labour to feel the influence of that Divine Power this is able to keep me my Faith tells me so I know that Power is able to keep me if I keep in the exercise of it The trust of a true Believer is that whatsoever Temptations and Tryals they are exercised with they know one already come In whom they have trusted who is both able and willing to deliver them So by this means he is kept harmless and innocent and blameless in his Life and Conversation Thus you might be kept if you would regard and have respect to the Life that is manifested in you Whosoever comes to know and feel and witness in their Souls the discovery and revelation of the Life of Jesus they know there is in it a certain Dominion over that which is contrary to it and you have many of you had experience of the exercise of the Power of God in your own Hearts that hath inabled you to reign over those things that have formerly ruled over you That you can now subdue vain thoughts and evil desires that you can withstand Temptations that come from without and from within Now if you could do this and if ever you have done it you did it by that Power that God discovered and revealed in you from Jesus Christ You had not such hold of this once before you believed but by believing the word of God sent unto you it being fixed by Faith in the Heart That Faith which is the operation of God You could then do that which you could not do before and forbear that which you was led away by These experiences which God hath given you should encourage you to hold on in your Labour and Travel and engage you To grow in the Grace of God and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Whatsoever is propounded by men in the Profession of Religion this ought to be
of God and the Divine assistance vouchsafed unto me In my Flesh dwells nothing that is good But if you take me as one that hath Faith in Christ the Mediatour this Faith embraceth the tender of the Love of God in the Redeemer And when I have this Faith there dwels a good thing in me and from this good thing that dwels in me there flows forth good words and good actions then you come to be acquainted with a Power greater than your own and if you will trust in it you will be able to withstand Temptations And when you are Tempted to any Sin you will not be only able to withstand the Temptation but to overcome it too and to be more than Conquerors in your Spiritual Warfare This relying upon and trusting in the Power of God is that which we call Faith and this Faith is the Operation of God To speak in plain words God will operate upon thy mind and make thee know that this is his Power his Light and Truth and Grace by which he would save thee And after God hath wrought and operated upon thee in this manner it is thy Duty then to believe in it to put thy Trust and Confidence in it to be delivered But though Faith be offered unto me yet it is not forced upon me God hath offered Faith to all all men but he doth not force it upon all men All have an opportunity offered to them if they will but joyn with it they may have Faith wrought in them and be fitted and prepared for the Kingdom of God There are many that are convinced of the Truth of the Doctrine that we Preach to them but they do not get into the Power of Truth they will hear us Preach of the Power of Truth and will hear what this man saith and what the other man saith and this will serve their turn that they may talk of Religion and make a Profession But they do not seek after that Power that should enable them To work out their own Salvation These persons grow in knowledge but they do not grow in Grace they will embrace Truth as far as Doctrines and Words will go they have Professed it and they have suffered Reproach for it and yet they have not received the Truth in the Love of it they cannot reach to the Power of it they glory in their knowledge and their understanding but they come not to that which sanctifies them they are not able to resist the Devil and to stand against his Temptations when a Temptation comes they joyn with it but they cannot withstand it They come to the knowledge of Truth in Words but they come not to the knowledge of the Power of it in ther Hearts and Minds so as to make them prepared vessels for Gods Honour God is more dishonoured by them than by those that never Professed his Name They fall into the Temptation of the Devil and never discern the Operation of Gods Power in their own Hearts 2. There is another Errour as great as this there are a great many that when the Lords Power hath wrought in their Hearts and they have Truth opened to them in the Power of it yet they have not believed in it they have not had Faith wrought in their Hearts they have not trusted in nor relyed upon the Power so they are weak and feeble they have little Faith which is next to none at all If they have never so much knowledge how easily can the Devil tempt them to Sin if they have not true Faith This is the Victory saith the Apostle that overcomes the World even your Faith This is not my Victory that I see the Subtilty and Wiles of Satan and know much but that which is my Victory is my Faith My trust is in the Power of God and my relyance upon him who is God mightier than all the strength of Men and Devils that God who knows my Heart If I be faithful to him and rely upon him by Faith I shall resist the Devil and withstand his Temptations I might get Victory over them This Power you may have by the Gospel but then you must be true to the Power of it in your selves for I do distinguish between the Gospel as it is a Doctrine and Word Preached and an Invisible Divine Power working upon Men by the Preaching of the Gospel you will all hear the Gospel Preach'd though you be never so proud and huffy and you will say it is true but you can never come to the saving knowledge of the Gospel it self till you find it working inwardly upon your selves We do not pretend to any power of opening Mens hearts as God opened the heart of Lidia but when People come to wait upon God with a serious and religious Mind you will find the Power of the Word working effectually upon you and so the Gospel will become the Power of God to your Salvation This is and shall be my Prayer for all Religious Assemblies that the Lord will be pleased to teach them by his invisible word and beget living desires in them towards himself and bring them to an esteem of Holiness and Righteousness that they may adorn the Gospel of Christ by living Gospel Lives for want of this what dishonour have Men brought to God and what reproach upon the Gospel O that People would come to hear the word Preached with desires to profit by it and say Lord do me some good this day give me a powerful refreshing Visitation at this time give me some living experience of thy Almighty Power working upon my heart that I may not be led by this Mans Word and that Mans Opinion for if they mistake I shall be mistaken but if I build my Faith upon what God in his word reveals to me I shall infallibly know what I am to Believe and Practice and I shall receive from God some good thing and shall know what is the good and acceptable will of God I shall find that there is Power in the Gospel for building me up in my most Holy Faith and that it is Mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds of Sin and Satan and I shall see the Salvation of God brought near to me When the Gospel becomes the Power of God and worketh upon the Hearts of Men by the operation of the Divine Power they may distinguish between that Faith that is built upon the Declarations of Men and that which is wrought by the Revelation and discovery of the mind of God in their own Souls this is that which we may bottom upon and have an Anchor sure and stedfast in our own Souls when we depend upon Christ the Rock of Ages both of this Age and all other Ages my Faith must be placed upon him and when I hear the word of a Man I must have an eye to God that will reveal his power in my heart this will make me believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive that
Hell and that they must have their part in one of them there are none that desire a Portion in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone Those Prophane Wretches that cry to God to damn them they do not mean what they speak they would be saved for all that every one will cry at last Lord have mercy upon me if he hath but time to say so Let us cry Lord have mercy upon me now Lord bestow thy Favour upon me Lord lift up the light of thy Countenance upon me Lord touch my hard heart and soften it and break it by the power of thy Spirit open mine eyes that I may see the wonderful things of thy Law open mine ears that I may hear thy voice It is good for People to make use of time while they have it for whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and God will pour out his wrath upon those that call not upon his Name He that calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved and God gives great encouragement to People to seek after him What mean you by seeking after God I have gone to Church and said my Prayers I have gone in that way which my Fathers have lead me and directed me I hope I shall find mercy at last I am a Believer I believe in Jesus Christ that died for my Sins and rose again for my Justification I hope through the merits of Jesus Christ I shall be saved What mean you by seeking after the Lord Do not we all hear of him and pray to him every day Is there any thing more common than this that People speak to one another generally about as for the general knowledge of God you and I may see to our sorrow that a great many cry Lord Lord that are never like to enter into the Kingdom of God If all that take the name of God in their mouths should enter into the Kingdom of Heaven it would be a very foul Kingdom If all the Drunkards and Whoremongers of England and all prophane ungodly Persons â—hat will take the name of God in their mouths â—hould enter into the Kingdom of Heaven it would be a very unclean and impure Kingdom â—here is nothing enters there that is unclean that is â—bominable that loveth and maketh a lye So that â—here must be some more peculiar People that â—hall have an abundant enterance into the Kingdom of God and there must be something that will intitle them to it For you may remember our Saviour saith No Man knoweth the Father but â—he Son and he to whom the Son shall reveal him So much as may be known of God by works you and I may know without the Revelation of Christ we need not wait for this knowledge we can have it by Books we can have it without Christs Revelation Nothing would serve some in our Saviours time but Eternal Life and our Lord Jesus bids them search the Scriptures for in them saith he you think to have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me Yet for all the profession they made he tells them No Man hath seen God at any time neither seen his shape nor heard his voice they were strangers to God though they had a general knowledge of God So it is at this day there is a general knowledge of God and people hope to attain peace with God and Eternal Life Their Parents and their Tutors have instructed them in the Principles of Christianity and about the Attributes of God but all this will not bring a Man to a saving knowledge of God and reconciliation with him For a Man that is as wicked as the Devil can make him knows these things and yet may be a Servant of the Devil and do his work he is not born again and become a Child by all his External knowledge Now he that desires to come to the true saving knowledge of God our Saviour hath told us That none know the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him that is a sure way to come to the true knowledge of God by Jesus Christ he hath the Key that openeth the Heart and he will bring us to the true knowledge of God the Father Christ hath the Key of David which openeth and no Man shutteth and shutteth and no Man openeth He can bring us to behold the glory of God in his own Face without him we are never like to come to the saving knowledge of God Poor Man is in a lapsed fallen state he is fallen into Sin and is in a state of alienation from God and therefore he cannot come to him but by a Mediatour There is one Mediatour between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus and he must make peace for him else he will never have it how then shall we come to Christ if he is the only means and there is no other by which we may come to the knowledge or God as the Scripture speaks hearken to it how may we come to Christ I answer you will never come to him if he first come not to you you will never be able to do it It is not coming to Christ when you say you do believe that Christ died and rose again and ascended up into Heaven and sits at the Right hand of God and lives for ever to make intercession for his People and to read those words and Doctrines which he preached up and down at Meetings and solemn Assemblies but if you believe that he is the Eternal Son of God and the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him you must come to him and entirely give up your selves to his Glory and Service without this you cannot come to him nor will he bring you to the Father Christ is come near to us he stands at the door of our hearts and he stands and knocks behold that is a word that calls for attention for People to take notice of Behold I stand at the Door and knock what dost thou knock for saith Christ that thou mayst open the door of thy heart for if any Man open I will come in and Sup with him and he with me and my Father will come to him and we will make our Abode with him Now People are loth to be at this pains and trouble to open the door of their Hearts to Christ or they will not believe it is Christ that knocks and that rebukes and checks them when they refused to open to him when they find something within that reproves them for their Sin and doth condemn them that they cannot be quiet They will never believe that this is Christ How can this be Christ say they He is Ascended up to Heaven and he is at the Right Hand of God the Father Will you make me believe that this is Christ knocking at the door of my Heart I cannot believe it but what saith our Saviour Unless you believe that I am he you shall Die in your
Sins For there is no body else can help you out of them There is a twofold consideration that we are to have of Christ one is as he is Made of a Woman made under the Law and another consideration of Christ is as he is the Eternal Son of God Men have very gross thoughts of Christ to think that because he is in Heaven therefore he cannot be here too They measure him by themselves they know because a man is at London therefore he cannot be at York at the same time Thus these men object Christ is in Heaven How can he be here His Doctrine and Precepts are here let us make use of them all he will come again at the Day of Judgment but there is a Day of Judgment Doth not he Judge you now He is the Judge both of Quick and Dead and he is the searcher of Hearts and the tryer of the Reines so that thou canst not think an ill thought but he will tell thee of it he is nearer to thee than the Wife of thy bosome or thy Husband that is near to thee Husband and Wife may think an ill thought but they cannot tell one another of it but Christ is one that comes so near thee that thou canst not conceive an ill thought against thy Neighbour but he will tell thee of it This is the Lord Christ as a Spirit a quickning Spirit who is made manifest in the Flesh He hath given to every man a measure of the Spirit to profit withall The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men Notwithstanding the distinction by Learned Men between Common Grace and Spiritual Grace this Grace That brings Salvation hath appeared to all men This manifestation of the Spirit and Light within we have from Christ These are the Ways and Methods that the Lord Christ hath taken to approach near to us Now your own reason will tell you if this be the way and means that Christ takes to approach near to us we cannot take another way to approach to him if Christ hath taken I say this way to approach to us by the Light and Manifestation of his own Spirit which convinceth us of Sin If this be Christs way of coming to us there can be no other way of our coming to him but by the same method of his Grace He saith If you have the Light Believe in the Light I have the Light I am Enlightned there is something that Discovereth my evil Thoughts Why must I believe in the Light That you may be the Children of Light as our Saviour speaks They that are the Children of Light shall have it for their Inheritance and they that are Children of Darkness must have Darkness for their Inheritance While we have the Light we must believe in it and we shall be made Children of Light God hath sent his Son and the Son hath sent his Spirit and his Heavenly Grace into our Hearts that we may draw near to him and be directed how to attain acquaintance with him and to do that which pleaseth God and come to be in union with him and do the works of God This is that which God requires of us That we will believe on him whom he hath sent That we may embrace the Light and believe in the Light in the Lord Jesus Christ Pray what do you mean by believing there is something within me Checks and Reproves me for Sin and calls me off from it and bids me turn over a new Leaf Must I hearken to this Is this that which you mean by believing As to this degree of believing they that reject it now shall believe hereafter for all the World at last and the Damned in Hell shall certainly confess that there was Grace and Light and Means afforded to them and they might have gone farther and have escaped that misery that they are fallen into But there is a more precious Faith that I would have you partake of a Faith that worketh by Love Since the Lord hath been so gracious as to extend his mercy and Love to me I am so taken with the Love of God that I will be obedient to him this Faith that worketh by Love is the Faith of Gods Elect that by which we may obtain Victory over our Passions and Lusts and over Satan and the Snares of the World when we are come to close with the Grace of God and to believe in Christ this is well But we must also yield obedience and subjection Yet when Faith hath brought forth obedience you cannot be justified by it you cannot be saved by your obedience but by Christ alone He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith and a Mediatour from first to last Now all that come to close with the appearance of Christ in their own hearts they have laid hold on the method appointed for their coming to him It is Christ they must hear he is come so near to Men that they may hear his voice and hear him tell us our very thoughts Why should not I hear him when he checks me and reproves me for Sin he comes near and tells me I have done amiss Lord I have done iniquity I will do so no more Thus Christ Converseth with his People and doth not only check and reprove them when they do that which is evil but perswades them and enables them to do good He is a Mediatour he is a middle Person and hath taken Flesh upon him that he might reconcile them to God that do believe in him Now when we come to have acquaintance with God and have chosen him to be our God he teaches us to do what is good and reproves us for what evil we have done Who can chuse a better guide to lead him into acquaintance with God than Christ that is conversant with us piercing into our thoughts and speaking to us I may hear him with the inward ear of my heart when I do evil he checks me for it and tells me the thing I should seek is of inestimable value and if through my unbelief and carelesness I miss of it it had been better for me that I had never been born now we are in the way of coming to receive the end of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls let us not neglect so great Salvation No Man can save himself nor save the Soul of his Brother nor find a Ransom nor procure an Offering for the expiating of his Sin therefore let every one that would have his Sin expiated and pardoned and cannot be satisfied and quieted till he hath peace with God let him come to Christ the Mediatour and come with Faith and Truth in the inward parts and submit to him and be willing to be ruled by him then Christ will save him and present him without spot and blemish to his Father Consider that those that are the People of God are led by the Spirit of God and they have missed their way to reconciliation with
is given for another reason and there is truth in it but that truth is but a delusion they would excuse themselves when they have yielded to a Temptation I am weak and frail I cannot resist the Devil tho the Devil is not stronger than Christ yet he is stronger than I he worketh with all his might power and subtilty to deceive me and ensnare me and overcome me I am a poor frail Creature therefore I must yield to him This is a carnal reason if I were to grapple with the Devil in mine own strength and to deliver my Soul as if God had left me to my self If thou say Lord thou hast set me to grapple with the Devil and to withstand his temptations Lord I am not able to do it my self God will answer thee I have laid help upon one that is mighty that is able to save to the uttermost all that come to me by him So that thou are not to overcome the Devil by thine own power and ability If any man reason thus the reason is out of Doors for we are saved by Christ therefore I cannot plead mine own frailty seeing God hath provided a Rock for my defence that is stronger and higher than I that I may trust and relye upon So that you see the frailties of our nature is not a sufficient reason we must seek further for it yet and when we come to search narrowly and to the bottom of our Hearts I will tell you here it rests it hath its center in the perverseness of the Will that is in man that is contrary to the Will of God It is the opposition of our Will to the Will of God we may talk what we will of Salvation and Christianity that we have a mind to be saved and go unto God when we die and to enjoy the happiness of Heaven to Eternity We may talk thus but as long as the perverseness of the Will continues I am the cause of mine own ruine if I grow in a profession this perverse Will will grow up with me under that profession and under any profession change your judgment and opinion as often as you List this will go along with you the reason and the bottom of things will come to this none can overcome the Devil nor be a Disciple of Christ without a daily cross When people come to this to see a necessity of taking up the cross of Christ and denying themselves When it comes to this there are such shifts and evasions and arts that men have to cover themselves to make themselves and others believe that such and such a thing is consistent with the Will of God and that they may do it and save their own Souls but they boast of their own deceit and are glad that they can make a shift to save their own Souls so that there is no hopes of their ever being purged and cleansed and of having any holy work brought forth by them but when a man comes to be sensible of his spititual condition and is sincere and honest he will be ready to say unto God if I be deceived in any thing open mine Eyes Lord if I indulge my self in any thirg that hath a contrariety to thy holy Will Lord I beseech thee discover it to me such a man will lay aside his own Will if it be contrary to Gods Will Now here is one that is a very fit Object for Christ to work upon he will not be long before he be savingly convinced When a man comes to the Word he is convinced of such an evil in his Conscience where no body but God and himself were privy to it or had any knowledge of it It is discovered that he liveth in such a practice as is contrary to the mind of God God hath convinced thee that thou lovest it and livest in it And if thou wilt but break off that evil practice that hath sent his Son Jesus Christ to turn thee from every evil way and to Redeem thee from all Iniquity This truth hath a savour in it and if thou art sincere and upright there is nothing for thee to say or do but to set thy self against every thing that is contrary to the mind of God and thou wilt have light from Heaven sent to guide thee and direct thee in thy way thither if thou wilt but receive that Grace that is freely given of God unto thee through Jesus Christ he will certainly purge thee and cleanse thee from thy Sin and turn thee from every evil way notwithstanding the perverseness of thine own Will and Power of Satan And he will work in thy Heart by his Grace till it hath wrought thee off from thine iniquity and wrought iniquity out of thee and so bring forth a holy work to God Without Faith it is impossible to please God We cannot please God without Faith nor with it neither unless it be the gift of God There is a great deal of Faith in this Nation and in this City But do you believe all their ways are pleasing to God We must distinguish of Faith here When the Apostle would give a description of saving Faith he tells you that it is the Operation of God if I have not that Operation and a regard to it how can I have that working But since it is the dispensation of the Gospel of Christ and design of Christ to turn people to the operation of God in their own hearts we would have them believe it If there be a drunkard or a prophane person if God work faith in his Heart he will be convinced and say what a stroak hath the Lord given upon my Conscience and he will see it is the Lords work Then believe whoever thou art and lay hold of this for this is the Operation of God for thy Salvation this is the Operation of God upon a believing Soul the stroak of Gods hand and the Power of God and then thou hast the work of Faith by which Faith thou art enabled to keep thy self from that thing that God smote thee for and before he give thee over the same hour thou wilt find the same hand smiting thee for another sin this will be like fire in thy bones kindling up thy zeal and hatred against thy sin and will kindle in thee a holy fire of Love to God that hath not let thee lie in thy misery but minded thy condition and had compassion on thee This love God will shed abroad which will run over thy Heart He hath shed abroad his Love saith the Apostle Rom. 5. upon our hearts by the Holy Ghost to constrain us to yield obedience when thou fallest into the way of Faith which is the Operation of God the Devil comes and knocks and bounceth on this side and that and will tempt thee to walk in thy old course but God will not fail to give thee the power to withstand temptation The Lord Jesus Christ he worketh in peoples Hearts to turn them from
that Worship and Religion and the performance of those things that are pleasing to God They that are come thus to Worship they do not only know what the Lord requires of them and when he requires it of them but they are given up into the hands of God they Pray Preach Exhort and Live according to the will of God It is hard for People in a Carnal state to believe this but you that are Believers that are come to know the gift of God in your selves and the necessity of being ruled by him you will believe us for none else will believe us let us Preach to as many People and Nations as we will none will receive us as true Ministers but those that have the truth in their own hearts if there be any that despiseth the Grace of God in his own heart he hates that which chides and reproves him if there be such a Man he will hate me because I am a Minister and a Witness of the Grace of God and of that truth in the inward parts which is the ground and foundation that a Man hath of acceptance with God A Wicked Carnal Wretch will say I hate such a one I hate the Light that which checks me and witnesseth against me thou art such a one as bearest witness against me therefore I hate thee It is very true it cannot be otherwise now our desire and labour is that Men may come to the love of the truth in themselves You know there are a great many other Ministers whose Labour is to perswade People to believe what they say to lay down a Doctrine and prove it by Scripture and Reason and set it home upon their Minds by such testimony as the Scripture affords and hereupon they prevail upon the minds and judgments of People to believe what they lay down It is easie to lay down a Position and prove it and convince People that it must be according to Scripture but when a Person is convinced of a Principle of Truth he is not Regenerate thereby and come to God therefore though he cannot deny the Doctrine of Truth in words yet he can deny it in works and doth not rightly come to love it If People would believe what we say and observe what Arguments we bring for proving a Position they may be convinced of the Doctrine of Truth and come to a profession of it and yet be strangers to it till they come to love it in themselves if it were not for this we would leave Preaching if God had not given a measure and manifestation of the Spirit to every Man to profit withall you have it in your selves we are but as Monitors to you to put you in mind of it you have so much business in the World that you have not had leisure to take notice of it A Man may have a Rich Jewel and be Poor notwithstanding till he come to know the value of it A Man hath a Rich and Precious Jewel a Pearl bestowed upon him that would make him Rich in Faith and Love to God and qualifie him for the Kingdom of God and make him an Heir of it but he knows not nor understands the value of it and esteems it not therefore God hath raised up Ministers to put you in mind of it that you may be happy for ever and live in Blessedness to all Eternity whoever hath an ear to hear let him hear and when they hear what we say let them take the benefit of it to their own Souls We bring not truth to you but God hath bestowed it upon you you will be Rich indeed if you do as a Man that bought a Field where the Precious Pearl was and digged till he found it Come to the foundation upon which you should build all your hopes of happiness and depend not upon your own Works or Religious Performances for acceptance with God for there is no acceptance with God but only through Christ we are only accepted of God through him those that will become Christians indeed and worship God as he hath ordained and appointed himself to be worshipped they must come to the Principle of Light and Grace in their own hearts which they have in and through Christ and then they will find acceptance with God Sermon V. The Divine Life of Christ Jesus Preached in Grace-Church-Street March 16. 1691. THE Blessed Life of Christ is not of this World and it ought to be your care in all your Religious Assemblies that you be gathered into the inward feeling sense of this Divine Life that you may feel your Fellowship and Communion in that Life of Christ that is not of this World And may all of you lay hold upon it for this is the Nourishment and the Heavenly Bread with which the Children of the Kingdom are fed and nourished from day to day there are many that feed upon words that are not the Children of the Kingdom of God but the begotten of God are come to know the vertue of the Divine Life of Christ Jesus their feeding and their nourishment is by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God and they grow up to Life Eternal by that Divine and Heavenly Gift that God the Father hath bestowed upon them through his Son Jesus Christ and they enjoy the Communion of Saints through this Divine Head of the Church that Communicates of his Life and Vertue through every Member by which they are Sanctified and every day more and more prepared for that Living and Eternal Inheritance prepared for the Children of God And where there are a People that are thus gathered into the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ they are able to draw nigh to God they feel the Power of Enterance because their Sin is removed that did formerly lie at the door and the way is opened and consecrated for them to draw nigh and partake of the Table of the Lord by which they grow stronger and stronger in his Might and Power and are thereby enabled to perform the whole will of God and that Divine Worship and Religious Service which God requireth at their hands in their day For it is very certain and we have found it by experience the words of our Lord to his Disciples of old without me saith he ye can do nothing For though People may meet together and may pretend and set up a Form of Worship and of Religion in their own will yet it all amounts to nothing with respect to acceptance with the Lord there is no return in their Souls no addition of Life nor encrease and growth of Life they are not nearer the Kingdom than when they first believed but many times further off by leaning upon a formality and not really entering into the work of God nor travelling out of Death into Life for there must be Path and a travelling in it the Soul must have an exercise through the Power and Life of Jesus for the overcoming of Death that did separate
despise not the Day of small things live in subjection to that Grace that the Lord hath given you and the Lord will give you more Grace and pour out his Spirit and multiply his Blessings upon you the Lord hath begun a good work in you and he will carry it on to the day of Christ and will vouchsafe to bring the Glorious Day of his Visitation upon you To the Lord I leave you to his Favour and Protection I commit you remember that there is no Salvation but by Jesus Christ and none to be had by Christ till you come to Believe in him to him that searcheth the Heart and tries the Reins that pardoneth Iniquity Transgression and Sin for the sake of Christ Jesus the Mediatour to him I do commit you not doubting but that he that hath begun a good work in you will at last compleat and finish it to his own Praise and your Salvation Sermon IX The Excellency of Peace with God Preached at Devonshire-House August 5. 1691. My Friends IT is Mans great happiness in this World to have Acquaintance with God with the Lord that made him from whom he hath Life and Breath here and his Eternal welfare hereafter this doubtless every one will acknowledge one time or other that peace with God is a great Jewel and the best Estate and Riches It is the great desire of every one that they may attain this one time or other and there is a great neglect of happiness among the Sons and Daughters of Men in not seeking of it and not labouring to attain it while it is to be had Oh! how many trifle away their time about fading and perishing Objects and they know at the same instant that they are yet destitute of the favour of God and of peace with him Oh Friends the very thoughts and consideration of the worth of this Jewel and of the misery of being without it and of the uncertainty of our time while it is to be attained might put every one upon a serious diligent enquiry after the way and means whereby they might attain it that so they might have a resting place for their Souls and satisfaction to their inward Man that it shall go well with them when time shall be no more And they that come to this Consideration and are resolved in their hearts and minds that they will labour after this and set their whole endeavour after iâ— they will in the first place seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof These do need a daily encouragement in their way to Heaven and there is nothing on the Lords part wanting to such Souls but that they may attain their desire But alas this hath been and is still the misery of thousands they are seeking after peace with God but they err in the way to it they do not seek in that way nor take hold of those Methods by and through which God hath promised Peace you shall scarce meet with any body but they would have Eternal Life and Peace with God we shall not need to perswade People to wish for and to desire to have Peace with God when they shall come to die and lay down their heads in the dust There is not a Balaam but he desires to die the Death of the Righteous and that his last end may be like his There is not a Scribe or Pharisee or any that profess Religion but they are seeking after Eternal Life The Lord Jesus did witness concerning them that they were an envious proud persecuting People yet that they did seek after Eternal Life and they pitched upon some Methods and Ways whereby they thought to get and enjoy it but all this was errour still they were out of the way of attaining it and so are a great many people at this very day they are in a State and Condition wherein they are never like to enjoy it the Methods and the ways that they have chosen to themselves to find Eternal Life by and to obtain peace with God will never answer the end And God hath been pleased to discover to us the many by ways that People have chosen and seek after peace with God by therefore we are willing at all times to shew People their errour in these great matters of highest concernment to them If they did err in their way of seeking to obtain some earthly good and missed of their end they know the price of it it is but a loss of so much which if they had taken a right course they might have attained but it is an unspeakable loss an inestimable loss if they lose peace with God and all the pains and labour they are at to obtain it I beseech you Friends consider these things they are of great weight and you will say so one day or other for saith our Saviour what will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul O how sad is it to consider that a Man hath not made provision for his Soul that he hath not a place of rest for his immortal Soul and that the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ are not open to receive his Soul when his Body can retain it no longer If this be a Mans state when he comes to die it had been better for him that he had never been born Men may live and gather Riches and enjoy a plentiful Estate but if they be destitute of the favour of God and peace with him what will they do with these perishing enjoyments they cannot possibly satisfie themselves with these Transitory visible things but if these persons only mind their Bodies and neglect their Souls do they not live like the Beasts that perish The Beast seeks after his Meat and when he finds it he eats it with delight and pleasure and in a little while he lies down and dies and there is an end so it is with careless Souls that have no regard to their future State but they say Let us eat and drink and be merry for to morrow we shall die Oh that every one of us here did apply our hearts seriously to the consideration of the weight of these things that concern our Eternal State if persons did this then they might come to an enquiry in their own Souls what method and way is most safe for the attaining of so blessed an end For you know there are abundance of People if you look up and down in the World you will see every body almost hunting up and down in some way of Religion or other and are engaged in Religious Performances what is the matter what would you have We would have peace with God here and everlasting Rest hereafter in the Kingdom of Heaven that we would have Thus have the Nations been scattered and driven up and down in the pursuit of Happiness and Satisfaction There is a general Belief amongst people that there is a Heaven and a
are not taught by it Here is an object of Faith for all and God hath offered Faith to all men since he hath raised up Jesus from the Dead yet men have it not what is the reason that this Nation as well as other Nations have been puzzled about it to find out things that are so plain in Scripture in relation to the Love of God to Mankind and in relation to Christ Jesus the Saviour and yet so little of this work is wrought among us Some say there is never a man in the World turned from the evil of their ways they live in Sin and they are under a fixed necessity of continuing in it and lying under it all the days of their Life for all this belief of the Love of God and the Power of Christ and the Profession of it some say there is never a Christian in the World can live one day without Sin but will defile himself with one thing or other that the Devil will prevail over men and Sin will mixt it self with our Prayers and Alms and all our Holy Duties so that there is nothing clean nothing pure that we can perform to God There are others that are not so rash in their Judgment and not so inconsiderate but they will believe some Men and Women may come to a Power and Ability to withstand Satan and resist him in his Temptations and that there are those that have been turned from the evil of their ways but they are not What is the matter You have spent time about this what is the Reason you are not turned from the evil of your ways The Devil hath told the People in former Days that the reason why men live in sin is because God hath appointed it so to be and that hath stopt the mouths of many a plain-hearted tender Christian They have cried unto God under the weight of their Sin and they see no deliverance after all their Prayers and Tears because they have been told they cannot do it and that God hath appointed it should be so and required them to do that they cannot do and with some the Custom of Sin hath taken away the Sense of Sin and they go on to Perdition in their security I hope my friends that God hath opened your Eyes and that you have better thoughts of God than that he hath set you a Work and a Labour to do and by his Eternal Power and Decree hath Ordained that you should never do it but Damn you after all Consider there are Men and Women in Bondage and Captivity and God hath sent his Son into the World to redeem them from all Iniquity and turn them from their evil ways we are not turned what is the reason of it I beseech you in the Love of God be serious in this matter serious you must be one time or other when you come to the Tribunal of God there must be reason given or if not you must be speechless therefore find it out here What is the reason that I am not turned from my evil ways since God hath sent his Son Jesus to do it and given him power to do it why then is it not done Some persons upon enquiry and after their search have brought forth this reason They have alledged the great power the Devil hath The Devil is so strange and hath such a Power to darken their minds and inchant their affections He injects and brings things into their minds before they are aware of it I confess this and I would say a little to it I will confess as much as the argument will bear that the Devil hath great power and a way of injection of things into the Spirits and Affections of People He is Gods Enemy and ours too and he lies in wait and will do as much as he can against us that never a one shall get to Heaven if we come thither it shall be against his Will I have heard some magnifie the Devils Power to such a degree that he hath such power over a man or woman that he is able to keep them in sin all their Life though God hath put forth the exceeding greatness of his power for their Redemption This is hard to believe that the Devil is stronger than Christ Jesus Well as great as his power is we are in a capacity of knowing a greater power the Apostle did comfort Christians notwithstanding all the power the Devil used with them to defile them and keep them from inheriting the Kingdom of God 1 Joh. 1.4 You are of God little children and have overcome because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World I would have you believe this I do believe it heartily the Devil only rules in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience and he that hath the Holy Ghost in him hath one greater than be that is in the World If you believe this then the question is thus far answered that we have a Saviour a Deliverer that is more able to Redeem us than the Devil is to keep us in Bondage I hope we are pretty well now we know we have a keeper We are assaulted with the Devils temptations and they are powerful How powerful He hath so much power as he finds in us an inclination to yield and joyn with his temptations If he comes with a temptation to a man or woman that hath no inclination to that thing he tempts them to if they hate that thing then there is an end of it The Devils power lyes in this when he brings a temptation that I have an inclination to then he hath a party within me if that be rooted out what signifies his power let him bring never so many temptations There are many of you that understand what I say if a temptation comes to a man to commit an act of uncleanness if he be a chast man there is no inclination in him to yield to it or joyn with it he hates it it is an abomination it self and grievous and provoking to God if he doth it a man abhors it then what powerful temptation is it If it light upon a man of an unclean mind that is defiled in his Heart he hath not only the Devil but his own Lust and corrupt inclination to contend with but if a man believeth in Christ he relies upon him and he will say Lord thou seest I am under a temptation here is a great and a powerful temptation I can never withstand it but I trust in thy name and power do thou arise and deliver me from it Thus when God doth arise his Enemies will be scattered Tho the Devils power be great yet there is a Deliverer that is stronger than he The reason of mens being overcome doth not lie in the greatness of the Devils power but in the frailty of our nature Some will say that our natures are so frail and weak and depraved that we can do nothing as we ought to do this