spake or wrote it It was not the Blood of Bulls or Goats nor the Blood of a Ram that could purge away Sin from their Consciences And after the Apostle had opened the Mystery of Divinity who had a Divine and Spiritual Skill in unfolding the Restoration of Mankind he declared plainly that when the Offering was made by Aaron for Sinners even then there remained still a Conscience of Sin for it was not possible that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should take away Sin so that their outward performances and their outward services they did but point out the Mediator they had a pointing finger as it were to the Real True and Everlasting Mediator Christ Jesus who is made a Mediator betwixt God and Man that by and through him man might be again Reconciled to God So that now in these Gospel days wherein God is opening the Mysteries of Life and Salvation to the intent and purpose that the Sons and Daughters of Men might be restored again unto their Primitive Enjoyment of the Favour of God Now in these days it is the Duty of all Christians and of all that are seeking the welfare of their Immortal Souls that they have their Eyes and their Hearts unto Jesus as unto one that is able to Reconcile them unto God To him it is committed to him Wisdom and Power is committed and to him Authority is committed that he should be an Everlasting High Priest and that all the Services and all the Worship and Religious performances that People offer up to God should be in his Name that so by him they might be Recommended to God For none will ever find Acceptance with the Father unless in all their performances they have an Eye unto him So that it comes plainly to pass according to that short and confident Assertion of the Author to the Hebrews That without Faith it is impossible to please God But it is possible to Offer Sacrifices without Faith and possible for People to perform Religious Services without Faith as woful Experience have taught us in our days That many have been exercised in a kind of a Religious Service and Worship that never in their Lives had Faith enough to believe the things that they pray for And they are without Faith For when People Pray to God to send his Holy Spirit into their Hearts that they may keep his Commandments to their Lives End they have not Faith to believe it And when they Pray Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven This is a Religious performance but I question whether it be done in Faith if not it is but an Increasing in Sin an Addition to Sin Where is the Man that is exercised in praying to God that believeth that ever such a thing is like to come to pass Go where you will in this or the other Nation and Inquire of People about their Faith they believe there is no possibility of Extirpating and Rooting out of Sin while they live upon the Earth therefore all their Prayers for it are vain and their Faith a vain Faith and it is high time in such a day as this when men are Faithless and Unbelieving to preach up the object of Faith the Lord Jesus Christ People are of divers Faiths and of divers Beliefs but we have found by experience that they do them no good they do not bring a thing to pass that of necessity must be brought to pass ere they can be Reconciled to God their Faith doth not cleanse the Heart nor extend so far as to believe that ere they shall be cleansed In all the Worship and Religion that they perform they come not to this Faith that they shall be made clean All that is done is but in sin and uncleanness they cannot bring a clean Sacrifice out of an unclean Vessel And our Lord Jesus Christ saith concerning this Subject An Evil Tree cannot bring forth Good Fruit. But there must be good Fruit brought forth how must we do it Make the Tree good and the Fruit will be good When that Mens vain janglings about Religion and Religious fancies must come to an end Then all that Religion will appear to be in vain and will not answer the end for which it is performed till men believe that it will make the Tree good and cleanse the Heart and Transform men by Renewing the Spirit of their Minds So that Religion it must begin within And it is not our changing our forms of Worship from one form to another and taking up this and the other Opinion that doth change our hearts Sad Experience doth teach us that men may carry over their old Lusts into a new Religion we can carry over our old Inclinations into our new Opinions For though the form of Worship be changed the Heart remaining unchanged and the Lusts unmortified their Religion is in vain let them be of what persuasion they will Now the remedy of this great Calamity that hath overspread all sorts of People for there is no sort of People but there are those among them that are under this great Calamity of holding the profession of Godliness with an Ungodly mind and the profession of Truth with a false and treacherous Spirit Now for the remedying of this there is but one way that all Mens Eyes be brought off from having their Eye unto their Performances and to the Doctrines and Tenents that they hold and do as the Apostle saith Fix their Eye upon Christ and look upon Jesus that is the first thing that must begin our Religion for Christ must be the Alpha of our Religion as well as the Omega of it If I begin not there let me begin where I will I begin wrong Let me begin at the most serious and sound Doctrines and at the most Apostolical Religion If Christ and his Apostles were here upon the Earth if I walked among them if I believed all they said and did I should begin wrong if I did not fix mine Eye upon Jesus Christ that is the taker away of sin and is the sanctifier of the Soul by his Spirit There must be the first beginning and there must be the conclusion he is the Author and the finisher of all true Faith There are Authors of other Faiths Men have different Faiths and their Creeds and Articles And they have exposed and imposed them too but this is the worst of it none of them are right let them be exposed and imposed with never so much force and violence none of these will cleanse the heart but that Faith which is delivered over by Christ Jâ—sus that hath the quality of cleansing and purifying that is the Faith when all is done that will do the work that is it that will save and sanctifie and do the business that all the World is about every one would have a Reconciler with God and Sin rooted out and be as God would have them be this is the publick profession of Christendom at least they
Prophet was no other than Christ Jesus it was not John Baptist nor Paul nor Peter but Christ that was promised to be raised there was such an absolute Command went along with that Prophecy That all should hear him and it had a threatning at the end of it That all that will not hear him shall be cut off Are there not Whoremongers and Drunkards and Lyars that will not hear this Prophet They will not hear him because they love their Sins what becomes of them They are cut off from the enjoyment of the Love and Favour of God And when they did draw nigh to God in Prayer and other Religious exercises it was with them as it was with Cain Sin lies at the Door When they come into a storm at Sea or are Arrested with sickness and Death looks them in the face they would have Peace but there is Distress and Trouble in the Room of it what is the matter wast thou not baptized into the Christian Faith Did not the Minister tell thee That thou art a Child of God and an Inheriter of the Kingdom of Heaven Alas my Sin lies at my Door Oh that I had time to live a better Life What ails thy life Man My Life hath been a Life of Deceit Lust and Vanity Corruption and Hycrisie Did not thy Teacher teach thee that a believer hath no guilt upon him but that all his Sins are pardoned from the day he became a believer This Doctrine will not hold in a storm though it will do in fair Weather when men are swimming in their pleasures it will serve them but when they come to deal with their Maker no Faith will serve them but that which purifies the heart and that which makes a change from the Earthly Image to the Heavenly It were better for you and I and every one of us to take these things into consideration while we have health and strength and while some Sand as I may so speak is in our Glasses to consider what is my Faith What is the Object of it Have I a dependency upon my Duties and Alms and good Deeds They will fail me But if my dependency is upon Christ as a Saviour and a Sanctifyer and my Sanctification is carryed on gradually He that hath begun a good work in me will perfect it And if the reason of my going to Meetings and going into my Closet and bowing my self before the Lord is to keep close to him that carries on the Work of Sanctification he will work all my work in me and for me I cannot expect to live in this World but I shall meet with Temptations the Devil will Tempt me but my Saviour will be nigh me as nigh to me as the Devil can be If I Keep close to him he will keep close to me My Father saith Christ is greater than I and none is able to pluck you out of your Fathers hands I must expect to be tempted For the Adversary the Devil goes about like a Roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour Alas saith one though I have made some progress in the work of Sanctification yet for all that he may one day betray me Am I grown strong enough to resist his Temptations And wise enough to foresee all his Gâ—ns and Traps which he lays to insnare me But I know who can see them and defeat them I have my Faith fixed upon one that can bind the strong Man and cast him out The Life that I now live is not in my own Parts and by my own Understanding and Sence But the Life that I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God This is that Faith that gives me victory the Apostle had a battle for it I have fought the good fight and henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness and not for me only but for all them that love the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ And that come to have familiarity with Christ with his Spirit and Truth in their Hearts with his Grace and Word though these are several Expressions they all signifie one Immortal seed of Life by which men are United to God It is a Leaven there to Leaven them into the Divine Nature Whenever such a one his Tempted he resists not the Tempter in his own power but he waits to feel the arisings of that Life and Power and Vertue that was in Christ Jesus and is in him still he waits for that power that in the name of Christ he may say Get thee behind me Satan Being fortifyed by Christs Name and armed with his power What is it that a Christian cannot do What Valiant Noble and Wonderful things have they done that have been shielded with this Faith See the Eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews All the Repetitions of that Chapter from one end to the other in all of them the Apostle he ascribes all the Valiantness and Couragiousness of those noble Acts to the power of Faith they looked to Jesus before ever the Virgin Mary brought him forth of her body The Prophets did earnestly seek to know those things which the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signifie That there was to be a Prophet before ever the Virgin Mary was born So that Christ was always the Object of a true Believers faith tho' under the Law they had an high Priest and he was placed at the Altar and they had Offerings burnt upon it Yet they had an Eye unto Christ They had an undervaluing of all that their Sacrifices could do for them If thou wouldst have had burnt Offerings saith David I would have given them I would not have with-held them from thine Altar thou shouldest have had enough of them He was bold to say in respect of Acceptance and Reconciliation Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me for it is written in the Volume of the Book I come to do thy Will O God He had an Eye unto Jesus that was to come upon whom help was laid there was a Redeemer that should come from Sion and a Lawgiver from Jerusalem they had an Eye beyond Sacrifices unto Christ In all Ages the People of God they have had the Answer of their Souls which is Reconciliation and the Favour of God they that had this Answer never had it but by Christ No Man can be accepted with God can never have the desire of his Soul Answered in Peace and Reconciliation with God till his Faith be placed on Christ Jesus Neither can any man have Faith in Christ at a distance and thereby be Reconciled unto God but must know his Spirit I must have an experimental knowledge of his Power and Wisdom and this I cannot have without his Spirit Let me believe never so Orthodoxly except I have the Spirit of Christ it will do me no good it will be of no Advantage to me This is the Word that was in my heart as a well
Tenet and the other Tenet this Text and the other Text For my part I should only desire for you to Understand this Text and I should not doubt your going to Heaven Here is the Sum Here is all at once Here is the Quintessence of all Religion of all Types Shadows Figures Ceremonies and Priesthood and all that ever was or could be Named and Practised in the World all brought to this The Heart given up to God our Love set upon him What is this sufficient will some say This will make you a good Moral Man but what is this to the Christian Religion You may be led into Error and become an Heretick for all this How can this be that I should not be of a sound Faith but led into Error and Heresie for all this When People let in Error and Heresie and Unsoundness of Faith Where do they let it in Do they not let in the Principles of Errour and Heresie into their Hearts I believe this and that and the other Error it comes into the Heart and hath a seat in the Heart but how can we do that How can we let it into the Heart When the Heart is given up to God Cannot he keep out Error and Heresie if I give up my Heart and Soul to him Cannot I trust him with all This kind of talk of Error and Heresie hath come among Men that have had the keeping of their own Souls they have taken their own Souls into their own hands and have ordered their Religion themselves or have gotten some body to order it for them and a great many of them have met together to make Creeds and Catechisms and Confessions and Orthodox Doctrines that might certainly be professed and subscribed Afterwards some have come and found fault with them then they must have a Council to try them then these go off and are laid aside and others are given in the room of them so that these Men have set up for themselves These would not be under the Government and Prescription of God as Children under the Government of a Father but they will set up Religions themselves and say to the rest of the World if you own any thing contrary to our Principles you are an Heretick and being an Heretick you are to be rooted out and cut off Do not you read in the Scripture that whosoever hears not the Prophet that was to come into the World shall be cut off What will you not hear Christ speak in the Church Will not you hear Christ speak The Church cannot speak without a Head If you will not hear the Church you shall be cut off Then they have fallen to Hanging and Burning and Killing and Destroying People and Nations not a few And this comes from their making Faiths and Creeds and ordering Religion themselves all their Barbarous and Inhuman Cruelties Martyring and Dungeoning of People comes from their making Faiths themselves and of all things nothing is more desparately wicked and they did not know it The Heart is deceitful above all things and desparately wicked who can know it Men know not how Proud and Arrogant they themselves are and yet they would be ordering the Hearts and Minds and Consciences of others and out of this hath Sprung all Superstition and Idolatry because men would not give up their Hearts to God Thou shalt have no other Gods but me This Commandment is great in it self strict in the terms Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and thy Neighbour as thy self Their Neighbour could not see with their Eyes therefore there must be Hanging and Burning and Destroying one another But blessed be who is now bringing forth true Christianity upon its old Basis and Foundation whereon it was placed at first for Christianity hath been justled off from its first Foundation for instead of Loving God with all their Hearts and Loving their Neighbours as themselves they Hated them Now this is the Day O Friends the weight of it is great This I say is the Day whereâ—n God is bringing Christianity upon its old Foundation I would not have you think that I am here judging our Fore-fathers that are fallen asleep that therefore they are gone to Hell because they saw not this Day and Lived not to see the benefit of it that we enjoy I am far from it This was the thing that they believed and prayed to God for they did not see this Day outwardly but they saw it by Faith I my self when I was a Child I remember the People of God when they got three or four together they would rejoice in the Hope of what they Foresaw they gave Thanks to God for the Blessed Days that he would bring forth though they could not tell when they did say and believe that God would scatter the Foggs and Mists and bring forth an Happy Day wherein his People should have the Gift of his Spirit when they saw the Impositions and Persecutions of these times when they that did not Conform and Comply were cast into Prisons and thrown into Dungeons and Goals Well it will not always be thus say they there is a Day a coming wherein the Lord will set his People free from all the Yoaks of Oppression and from the Oppressour Indeed my Soul did rejoyce when I was hearing the Prophetical sayings of these good men and I thought I might live to see that Day Blessed be God that hath Preserved my Life to this Day and to this Hour to enjoy what they Prayed for They Prayed to God to scatter the Mists and Fogs that they might no longer Cloud and Darken Men's Minds and hinder them from enjoying God's Teaching Blessed be God that we are now in the injoyment of the Prayers of the Faithful that left the World before we were in it Now the Day is come that they Prayed for and Enquired after How strangely doth the Man Talk will some say concerning the Christian Religion The Christian Religion is all England over go to any Meeting in London except one and they will tell you they are Christians I would to God they were that is the worst I wish them all But what should we talk of the Christian Religion without the Christian Life Except we find that amongst them What signifies the Name and Profession of it And the Christian Doctrine is wanting in many places too There be many in this City urging this very Command of Loving God with all their Hearts and their Neighbours as themselves as fervently as I can do or any body else and yet they will tell you in the next breath that no man in London nor in all the World can do this No Man can possibly Love God with all his Heart Never a Man can be found that can perform such an Act as to Love his Neighbour as himself Not every Neighbour it may be but some one choice Associate he can pick out that he can Love and bear with his Infirmities and
to this pass to be at thy Wits end and not know which way to turn thee nor to whom to run for help or to ask Councel for thy Souls wellfare thou art come to the end of all and without hope then God reveals himself by his Son Jesus Christ Christ the Son of God is known by our coming to him but none can come unto Christ except the Father which hath sent him draw him When thou hast done with thy Gods and thrown away thy Idols to the Batts and Moles then thou wilt find the Lord and thou wilt cry out O that God would have mercy upon me and lift up the light of his Countenance upon me I am a poor miserabie Creature There are many that make such a Whining and Complaining that they take a pride in their very Complaints their Hypocrisie is so great I have known some that have prided themselves in wording their Condition and expressing their miserable case before the Lord but suppose thou canst not speak at all but feelest thy self miserable thou canst not express thy Condition At such a time as this God was drawing thy Soul to Christ Jesus the Mediator of it I have heard of a Mediator and that there is Balm in Gilead for me that there is a Physitian there that there is one Physitian even Jesus Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant thou hast sinned against him and grieved him yet he stands with open Arms for thee ready to receive thee and embrace thee where stands he He stands at the Door and Knocks it is a small matter one would think to let him in Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the Door and knock and if any man heâ—r my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Here is good News for a hungry Soul if any such be here Christ the Mediator stands at the Door and Knocks he will come in and Sup with thee if thou open to him then we shall meet with the Lords Supper This is the Lord we will wait for him he will bring his Bread with him The Bread of Life and the Wine of his Kingdom And the Lords Supper will be celebrated without cavilling and jangling Now because we do not pervert the Scripture I would have you â—hat understand Books read what Commentators say what those of this and former Ages say upon this Text whether they do not Consture and Deliver in their Opinions that this Knocking at the Door is Christs Calling the Soul by his Grace and this Door is the Door of the Heart and Christs Calling the Soul by his Grace and Spirit to let him in by Faith This is their Judgment and Sense and their Sense is mine and I believe the Genuin Sense of the Text that Christ would have People think he is near to them and that he would have People open their Hearts and Receive him by Faith for to be a Saviour to them No that saith Flesh and Blood I cannot bear I cannot consent to have him for my Saviour I will not let him in for he is like Micaiah to Ahab He never speaks good concerning me For if I have him for my Saviour I must part with my Lusts and Pleasures if there be any other Saviour I will try and not meddle with him He will spoil all our Mirth and good Society he will tell me of every Idle word that I shall speak I must give an Account thereof at the Day of Judgment What do you think that I can like such a Saviour That I can live with such a one as will call me to an Account for every word I speak and that if I speak one idle word Judgment will come upon me No I will try one and another rather than accept of him upon such terms I am one that am joyned to such a Church and enjoy such and such Ordinances and such Helps I am in Covenant with God and under the Seals of that Covenant I am Baptized and do partake of the Lords Supper which is another Seal of the Covenant I hope it will be well with me I will go something farther another saith we must have a Mediator I will go to the Virgin Mary and offer something to her and pray to her Saith another I will go to Saint James and Saint John and other Saints to Intercede with God for me They must have some Mediator This is the Twisting and Twining of the Sons and Daughters of Men to keep out Christ the Great Mediator who came into the World for this purpose to destroy the works of the Devil Alas I have nothing left but my bare Life and Living in the World I have nothing left me but some Liâ—tle desire I had to please God and that he will never Judge and Condemn me for but my false dealing and buying and selling with Deceit He will Judge this and Condemn it And my Discoursing of things without me all my Carnal Friendship and Love of the World and my vain Fashions all that is Corrupt and Defiled these he came on purpose to destroy He came to destroy boâ—h the Devil and his Works What can a man Live in the World and never joyn wiâ—h the Devil Never Sin at all Never do any thing that the Devil would have him do There is no Perfection in this World no living without Sin here then I am sure there is no Unity with Christ here and if there be no Unity with Christ then there is none with God the Father What will become of thee now What will all the pleaders for that opinion say now There is some thing stands betwen God and me and I shall never have Peace and what is that It is Sin I would have my Sin taken away else I had better never been born Canst thou remove Sin out of thy Heart I have tryed but I cannot do it I have heard of Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant He saith he came into the World and that for this purpose he was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil Now Sin in my Heart is the Devils work I will see if he will destroy that for me I will trust and rely upon him and see if his great Power can destroy it in me Here People come rightly to believe in him that God hath sent and trust in him and he will take them in and like a Chirurgion he will rip up their Hearts and lâ—t out their Corrruptions though there hath been never so much Rottenness and he will heal them and purifie them and pardon them though they have been never so wicked if they come to him when thy Sins are set in order before thee then thou cryest out O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Is it God that hath thought of me and waited to be Gracious and hath born my Sin long how wonderful is his patience towards me All these things
working in the Soul tend to beget a Love to God and fervent desires after being cleansed and purified from Sin and earnest Prayer to the Lord to make that Holy Fire to kindle that would burn it up The more the Soul trusteth in Christ the more doth this Heavenly Fire burn up our Lusts and then a Man feels a great change in his mind The things saith he that I delighted in are now grievous to me I hope I shall never be found in those things again my mind is now taken off them who took it off Didst thou not strive before to take it off I did but I could not do it There are many I believe in this Assembly before the Lord that are my witnesses in this matter that when they came to Christ the Mediator he changed their minds and he untyed the Devils fetters they were tyed to their Sins and Lusts but he hath unloosed them and set them at liberty and they now find such a change that they hate those things they loved and when they come to think of them they are ashamed they are ashamed of those things that they formerly took pleasure in What fruit saith the Apostle had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed So I say what pleasure have you in Sporting and Gaming and Drinking and Company-keeping What pleasure have you to think of your Wanton Discourses What pleasure in Pride and Vanity What pleasure in Wrath and Bitterness of mind And what pleasure in Malice and Envy What pleasure have you in those things whereof you are now ashamed So far as you are convinced you are ashamed to think of them I am ashamed to think that the Devil at such a time by such a Temptation should prevail over me I would to God you were all come to this to be ashamed that you might remember your past evil Ways and Actions with sorrow and shame There is a secret Joy in this Sure it is better to be ashamed than to continue in impudence God hath wrought this change at last and who shall have the Glory of it God shall have the glory of it for his own Works will praise him What men do many times they do for their own praise but when they are at their wits end and know not what to do they cast themselves upon their Maker to see if he will have mercy upon them if not they must Perish then for what he doth he gets the Glory and the Praise of it There are some here that are bound to praise God while they have a Day to live for what he hath done for them They could never have loved God with all their Hearts but they would have continued Strangers to God and the Devil would have led them Captive at his Will They would not have loved God with all their Hearts had not God first shed abroad his love upon their hearts and constrained them to love him it is he that hath first loved them and wrought in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Whatsoever we are we are by the Grace of God this Grace is magnified in them that believe and obey the Gospel My Friends we know there is so much Peace and Pleasure in the ways of God so much Soul-satisfaction in Walking with God and loving of him with all our Hearts That I should be glad that every one of you were of the same mind and had experience of it We Labour diligently for this purpose and we would set before you these two things First how we may come to know our miserable State by Nature What a blessed and happy Sâ—ate they are in that have been Converted and Changed that have been translated out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of God's Dear Son Consider your State by Nature is Evil we hope that many of you in hearing the Reports of the Gospel concerning the goodness of the Lord his great love in sending his Son into the World to seek and save you that were lost and that you may believe in him And we are perswaded that by the Foolishness of Preaching God will save some of you that you may be his Redeemed Ones and trust to no other Saviour for there is not any other Name under Heaven but the Name of Jesus by which you can be saved He only can take away the Sâ—ns of the World his Spirit searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins which he promised to send into the World when he was leaving it Now I dare Proclaim that Holy Spirit to be the Spirit of the God of Heaven that now sees what Resolution thou art of and what thou art now proposing to do whether to go on in Sin or to return to God This I can speak without Blasphemy it is God's Spirit that searcheth thy Heart and knoweth thy thoughts and purposes and convinceth thee of thy Sin God hath sent his Son Christ Jesus into the World to enlighten you that by his Light you might see him and that by his Grace you migh Receive him and that by his Grace you might be saved To him I commit you all and these words that we have spoken are in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit according as he hath wrought in us I must tell you we were never called of God to Study Sermons for you nor to Preach things that are made Ready to our hands but as the Lord our God hath wrought in us and as God hath been pleased to make known his mind to us and by his Spirit given us utterance So we speak and so we Preach You that are come to believe and receive the things of the Spirit you will Judge what I say I speak unto you that are Spiritual Judge ye what I say saith the Apostle so when I speak of Divine and Heavenly things you that are Spiritual Judge what I say and as you come to Judge and Determine in your selves that these things are true you will feel the Power of them in your own Spirits And we shall all be of the same mind and as we have One God we shall serve him in sincerity and Worship him with Reverence then his Name shall be Exalted in the midst of us and we shall Edifie one another in Love and we shall instruct one another and call upon one another Come let us go to the House of the God of Jacob He will Teach us and Preserve us in his way and do us good and keep us from all Evil. Turn your minds inward and consider that God is a God at hand ready to help you and he requires no more of you than of other People in former times to love the Lord with all your Hearts and to abstract and withdraw your minds from all other things that do come in Competition with him and be sure to have no Trust or Dependance but upon him Then see what God will do for you no Tongue can express nor Pen Write neither
wisher to the Souls of all Men As God hath done good to my Soul So I cannot but wish well to the Souls of others That as he hath found out a way for my Redemption and Salvation so likewise I wish the same for others that are bond-men and bond-women and under the Power of their Corruption Gods work hath been to destroy the Bondage and the Oppression and to destroy the Tyrant that Reigns over the Souls of his People God having made them for his Glory and the Devil hath Stolen them away that they do not that which pleaseth God But God's good pleasure is that all may be Saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth And God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish but have Everlasting Life And he is called The Lamb of God which takes away the Sins of the World He can take away Sin if my Sin do not obstruct my Faith and Confidence in him he will take it away and if he takes that away then he makes the Tree good Nothing hinders us from the injoyment of God but Sin and if Christ will take it away by the blood of his Cross no matter for all the Scorn Contempt Hardship Reproach and Persecution of this World no matter for he hath not deceived us but told us before hand If we will be followers of him and be led by him we must expect these things suffering Reproaches Persecutions Disdain Envy these things come not uncertainly upon us the World loves its own and cannot love them that are not of it but they that are now of the World may be brought to the terms of God and they may not be any longer of the World Christ Prayeth not that his Disciples may be taken out of the World but kept from the evil he prayed for them that did not believe So that Christ is a Mediator for all men and a Propitiation for all men and he is working by his Spirit for the Redemption of all men That to as many as believe in him to them he gives Power to become the Sons of God The sum of all is this that we have an opportunity put into our hands we cannot deny it you must all upon search confess that the Grace of God doth often work in your hearts against any Corruption against any Evil Let not this prize be put into our hands in vain as into the hands of fools If I knew that this and that was a sin I would leave it let us be of that mind and we shall soon know it Then say If I knew such a thing to be a sin If I could get a thousand pounds by it I would not do it why should'st thou love sin for profit or pleasure I am sure it is an ill bargain when it is done Whatsoever I am convinced of is a sin I will not it Resolve upon this and there the Grace of God will be at work we shall soon see that we must leave off sinning there is such a thing I must leave God hath set up a Judgment in my mind against it though it bring profit and pleasure away it must go here is a step a following step to follow Christ he that will deny himself will follow Christ My Redeemer shews me this to be an evil I will not do it but follow him and imitate him Here the Soul is led step by step even by Christ the Captain of our Salvation till it is gradually cleansed from sin and reconciled unto God and this can be done by no other means for Prayer and Alms will not do it All that can be done by us will not dot it none can do it but Christ alone that God hath laid help upon that you may all wait for the Divine Operation of his Grace in your hearts that is it which we Labour and Travel for as knowing that God hath wrought wonderfully by it for the Redemption of all those that love him more than they love their pleasures more than they love their sins it must be concluded that following of him and leaving Father and Mother Husband and Wife Children Brethren and Sisters all these things as they stand in competition with him and the Obedience of his Spirit all these must be looked upon as nothing to him Then above all things I must not displease him He can speak Peace and none can take it away and if he take it away none can give it If we follow Christ when this is done then all is done according to the Will of God then the blessing of God descends upon the whole Creation then every man will speak truth to his Neighbour and every man will govern his Family with discretion So God is Glorified and his name comes to be Exalted who is worthy to be Loved Adored and Exalted above all Blessings and Praises to him be Glory who is God over all Blessed for Ever and Ever Amen His Prayer after Sermon MOST Glorious God of Life and Power and of Everlasting Kindness a God of Long-suffering and Patience else we had not been here at this day Lord we are Monuments of thy Mercy thou hast spared us long and hast called unto us in a day when we turned away our Ear from thee thou hast stretched out thy hand all the day long and thou hast gathered a little Remnant of the lost Sheep of the house of Israel to partake of thy Pastures of Life and now all our Souls have been greatly refreshed and comforted since we come to understand and comprehend with the rest of thy Saints the Height and Length and Breadth and Depth of thy Love which in the Son of thy Love thou hast Revealed to us And blessed Father of Life our Souls do breath and cry unto thee on the behalf of Strangers which are Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel that are yet breathing and inquiring after thee And asking the way to Sion O Lord remember them and hear their cry and let their sighing and complaining enter into thine Ears that all they in whom thou hast begun to kindle up holy desires after thee may have them grow into a flame to burn up all their Enmity to thee that so they may be purified by thy judgments and receive of thy Heavenly Grace This is the way which thou hast used with thy Children thou hast commanded them to Worship thee in thy dwelling place thou hast taken them into thy house and fed them with thy finest Wheat refreshed them with thy Loving-kindness and filled them with thy Holy Spirit Dearest God of Love this is the design and purpose of our Meeting together that we may enjoy thy Presence and feel the operation of thy Word and have Communion with thee and thy Son Jesus Christ through thy Holy Spirit the way into Rest and Life is with thee thou canst open and none can shut Lord open the hearts of this People to receive of thy
in your Sins whether I go you cannot come O Friends lay these things to your Hearts what have I to do but to tell you that the Love I have in my Soul to you all makes me desire in my Heart that you might be saved This is the Will of God that you might all be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth Blessed are they which know the Truth the Truth as it is in Jesus Truth in the inward parts hath a speaking Voice and if thou hearken to it it will tell thee that thy state is nought Canst thou believe the Truth when it tells thee so That thy state is nought and that thou art like to go to Eternal Destruction unless there be Repentance and Regeneration to prevent it Canst thou believe this Doctrine when it sounds in thy own Heart If thou canst not Believe it Unbelief will be thy Ruine The Spirit of Truth is come to convince the World of Sin because they believe not in Christ he tells them their Condition and they will not believe him The Spirit of Christ convinceth men of Sin and they believe him not The Spirit of Truth convinceth thee of thy Sin but thou believest him not Thou Lovest thy Pleasure and thy Profit and thine Honour then thou Lovest not God with all thine Heart and then thou art not a Christian but out of Covenant with God Art thou sensible that thy condition is bad were it not best to get it mended After we are convinced of our own sinful state Is it not our best course to seek to have it mended Who shall mend it Saith one I have done all I can to mend my Life and I cannot mend it I have concluded so in my younger years I have Fasted and Prayed and spent time in Hearing Reading and Meditation and did all in my own Power and all to mend my state but I could not mend it and as I grew up in years Sin and Corruption more prevailed and there was no help and I came so far as to believe there was no help and that if God did not help me I was undone to all Eternity I many times wisht that I had never been born I went to Ministers and Meetings and to all sorts of separate People and to all manner of Ordinance and to all manner of Means to mend this bad Heart of mine to see if I could get a Power that would give me Victory over my Corruption but my Arm was never so long as to reach thereunto it was far out of my Power and Reach Many have sought to get this Power of Reforming their Hearts and Lives to attain it by their own hands by their own endeavours but they could never do it they could never better their condition nor bring forth fruit worthy of amendment of Life I wish that every one was come to that pass that they knew not which way to turn them that they were come at last to their Wits end they will come to it sooner or later the sooner the better I have done all I can I can do no more I am at my Wits end and know not what to think concerning my Eternal State I know not what to judge of it I strive against my Lusts and Corruptions but for all that they prevail upon me Temptations come before me but I cannot conquer them O I am glad when People are come to that pass that they know not what to do but to despair of their own Arms of their own Strength and their own Wit and despair of all other help in the World I am glad of that But I am not Preaching up Despair of Gods Grace and Mercy but let me tell you when Men Despair of their own doings and of all outward means and helps then they are fit Objects for the mercy of God and not till then When the Lord looked and saw that there was none to Save and Deliver then his own Arm brought Salvation God will not save tâ—ll then God will not reveal his Power till Men have done with their own Power they will never Trust God while they think they can do something for themselves All the Forms of Religion of the several People of this Nation will do them little good without the Power What is the meaning of that Principle that have such Masses and Prayers and Performances What is the meaning of it let us search to the bottom They say we are Sinners when we Pray to God for his Blessing and for Salvation by Christ there is this at the bottom They think these Duties and Performances will be very helpful to their state helpful towards the knowledge of it to speak plain English these are their Gods If I speak of Prophane and Wicked People I would say their Lusts is their Gods But when I speak of Righteous People that are meer Formalists then I say their Duties as they call them are their Gods When they have done all they can do nothing for them then they have no Gods at all they are Godless And if God doth not help them they are undone to all Eternity When poor Creatures are Cast out as it were into the open Field to the loathing of their Persons not salted at all nor swadled at all but lying in the Guilt of their Blood When I passed by thee saith the Lord and saw thee polluted in thy own Blood I said unto thee when thou wast in thy Blood yea when thou wast in thy Blood I said unto thee Live When I passâ—d by thee and looked upon thee behold thy time was a time of Love and I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy Nakedness yea I sware unto thee and entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine What was it a time of Love when I was such an Obeject in my own Eyes that I thought I was the most miserable Creature in the World One that could not make a good Prayer nor Dispute for Religion nor Perform any Duty a Poor Creature Cast out into the open Field to the loathing of my Person Lost all that I Gained my Name was from among the Living my Days were passed over in Sorrow and I said there is nothing but Darkness and Death and Misery for me I used all means and tryed all things save only a living Trust in God a trust in God alone and that Flesh and Blood cannot do Flesh and Blood cannot know him therefore Flesh and Blood cannot trust in him Alas said I I cannot trust in the Lord I cannot cast my Soul and all my Concernments my Fame and Reputation in the World I cannot cast all upon the care of the Almighty I cannot know him nor trust in them how can I do it No body can do it They that know my Name saith the Lord they will put their trust in me never a truer word was spoken but how they should know God and trust in him I know not When thou comest once
is much strife and opposition in that way If I have a mind to speak a Vain word I am Limitted if I have a desire to wrong my Neighbour and cheat and defraud him I am Limitted I am not to do it that belongs to the Broad way if a Man will seek after the Lord and walk in the way of Holiness and Righteousness the end whereof is Peace he will find it is a Narrow way wherein he cannot enjoy his own will such a one must be a David who said I behaved my self as a weaned Child that is as one that is affraid to be Beaten But thou wilt be ready to say I am a Man and not a Child I am come now to be a Man a Man of Parts I have seen much and read much and would you have me become a Child What a great Man was David If you speak of a Man he was a Man of Dignity and Honour a Man of Valour and Experience yet when he speaks with respect to the frame of his mind before the Lord he saith he behaved himself as a weaned Child as one that feared to be beaten feared to commit an Offence He feared the Rod of his God upon him he feared Judgment would come upon him he feared something of Judgment upon his Conscience David was an Old Testament Man but he had regard to that which never waxeth old but is the same in all times new and old Alpha and Omega Christ Jesus was his leader before he was born of the Virgin Mary his Word was a Light to his Feet and a Lanthorn to his Paths David had Acquaintance with God who did lift up the Light of his Countenance upon him And when Christ himself came to Preach upon Earth he saith himself Every one that comes into the Kingdom of God must become a little Child He must become as a little Child in Simplicity and Subjection he must be under Government he must become like a little Child or he must in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven They must not think to enter into Christs Kingdom because they are Men Men of Parts Men of Courage Men of Understanding Learned Doctors that are Masters of Liberal Arts and Sciences These may help to make them Men but they must be Children all their Wit and Parts and Manhood Courage and Valour will do them no good for little Children Babes and Sucklings may understand more than they of Divine Misteries and have greater Communion and Entercourse between God and their souls than they so that whosoever enters into Christs Kingdom must become like little Children So that here is a way provided by Jesus Christ for Man to come again into the favour of God which is by Christ alone not by any thing that a Man can do Christ must be their leader and their Counsellour he alone can give them the true knowledg of God No Man can know the Father but the Son and him to whom the Son reveals him Men can never attain to the saving knowledg of God by study and by Disputation and reading Books and Commentators and Observators of matters of Religion Time would fail me to speak of the multitude of Books that have been written about the Knowledg of God You must come to Christ for Divine Knowledg Theology the Knowledg of God and Divine and Heavenly things is from Christ he shall have this Divine Knowledg be he never so simple that comes unto Chist for it he cannot have it any other way for God hath ordained this way saith God he shall have it of my Son who is the Reconciler the Mediatour between God and Man he shall be beholding to Christ for all All Mens own works and labours will not Justify and save them for God hath Committed the whole work of Salvation to Christ One would think it should be no great matter for Men to lay aside their own works and Duties and submit to Christ but I tell you it is very hard and I found it hard my self Men think by reading and Learning and hearing this and the other Mans Notions and Opinions they may be edified and proffited and come to the true knowledg of God but while they are waiting upon God in the way he hath appointed they may receive knowledg from Christ and be more certain and Infallible in what they do know than by consulting all the wise Men and learned Doctors in the World For no Man knows all at once and no Man knows all things neither it is not a thing necessary that a Man should know all things in relation to God for as he is in himself he is incomprehensible For no Man knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son shall Reveal him Yet that which he knows of God he may know it as certain and Infallible Suppose a Man know nothing of God but that he is the searcher of Hearts and the trier of the Reins There are many have read this and say they know it that yet doubt whether there be a God or no But when God comes within them and convinceth them of Sin and searcheth them and brings Judgment upon them for what they have done then they know Infallibly that God is the searcher of Hearts This is not Mans work this is the work of God if I find God doth approach my Spirit I know it is Gods work I have now got some knowledg of God how came I by it who gave it me No body but he that hath all Knowledg he that was with the Father from the beginning and was Glorified with the Father before the World began he gave me this Knowledg and how did he give it thee By this Spirit for he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into my Heart and that Spirit of Christ searches the Heart and tryes the Reins He tells me this is Evil that thou hast done this is that which God that made thee hath against thee this thou must forsake and this thou must Repent of here I have an Infallibility of what I know but I cannot get Rid of my Evil. Now if I can believe in that Power by which my Heart is search'd and trust in him that hath begun to deal with me then his work is not only to Reveal his Light to convince me but to put forth his Power to convert me so that by the Power of that truth by which my Heart is search'd I come to be converted and turned from my Sin and break off from it and when I am broken off from it I am sure and have a certainty that it is so that I am broken off from such a Sin and that my Heart is turned against it I am sure that now I hate it and detest it and that God hath turned my Inclination another way I am sure this is Gods work I can witness this Infallibly that something is now done in order to my Redemption But there is something yet Remaining to be done What