who didst love us when we were Strangers and preserve us when we were Enemies and brought a glorious Day of visitation upon us and opened our eys 〈◊〉 behold the Light thereof so that we are an engaged People to speak good of thy â—â—me Thou hast declared and manifested to the Sons and Daughters of Men thy good Will and thy universal Grace that thou art daily extending to them that all may be made partakers of the Riches of thy House and of thy great Salvation which by the Lord Jesus Christ thou hast ordained And O thou Powerful God of Life since the Day that thou first gathered us thou hast been with us thou hast been our Guid and our Eyes have been towards thee for instruction thou hast taught us and â—ed us in the way in which thou wouldst have 〈◊〉 to walk thou hast led us O Lord in the way Everlasting â—ith the po◠〈…〉 and the meek of the Earth 〈…〉 placed our Feet O Lord near the Eve◠〈…〉 Mountain which thou hast exalted 〈◊〉 the high Hills of the Earth and thou haâ—â—â—â—vealed the Glory and the splendor of 〈◊〉 House thy Holy Dwelling Place and 〈◊〉 raised Breathings in the Hearts of thy Peoâ— that they may dwell in thy Courts for evâ— And now Holy Father thou hast gathered 〈◊〉 Remnant and brought a peculiar People 〈◊〉 trust in thy Name but still we do all thâ— we do by thee thou must be our Keeper thou must be our preserver therefore we wait upon thee we expect all from thy Hand therefore our applications are unto thee that fâ— Day to Day and from time to time we 〈◊〉 find thy living Presence in the midst 〈◊〉 And O living God of life thou hast give◠〈◊〉 Children large experience that thou art a 〈◊〉 nigh at hand to us in all our Tryals in all 〈◊〉 Exercises as our Eyes have been turned 〈◊〉 thee thou hast preserved us and revealed thâ— Heavenly Power O Lord in preserving and delivering thy Church and People that they may bear a testimony in their generation tâ— thy great love and the great Salvation 〈◊〉 thoâ— hast wrought for them and made 〈◊〉 pertakers of Now Blessed God of Liâ— desires and supplications of thy Peopleâ— unto thee for the glorifying of thy Pâ— the exalting of thy glorious Name 〈…〉 leâ— the mighty operation of thy 〈…〉 〈…〉 and stubborn ones that 〈…〉 â—gainst thee and that havâ— withstood 〈◊〉 tenders of thy Grace and the Motions â—d striving of thy Holy Spirit Thou art â—ole to bow them and to break their stony Hearts thou art able to speak effectually to their Souls and to make them submit themselves to thee Holy and living Father let the progress of thy Word and Gospel be great in our Day let it have a free course and spread it self mightily to those that believe not to beget a Seed of Faith in their Souls that they may believe in thy Name and Trust in thy Power ad wait to see the great Work of Redemption wrought for the Salvation of Immortal Souls before the Daâ— of Visitation goes over Powerful God 〈◊〉 Life thy little Remnant which thou hast â—edeemed keep them by thy Power and preserve them in Uprightness and Cleanness of Mind preserve them in the places and stations wherein thou hast appointed them to dwell and in all their Tryals and Tribulations and Distresses that may come upon them that they may be quiet and still and in patience possess their Souls and let them â—ave strong consolation in that Everlasting â—â—venant which in thy Son thou hast made â—th them and râ—vealed to them and let 〈◊〉 not be moved and tossed with the hurâ— of this World with the tumults and disâ— that evil Men make in it and the Storms 〈…〉 that are raised but let thâ—â—â— Hearts and Minds be â—â—â—yed upon 〈…〉 they may know how to behave then 〈…〉 wards thee and one another and tow◠〈…〉 t◠〈…〉 â—e without and thereby glorify 〈…〉 m◠〈◊〉 thy great Name by the Beau◠〈…〉 Holyness shining in their Conversations wâ— may reach the Consciences of Men that 〈◊〉 that see them may say these 〈◊〉 the Planâ— that the Right Hand of God hath Plantâ—â— and see the Fruits that are brought forth f◠〈◊〉 that Root of Life revealed in Christ Jesuâ— Powerful God of Life carry on thine owâ— Work in this City and the whole Nation and in other places among that People whiâ— tâ—â—u hast chosen and gathered to thy 〈◊〉 of the World Powerful God of Life remâ—â—ber those that groan in secret making 〈◊〉 moan to thee that they cannot lay hold oâ— Salvation for their Souls Prepare them 〈◊〉 that consolation that their Souls are breaâ— afâ—er They are Night and Day wrestling 〈◊〉 thee by earnest Prayer But what will all theâ— wrestling signifie except thy Word and thâ— Power of thy Grace assist them and 〈◊〉 them to lay hold of thy strength that 〈◊〉 may Fight the good Fight of Faith tha◠〈◊〉 may get the Victory and rejoyce in thâ—â—â—â—vation and see the Glory of it Thou se◠〈◊〉 the Children of Men are working anâ—â—â—â—triving divers ways for their own Salvâ— make theâ— to know that all their o◠〈…〉 and inventions arâ—â—n vain Bless◠〈…〉 the de◠〈…〉 â—y waâ—â—â—â—y Heritage and 〈…〉 thou hast gathered by thy Word do 〈◊〉 preserve them that they may serve thee â—â—th sincere and upright Minds all the Days 〈◊〉 their Lives and offer up daily Tha◠〈◊〉 â—ings and living Praises to thee the 〈◊〉 and living God and Jesus Christ whom thou â—ast sent and â—hy Eternal Spirit who alone art worthy who art God over all blessed 〈◊〉 ever and ever Amen A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath Câ—ouch at the Bell in the Poultry near Cheapside 1. The History of the Principality of 〈◊〉 in three parts containing 1. A brief â—â—â—unt of the ancient Kings and Princes of Britâ—â—â— and Wales till the final extinguishing of the â—oyal Brittish Line 2. Remarks upon the 〈◊〉 of all the Princes of Wales of the Royal â—â—milies of England from King Edward the first to this time particularly of Edward the Black Prâ—â—ce of Wales who with 30000 English defeated an Army of 100000 French at Cressy and at Poictiâ—â—s with 10000 beat 80000 and took John the French King Prisoner also of Henry of Munmouth afterâ—â—â—d King Henry the fifth who with 13000 〈◊〉 90000 French whose Son Henry sixth was 〈◊〉 King of France at Paris 3. Remarkable â—vations on the most memorable Persons and 〈◊〉 in Wales and of divers considerable passages 〈◊〉 any Hundred Years past with the Birth and 〈◊〉 Actions of Merlin the famous Welsh Pro◠〈…〉 with natura◠〈◊〉 artificial â—â—â—ities 〈…〉 Princi◠〈…〉 〈◊〉 â—wered in above 300 〈…〉 â—ontaining 1. Dreadful Judgments upon 〈…〉 Blasphemers and Perjured Villains 2. The 〈…〉 ends of many Magicians c. 3. Remarkable â—â—â—dictions and presages of approaching Death aâ— how 〈◊〉 event has been answerable 4. Fearful Juâ—â—ments upon bloody Tyrants Murderers c.
contrary to the Mind of God than that the Devil should have the Rule of us for God would have the Government of us himself When we consider the infiniteness of God's Power for destroying that which is contrary to him who can believe that the Devil must ever stand and prevail I believe it is inconsonant and disagreeable with the true Faith for People to be Christians and yet to believe that Christ the Eternal Son of God to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given will suffer Sin and the Devil to have dominion over them There is no other Name under Heaven by which I can be saved therefore I have put my confidence in him If the Devil must have the Rule of me here then I cannot be subject to Christ in all things I may go to Meetings but I can never master the Devil and his Temptations this is as inconsisâ—ent with the Faith of a Christian as Light with Darkness and Christ with Belial If Christians think themselves true Believers then let them see how far their Faith will reach whâ—ther it be like that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints for by that Faith their Hearts were cleansed and they became free from Sin Rom. 6.22 But now being made free from sin and the servants of God saith the Apostle you have your Fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life you were Servants to Sin but now you are free from Sin so that this Faith is but one and if Men have got another it will do them no good Take heed thou art not mistaken about thy Faith I have heard some learned Men say That a Believer is a Servant of Sin and he is ever like to be so but he is not at the same time free from Righteousness for he hath the Righteousness of Christ imputed to him and God looks upon him as righteous in his Righteousness there cannot be a more Anti-apostolical Doctrin I may be a servant of Sin and yet have the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness I may be a Servant of Sin say they yet Christ is Righteous he is the Righteousness of God and he hath fulfilled the will of God and hath purchased salvation for me and he is the Object by which I am made righteous Consider this the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness will never do me good till I come to partake of his Righteousness till his Righteousness be made my Righteousness in me and for me Christ is made to us of God wisdom righteousness sanctification and reâ—emption so that if a Sinner one that was a Sinner the other Day come through Fâ—â—â—â— in Christ to have his Heart cleansed and purged and true Righteousness planted in him where Sin was planted there Sin through the Blood of Christ is cleansed and purged away So that Christ is made Righteousness to me and not his Righteousness barely imputed and reckon'd to me Christ is my Wisdom I am a Fool without him Christ is made Righteousness to me for my good Deeds and holy Living cannot be acceptable to God till they be done in him and commended to God by him the proper Work of Faith is to fix the Soul on him that worketh all things in us and for us that worketh in us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure and it is the good pleasure of God that we should live in 〈◊〉 Righteousness They that come to receive this Faith at first receive it from an inward Feeling they have the Operation of the Word of God in them so the Apostle reckons Faith not because such a Man heareth and such a Man believeth what such a Man preacheth but Faith is the operation of God you may hear me and a Thousand preach and you may die Unbelievers for all that except you come to thiâ— to know the Operation of God and the woâ—â— of Faith in you How doth my Heart close with this how doth my Soul joyn with this What Vertue and Power do I feel in my self It may be others that preach feel the Powâ—â— but do I feel it if not I come but to a Noise and Sound If People feel not their Hearts joyning with the Word preached there comes no advantage to them You read in Scripture That the word preached did not profit because it was not mixt with faith in them that heard it This is your Cafe you come to Meetings and you love to hear the Doctrin of Truth preached I tell you and I will speak plainly to you unless you come to feel the Operation of the Word of Truth in your Hearts you may hear the Gospel and the Word of Life preached to you but it will not profit you much How is it possible for a Man to have a Testimony against Drunkenness and yet be drunk a Testimony against Uncleanness and yet be unclean How can a Man hear such a Testimony and believe it and yet commit the Sin he heard it but did not feel the Vertue of it within himself and so he did not mortifie the Sin that he was inclinable to but they that come to joyn with Truth and with meekness receive the ingrafted word they find the Power and Ability of it they find how able it is to save their Souls they find how it worketh not only just when they hear it but it goes along with them and dwells with them and they feel the vertue of it overshadowing their Souls with the Dread and Terror of the Lord not with the Words that a Man speaks I do not trust to them but here is the Power â—â—d the Feaâ— of the Lord which will preserve my Soul and keep me in safety this is that which will keep my Mind fixed upon him and keep my Mind inward that I do not gaze about me so that every one may have an Infallible Testimony of what they have heard and known I have known the Doctrin of several Sects that have been among us and the main thing that many have gone from one People to another about is this that they might know what such a Man holds forth more than such a one and they think the truth is more perspicuous among such a People than other People if you examin the Matter it is this Who preached and proved his Doctrin beâ—â— Alas if they did all concur together and did preach as certain and infallible Doctrin as ever Chrâ—â—â—â— and his Apostles preached this will all â—â— thee and me no good unless we know the Power You know there were Thousands that heard Christ Preach as you now hear me and there were some so taken with him that they went away and said Never Man spake like this Man But were they all Christians did they partake of Life by him No some of them were ready to stone him Now bring this home and consider with your selves whether you are not some of yoâ— in the same State when you hear Trutâ— preached there is an assent and agreemenâ— with it in your
with my silver and gold and other ornaments and followed thy lovers therefore will I take them away from thee and strip thee of all thou gloriest in Those that forget God of whom they had these things that forget their brokenness of Heart and the Subjection of their Spirits to God if they forget this let them know that let their Partâ— be what they will they will certainly wither and their inward Life will fail you that have regard to your own Souls and do desire heartily at this Time to be quickned aâ—â— find that the Lord hath removed your Deadness and quickned and raised you to such a degree and measure of Life that you can say I find Communion with God and Fellowship with my Friends and Brethren in that one Eternal Life I pray God you may continue in it long and lay down your Heads in this Blessed heavenly Life Now that you may so do keep your selves low and humble and in the Fear of God and keep your Ears always open to his Word and live as becomes those that are born again and begotten of God and are brought to partake of the Divine Life Let Temptations surround you that Life will preserve you he that never sinn'd is with you to keep you from Sin and he that never deceived any will keep you from being deceived To his Consel and Conduct and to his Divin Care and Protection I do now commit you SERMON III. The Necessity of an Holy Life and Conversation Preached at S. Martin's-le-Grand March 16th 1687. O How happy are they that have Bread in their own Houses and that can draw Water out of their own Wells These have a blessed glorious Dwelling-place these are the Children that their Father provideth for All the divine Treasures and the Riches of Heavenly Things are laid up for these O that all that have a Sight of this blessed State were got into it that their Minds might no more wander that People might not be scattered in their Thoughts that when they meet together they might have their Expectations entirely from that God whom they profess to worship Lord thou hast said that thou wilt teach thy people thy self here a Cry goes up to the Lord and their Expectations through Faith are pitched upon God they never meet in vain but a well springs up and the water of life comes to them by which they meet with Divine Refreshments for you know the Promise that our Lord made to his Disciples He that drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst more Why will once Drinking serve Because I have tasted of the Living Water that the Lord Christ gives me will that serve No but he giveth me a substantial River that is the reason why I shall thirst no more it shall be in me a well of living water springing up to everlasting life blessed are the Witnesses of it these are they that are satisfied concerning Religion and Doctrin they are satisfied concerning Worship they are looking after no new things when these meet together they meet in the Name of the Lord and they have their Eyes to him who is a Fountain and they discern a Brightness and a Glory that is unspeakable and the Glory that is speakable that appears many times through Instruments will not satisfie them there is something beyond that which must satisfie this will never do it People will never be satisfied with hearing nor never satisfied with seeing till they come to hear and see that which is unutterable and then they are satisfied Christ had preached many Sermons in the hearing of his Disciples and there were a great many said That there was never any man spake like him preached like him yet one of them that was nearest to him and most acquainted and intimate with him after some Years meeting and hearing of his Sermons he cries out Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us My Friends this comes near to many of your States many of you have heard long and have heard the speakable Word of God that which could be uttered that which could be spoken forth by the Demonstration of the Holy Ghost by them that have received it of the Father this you have heard long and yet there are many of you that if you come to a serious Search you will find a Want you will find still that you have not that Satisfaction that puts you beyond Doubt beyond Fear there is some thing that stands in the way that hinders your Enjoyment of the unspeakable Glory of the unspeakable Word and this will never be removed but by your innocent submitting to the Work of the Power of God in your own Hearts that so you may not only be Believers but come to be really Baptized and then all is out of doubt for our Lord said he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he doth not say he may be saved but he shall be saved Woful Experience hath told us in our Days That a great many have believed the Truth and yet they are never like to be saved they have made shipwrack of their faith but if they had been baptiz'd if they would have endured the Baptism if they would have been buried with Christ in Baptism they should have been saved every one of them and now there are a great many that remain in the Belief of the Truth and yet they are not Baptized they are not Dead not Buried notwithstanding they have received like precious faith with us that faith which is of the operation of God and that is alike precious in its nature to all that do receive it and would work the same effect in all too if it were not obstructed but notwithstanding they have received Faith towards the saving of their Souls yet their Souls are Captives their Souls are subject to Lusts and Pleasures and Vanities and unto empty and foolish Things and to Passions and Corruptions after they have received Faith For if you take one that is a Believer of Truth that is overtaken with his Lusts and Passions and Corruptions he will commonly own that he believeth the contrary he believeth that these things should not be that it ought to be otherwise This is the signification of Truth against Untruth If it should be otherwise why is it thus then Why he finds a Life to spring up in that which is corruptible that is always contrary to the life of God and at enmity with it What shall I do I believe the Truth I know it is a holy thing it leads all that submit to it to a holy Life and there is this and that unholy thing this and that corrupt thing remains what shall I do It is an evident Demonstration that thou wantest the Baptism of him in whom thou believest thou hast believed in Christ Jesus that cometh after John and was before him and now having believed in him thou wantest to be baptized by him and for want of that the Pollution and
bringeth Salvation appeareth to all Men and that is by teaching us What doth it Teach I pray consider it iâ— teacheth us To deny all Vngodliness and 〈◊〉 worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteoâ—â— and godly in this present World Where is 〈◊〉 Sin now if a Man be taught by this Gâ—â—â—â— and the Dictates of it Can a Man live Sin and yet live righteously soberly and godly too Can a Man live in Sin and yet deâ—y all Ungodliness at the same time Where â—ave Mens Understandings been that cannot understand their Mother Tongue and consider sense Where are Mens Understandings that will say I may deny all Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and yet follow the Lusts 〈◊〉 my own Heart You would think I speak Nonsense if I should speak thus and yet we â—â—ve been put off with such nonsensical Stuff as this We must pray to God to send his holy Spirit into our Hearts to enable us to live godly righteous and sober Lives and at the same time believe that we shall never do it but that it is a business of Impossibility Now when Men come to lay these things together and when they consider between God and their own Souls how it is with them many are amazed to think they should ever be put off with such incongruous disagreeing and dissonant things that are not consistent with one another But do you think it is possible for any Man to live without sin Yes or else I would say it is impossible for any to be reconciled to God for God will never be reconciled to Sinners as such for his â—argain and Covenant is made with such kind 〈◊〉 Articles Isa 1.16 17. Wash ye make ye â—â—ean put away the evil of your doings from before mine Eyes Cease to do evil learn to do well c. Then come and let us reason together saith the Lord tho' your Sins be as Scarlet thâ—â— shall be as white as Snow tho' they be Red 〈◊〉 Crimson they shall be as Wool still these 〈◊〉 the Terms Put away the evil of youâ— doingâ— then Patience Mercy and Long Sufferiâ—â— shall be extended to you God will give grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold what from those that say their Prayers or gâ— to the Church or a Meeting No but no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 These are the Men. And when the Lord is distinguishing by his Prophet who he would have among them he speaks of a sort of People that called upon the Name of the Lord Those that feared the Lord and spake often one to another that is of the goodness of God they were a sort of People that Trembled at the Word of God a sort of People that did not do as others did hunt after Pleasures Riches and the Honours of the World but to be acquainted with the inward Word that wrought upon their Hearts In that Day that I make up my Jewels they shall be mine saith the Lord Whose shall the others be Thou wilt own these for thine but whose shall the others be that think not upon thy Name and tremble not at thy Word There is a Place for them too Tophet is â—â—â—pared of old made both wide and large 〈◊〉 Fuel thereof is Fire and Brimstone and 〈◊〉 Wood and the breath of the Lord kindleâ—◠〈◊〉 This is for all that are Wicked 〈…〉 work Iniquity This is in the Old Testament then comes the New Testament in John's Revelations there is a separation again There are a sort of Folk which are called the true Worshippers and the Angel was commanded to go and measure the Temple and those that worshipped therein The outward Temple was not measured but left for the Gentiles to tread in and left without the measure For without are Dogs and Sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a Lie And then the Lord speaks to his Prophets in the Old Testament again If thou put a difference between the Precious and the Vile then thou shalt be as my Mouth unto them but if thou huddle them altogether and sow Pillows under their Elbows then thou shalt be as my Mouth So that in all Ages God aimed at a separation of the state and condition of his People and one sort of People were purified through the sanctification of the Spirit and Belief of the Truth and another sort were unsanctified and unpurified and remain'd in their Sin and the end of Christs coming into the World it was to call People to Repentance He came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to â—epentance and to leave off their Sin To as â—â—ny as received him to them he gave Power 〈◊〉 become the Sons of God to as many as beâ—â—â—ed on his Name Whose Sons were the other They made as high a rattle of Profession as the other He tells them who is their Father You are of your Father the Devil oâ— he did orderly prove it and that was tâ—â—â— That they did the Devils Works Ergo Tâ—â—â— were the Devils Children It was Christ himself the greatest Doctor of Divinity that evâ—â— was in the World that spake these Woâ—â—â— And this is the manner of Logick whereby 〈◊〉 argues with the Pharisees to make them believe that they were the Devils Children they that do the Devils Works are the Devil's Children but you do his Works therefore you are his Children so they sought to 〈◊〉 him they could not bear such Arguments If one should go and search out a People in thâ—â— City and Nation and see one Man of this Religion another of that Religion and pick them out and use this Argument with them There is a Man professeth high he professeth a Light within if you look upon his Deeds they are dead and dark why then he is one of the Devils Children If you put me to prove this I say he doth the Devil's Works he is an Extortioner a Deceiver and a Drunkard and unclean Person and doth the Devil's Works and so is none of God's Children And so go to another sort and use this Argument it is safe enough you can never fail in this kind of Argument which Christ used and if People would use it with â—â—eâ—selves and think themselves no better 〈◊〉 we should have People confess themselves 〈◊〉 Devil's Children None come to be God's Childrâ—◠〈…〉 come to acknowledge their lost estate 〈◊〉 deplorable condition that they are fallen from God and through Sin and Iniquity are got into a nature that is at â—â—mity with God then they will cry out Who shall deliver me â—rom this body of death and Childship of Saâ—â—â— this Heirship of Wrath I am an Heir oâ— an Inheritance I am an Heir of Wrath and I would fain lose my Inheritance and Heirship and have an Inheritance with the Saints in light we shall never know this till we come to Divinity without Sophistry and without Tricks and Quirks and come to Christ's Râ—â—â—â—ning He that doâ—â—
state and 〈◊〉 you see with your inward Eye that your 〈◊〉 is not so good as you would have it â—o 〈◊〉 then trust and rely upon the all-sufficient 〈◊〉 powerful Operation of God's Holy Spiâ—â—â— mend your state and give you Power 〈◊〉 your Corruptions and to go on from one 〈◊〉 to another towards the Cleansing and Sanctiâ—â—cation of your Souls so that you may receive something from God to enable you to live to God for all that you receive from Men will only make you live to Men but that which you receive from God will help you to live to God that will purifie you and sanctify you and make you clean through the word So through the Word you will come to Cleanness Purity and Holiness And when you are come to the way of Holiness you may believe you are gotten into the way of God's Kingdom and never till then It is not enough to make a Profession but we must live up to the Profession of that Religion that we make it is not holding this Tenet and the other Tenet and saying This Minister I am sure preacheth the Truth thou mayest be a Child of the Devil for 〈◊〉 that I now speak indifferently to all People without respect to any fort They thaâ— believe they are walking toward the Kingdom of God and yet their way is not a holy 〈◊〉 â—hey have cheated themselves and deceiv'd their â—wn Souls and they had need look about them â—nd take heed what they do the Glass is â—â—nning and Time is hasting away and our â—ife may end we know not how soon It is â—ood to prize and improve Time while you â—ave it and bring your Deeds to the Light â—ee what Reproofs Instructions Counsels and Openings you have met with from the Lord and see how you have answered aâ—d been obedient to them and so you will come to take a sound and infallible account of your condition and if it be not so good as it should be wait upon the Lord to mend it he that made you can mend you he that made your Ears must unstop your Ears to hear the Word of God To that Power that carries on the Work of Sanctification and Redemption by his word to that word I must leave you and to his Spirit I commit you This word will be with you and if you part not with it it will not part with you it will go with you to your Houses and to your Shops and to your Beds it will lie down with you at Night and rise with you in the Morning To that end Christ he is a Leader and Governour and the Captain of our Salvation to lead the Van and carry you on in the way of Salvation and as many as follow Christ and are led by the spirit of God they are the Children of God SERMON VII The Sheep of Christ heaâ— his Voice Preached at Devonshire-House May 10th 1688. My Sheep saith the true Shepherd hear my Voice THE Sheep of the true Fold hear the Voice of Christ the good Shepherd and know the Voice of Strangers too But saith he the stranger they will not follow This Scripture hath been a Mark of Distinction in all Ages that hath been peculiarly bestowâ—â— upon the People of God that they have hâ—â—â— a discerning Knowledge to make a certain distinction between them that were of God and those that were of the World Now they that are of God hear us saith the Apostle Now that you may all find in your selveâ— this peculiar Gift of God to be able to understand and discern between the precious and the vile that you might know the Ministration of Life from the Ministration of Dâ—â—th you must all be gathered inwardly into â—hat which you have received 〈◊〉 God for they â—â—at are only exercised 〈◊〉 Gifts and Parts and Acquirements that appertain to this world they have been always subject to Delusions apt to be led away into a by-Path and crooked way that leads to destruction but they that are under the Government and Direction of the Gift of God they have been able thereby to make such a Distinction of Voices and of Sounds that they have been preserv'd from the Delusions of the Age. This was the difference of old between the Prophets of God and the false Prophets between the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ and the false Apostles the difference was not so much in their Words for they had in a great measure the same Words if the true Prophets used to say Thus saith the Lord the false Prophets would say so too if the true Prophets declared against Sin the false Prophets likewise would do so for the false Prophet stole his Word from his Neighbour But the great Matter by which the People of the Lord were preserved was that hidden and divine Wisdom they received of God by which they understood the Voice of the Spirit from the Voice of Strangers from the Voice of them that were of the Flesh and that was the Cause that Christians in the Primitive Days did not adhere to and follow those false Apostles that came to them in their own Names and held a form of Godliness but denyed the Power of it But they amongst them into whom theiâ— witchcrafts did enter they went away from thâ— spirit and saught to be made perfect in the flesh they went to the outward observation and to the beggarly rudiments of things that perish with their using and from the Law of the spirit of Life in Christ Jesus And as it hath been in those Ages of which we have read so it comes to pass in this our Age in which a dispensation of the spirit of Truth is manifested and revealed unto the Children of Men there is a remnant that have received the Testimony of Eternal Life and have believed the Testimony and waited on him of whom the Testimony is born not to have Life by the Testimony but to have Life in him so they receive their Life by the ministration of the spirit of Christ and they live to God and others who have received no Life from him but have a Life in the Words and Sounds and Noizes and Terms and distinguishing Phrases of things their Life 〈◊〉 there they live not to God but to themselves their Glorying is not in the Cross of Christ but in the Words and outside of things so that every one had need at such a time as this to approve their Hearts unto the Lord who knows the inside of Peoples profeâ—sion the inside oâ— of their Religion that knows how the Heart is concernd towards God and what they say and do upon the account of his service so that all that are met together might come to receive more and more of the Life and vertue that sanctifies the Soul of him that receiveth it For Alas my Freinds it is not the gathering together of the most excellent Words about Religion and about worship and service which will approve any Man in the
Truth without the spirit of truth that reveals it Can any come to the Knowledge of Christ unless he that sent him reveals him Where are People's Books where are their Bibles where is their Rule they call it so that all their Endeavours for many Ages have proved fruitless in respect of the Knowledge of God This is but your say so may some say How doth it appear that we have not attained to the true Knowledge of God and to the true Worship and to the true Religion I will tell you how it appears for all in all Ages that have attained to the Knowledge of God they have been made partakers of his divine nature and his Divine Qualities they have brought forth a sort of Fruit in their Lives and Conversations that hath been of the same Nature it hath been Holy and Divine They have known the Sanctifier and they have been a sanctified People so they have become one with him and have shewn forth the Beauty of Holiness in their Lives that is a Demonstration that may shew the Knowledge of God for without it they live another Life an unholy one a corrupt one a Life of Self-love a Life of Pride Vanity and Enmity and that they never had from God but from another Root a Life of Iniquity and Sin it came from another Seed so that they are still without the Knowledge of God And again all that have come to the Knowledge of God they have trusted in him that People cannot do now-a-days except here and there a few that do know him the generality of the Age they cannot trust God they must have something else to rely upon and trust to for in him they cannot trust Now the Lord said by the Prophet of old They that know my name will trust in me thaâ— is enough if People know God whom to know is life eternal even to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent This is Life Eternal if People were coâ—â— to this Divine Knowledge they would never take care or study for any Refuge or set up this or that or the other thing to lean upon A rich Man he trusteth in his Ricâ—es one trusteth to one thing and another to another but they would trust in the Living God and he should be their God and their Rock and they would venture their Concerns upon him both in this World and that which is to come if they did but know him People may talk as much as they will but he can never properly be said to be my God and thy God till we cast our care upon him and can venture our concerns upon him both in this World and that which is to come and can say He is our God and our Relyance and Dependance is upon him Now this is the Effect and Consequence of this Knowledge of God such as come to partake of it they shall not need to be bid to worship him You shall not need to make a Law that this People shall worship the God that they know there needs no Law to command the People of God to worship him his law is written in their hearts and they that know him will worship him There was never any Man on Earth that had the Knowledge of the true and living God that needed be put upon worshipping him that needed a Law to oblige him to it for the very Knowledge that is given of God through Christ this brings forth naturally an Adoration of the invisible Power which Men put their Trust in it produceth an Adoration that is true Worship it causeth an humble Reverence of that Power it brings the Soul upon its Knees as it were it brings the Soul to stoop and bend and bow upon all occasions to God as his God It raiseth his expectations to receive Counsel and Judgment and Understanding from him as the Fountain of Wisdom and hereby People are taught to worship in the right Divine Knowledge But to tell Men of the Worship of God before they know him though you make as many Laws as you will to force them to worship that God they do not know yet you can never do them any good nor make their Worship acceptable nor make them devout you can never bring Devotion nor Divine Adoration into their Hearts by all the Laws that you can make But there is a Spirit of Life that sets the Soul at liberty from its former Bondage to Sin and Satan and when this Law comes to be revealed in my Heart what saith this Law Worship God give Honour and Glory to him This Law saith Submit thy self to him that redeemed thee thou art his thou art no more thine own This Law being written in the Heart obligeth a Man to a true Worship and to worship God in spirit and truth for this Man hath done imagining among the Heathen that there are Gods many and Lords many He hath done imagining what God is and where he is for he is now come to Knowledge he is come beyond the best Scholar in Athens let him be never so mean and despicable in the World if it be never so poor a Lad or Lass they are beyond the best Scholar in Athens for the best Scholar there came only so far as to contradict their fellow Scholars Some of them were for Mars and some for Jupiter some for one God and some for another These Scholars by some Beam of Divine Light shining in them had come to perceive that the Influences that were in Mars Jupiter and Venus and the Sun and Moon and other Planets they received them from an higher Power that is God They denyed not that these Planets had Power and Influences given to them sometimes they are called heavenly Bodies the Sky or Canoâ— of the Earth and Sun Moon and Stars 〈◊〉 called Heavenly Bodies they have Power and Influences but this was given them and that Power must be greater than theirs from whom they receive their Power Vertue and Influence even that God who is the maker of all things The Scholars at Athens were gotten so far as to see there was a God greater than the Planets which the Nations worshipped they thought that God was to have an Altar as well as Jupiter and Mars and those other Gods and therefore they built an Altar to the unknown God whom they ignorantly worshipped If thou and I are come to the knowledg of the true God then we must know more than these Scholars of Athens who erected an Altar to the unknown God When the Apostle comes to Preach Divinity among these Scholars of Athens there were Masters of Arts and sciences he begins to Preach to them about an unknown God whom ye ignorantly Worship saith he him declare I unto you we do not need to declare to you the Gods of the Nations for you Worship them but to declare to you the unknown God whom ye ignorantly Worship these were the â—reat Scholars of Athens that the Apostle sâ—â—ke to
eternaâ— Life this Life will purifie him and sanctifiâ—â— him at least by degrees till he be wholly sanctified in Body Soul and Spirit This iâ— that which the Apostle writes in one of his Epistles Your salvation is nearer than when you at first believed When they first believed their Salvation was a pretty way off He describes Salvation to be the End of theiâ— Faith and Hope When a Man comes to be delivered from his Sins he shall serve God without fear but when a Man comes to livâ— by Faith he shall overcome he is a 〈◊〉 Soldier of Jesus Christ and he must fight vâ—liantly under his Banner till he gets a Viâ—â—â—ry over all his Enemies and then his Salâ—â—tion is much nearer than when he at first beâ—ieved I would I could say so of some of you for I fear you Salvation is farther off Some go stragling here and there as Sheep not having a Shepherd this is that which my Spirit is intent upon You that are Travellers towards the Kingdom of God it is the wonderful Grace and Mercy of God that evâ—â— it should come into your Minds to seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof They that have obtained this Mercy from God shall receive and enjoy other Mercies better Mercies blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness That is one Mercy but there is another Mercy They shall be filled they shall be satisfied When a Man comes to this he must take up a daily Cross and exercise Self-denial but if he follows Christ he shall be satisfied he shall then have nothing but Peace and Joy he shall then sing Praises and Glory to God in the highest and to the Lamb for ever There is none can understand the Glory that is laid up for those that take up their Cross and follow Christ and love his Appearing This is the great Blessing that God doth give unto his People He hath sent his son Jesus to bless us and turn us from our iniquities This is a Blessing indeed Take heed that you do not admit of any new Terms Do not think to bring God Almighty to new Articles the Terms are declared and concluded on already If you will obtain the Blessing you must be turned eveâ—â—one of you from your Iniquities the Terms are already made the Law of God must be written in the heart and inward thoughts and you must close with that Power that will write the Law in your Hearts and by travelling towards the Kingdom of God you will see the coming of that Kingdom into you It was the Joy of my Soul that I saw the Kingdom of Christ would be set up in my Heart before it was set up there then I saw the Lord's wonderful Work and a great Alteration in me when the Lord was pleased to wean me from the World's Breast and take off my Heart and wean it from worldly Lusts from the World's Joys and Pleasures and Fashions and the World's Honour and Reputation I saw the Lord was pleased to wean me from these things and brought me to an holy Resignation to give up my Heart to him If I have Joy it must be from the Holy Spirit if I have Pleasure it must be in the presence of God who in the multitude of my thoughts within me made his Comforts to delight my soul and if he bring not Comfort to you you will never have it you cannot expect it till you do believe and when 〈◊〉 have Faith you can feel the Kingdom of God within you There must be the New Bâ— the Work of Regeneration for except a mâ— be boâ—â— again be cannot see the kingdom of God there must be a translation from Death to Life there must be a turning out of the old Bottom and a fixing â—pon a new Bottom upon Christ Jesus the rock of ages there must be a Subjection to his Holy Power and Government else you cannot see the Kingdom of God Many have gone on in a Profession mâ—ny Years and never saw the Beauty of it every little Trifle in the World hath diverted them and drawn them away This and the other Pleasure hath drawn away their Hearts they have seen the Glory of the World which hath captivated them But those that make a profession of the Truth and have seen the Beauty and Glory of the Kingdom of Christ they should be shy of returning to the World again for the Apostle saith It happened to them according to the true proverb The dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire for it had been 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 They made a Profession and were Members of a visiblâ— Church and had a Name to live but they were inwardly dead the Sight of the Kingdom of God is not given to such but unto Babes that have a Divine Birth and that desire the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby God hath hid these things from the wise and prudent and â—â—vealed them unto babes You that are hâ—re this day I speak to thoâ—â— that would receive some Kindness from Goâ— and thâ—t desire 〈◊〉 â—nowledge of his ways and that the Myâ—â—â—â—s of his Kingdom may be revealed to yoâ— let your Minds be retirâ—â— and you shall find â—he great things bâ—longâ— to your Peace made known to you We have spoken much of this but I would not have yoâ— know it only by 〈◊〉 Sayings but 〈◊〉 have you g◠〈…〉 â—ur selves toâ—ke whâ— God hath not bestowed this Grace and â—sing upon you If God hath given you Grace do not turn it into wantonness do not abuse the Grace of God What is it that you dâ— when the Grace of God â—â—th convinced yoâ—â—hat such and such a thing is Sinâ— and if yoâ— do it 〈◊〉 â—ll tend to your Ruine Da◠〈…〉 venturâ—â—o commit Sin after you are convinâ— of it O take heed of doing despite 〈◊〉 spirit oâ— grace and of gâ—â—â—ving the holy sâ—â—rit whereby you are sealed 〈◊〉 the day of â—â—demption I wish that the weight of this Consideraâ—â—â—â— might lie upon you and that a holy Dâ—eadâ— Aw of God miâ—ht be wrought in yo◠〈…〉 that you m◠〈…〉 kept from sinnin◠〈…〉 God You know there is a general O◠〈…〉 against presumptuous Sinning Sinning 〈◊〉 Light Why should not we all cry ou◠〈…〉 it It is a most dreadful thing for any 〈◊〉 to sin against his Knowledge and Conviâ— if any of us have been guilty of 〈◊〉 against Light let such a one say I havâ— Iniquity I will do so no 〈◊〉 but enter into Covenant with the Lord and say O Lord so far as thou hast re◠〈…〉 â—y Wâ— unto me I will obey it I w◠〈…〉 light to 〈◊〉 thy Will O God tho' I 〈◊〉 mine own Will Whatever I cross I will noâ— cross God's holy Spirit by which I may
THe Works of this Author have obtain'd such general Esteem that many are desirous nothing of his should be lost I have already published two small Volumes of his Sermons the First containing Eight and the Second Ten of his Declarations and the acceptance they have gain'd from Persons of different Persuasions has induced me to emit this Third and Last Collection containing Twelve Sermons more upon several very necessary Subjects none of which have been yet Printed One of them being his last Sermon preached at Devonshire-house London a while before his Death So that now these are all of this Author's which are to be expected from N. C. THE Third and Last Volume OF THE Sermons OF Mr. STEPHEN CRISP Late of Colchester in Essex Deceased Containing XII DECLARATIONS upon several Divine Subjects Exactly taken in Short-hand as they were deliver'd by him at the Publick Meeting-Houses of the People called QUAKERS In Grace-Church-street Devonshire-house and S. Martin's le-grand London And now faithfully Transcribed and Publish'd with some of his Prayers after Sermon London Printed for Nath Crouch at the Bell in the Poultry near Cheap-side 1694. The Contents of the Three Volumes of the Sermons or Declarations of Mr. Stephen Crisp THe First Volume contains Eight Sermons upon the following Subjects I. The great Mediator of the Everlasting Covenant II. Heart Preparation for receiving the Gospel III. The First and Great Commandment IV. The Standard of Truth V. The necessary Duty of remembring our Creator VI. The Divine Monitor or Light from Heaven VII The Inward Preacher or the Office of Conscience VIII Saving Faith the Gift of God alone THe Second Volume contains Ten Sermons upon the following Subjects I. Truth 's Testimony against the Power of Sin and Satan II. Bearing the Cross the right Mark of a Christian III. The Spirit of Christ the only true Guide IV. Pure and Spiritual Worship V. The Divine Life of Christ Jesus VI. The Kingdom of God within VII The undefiled way to Eternal Rest. VIII The dawning of the Day of Grace and Salvation IX The Excellency of Peace with God X. True Christianity THE Third and Last Volume contains Twelve Sermons upon the following Subjects I. The mighty Work of Man's Redemption II. The Word of God a Christian's Life III. The necessity of an holy Life and Conversation IV. Baptism and the Lord's Supper asserted V. Christ the Way the Truth and the Life VI. Captive Sinners ransomed by Jesus Christ. VII The Sheep of Christ hear his Voice VIII No True Worship without the right Knowledge of God IX The wonderful Love of God to Mankind X. Salvation from Sin by Jesus Christ. XI The acceptable Sacrifice XII Christians should often think on the Name of the Lord Being his last Sermon preached at Devonshire-house a while before his Death And are all to be sold either single or bound up in one Volume by Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultry near Cheapside Price Three Shillings SERMON I. The mighty Work of Mans Redemption Preached at Grace-Church-street Feb. 8. 1687. My Friends WE are met upon the most weighty Affair that can be to every one of us even to wait that we may have a true knowledge of the beginning carrying on and perfecting the mighty Work of Redemption that People may know that Redemption is wrought in their Souls for every ones Soul hath been lost and captivated and led away from the pure Presence of God all have been alienated by reason of Sin which hath become an universal Wall of Partition and hath excluded and shut out unholy Souls from the Holy God all that have been defiled and polluted they have been excluded from his Dwelling-place they have been driven out into the World and the World hath become a World of Misery and of Distraction and Confusion to the Sons and Daughters of Men there hath been Anguish Tribulation and Wrath upon all their Souls and an insensibility hath happened unto many that they have not been apprehensive of the great Depravation they have lain under and they have not been sensible of the Glory of that State and Condition which they were to have enjoyed and in that State of Insensibility they have not sought after the Lord but have been captivated and led away by divers Lusts and Pleasures by which they have wounded their own Souls more and more And in such a State as this it is that the Lord hath found us he hath sought us out and he hath found us cast out into the open Field and wallowing as it were in our Blood and yet this hath been a time of Love and he hath manifested his Love to us in this respect in that he hath awakened us and brought us to a sense of our depraved and deplorable Condition and given unto a Remnant to perceive that there is a more excellent Glory a more excellent Enjoyment to be had than any this World can afford But a great many of those whose Eyes are so far opened that they can see and discern a more excellent Glory yet they cannot receive it for they are not in a capacity for the Enjoyment oâ— it many have the Glimmerings and some little sight of Heavenly Things but they themselves are earthly Many perceive there is a holy Life but it is not theirs for their own Life is unholy and yet they know there is a Life that is Holy and Pure Hereupon Desires are begotten by the divine Word of Life in the Sons and Daughters of Men through the Lord Jesus Christ the Mediator by him Desires are begotten in People that they might come to enjoy that Life of Holiness that they might not only see a better State than what they do enjoy but that they might come to enjoy it and have iâ— for theirs There is an universal Desire in People that they might have Eternal Life and they believe there is an Eternal Life to be enjoyed but every one hath it not and the reason is because they are not fitted and prepared for the enjoyment of it for it is a kind of Treasure that is never put into an unclean Vessel there must be a cleansing and purifying that so earthen Vessels may come to retain and hold this heavenly Treasure and when it comes to this that People must be cleansed and purified here the World turns out to divers Means and Methods some have gone to outward Washings outward Cleansings and Observations of this and the other Ordinance and when all that hath been done they themselves being Judges were yet unclean when they have done all that lies in their Power and Ability towards their Washing and Cleaâ—sing and towards preparing themselves they have found some secret Testimony in their own Consciences that their Hearts were still unclean and that there was defilement still abiding and lodging in the Secret of their Souls and this hath put a great many to a stand what they should do when they have come to the end of all they know not what
driven away in a cloudy and dark Night be brought to a glorious and blessed Day wherein they may enjoy the Gospel that brings Light to dark Souls that Praises and Thanksgivings may be offered up in thy House for thy Holy Presence with us that we may be fed there when we are assembled together in thy Name accordiâ—â— to thy Promise Continue to 〈◊〉 â—midst of us that living Praises and Thanksgivings may be offered up to thee through Jesus Christ for thou alone art Worthy who art God over all blessed for evermore Amen SERMON II. The Word of God a Christians Life Preached at Grace-Church-street March 14 1687. IT was the Doctrin of the great Master of the Christian Religion the Lord Jesus Christ while he was preaching and publishing and making known the way of Salvation among the Sons and Daughters of Men he then preached and declared That it was not Bread only by which Man lived but by everâ— Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of Goâ— Now the way and means of Mans Preservâ—tion in Life in a living state the Methâ—â— and Course that the God of Heaven doâ—â— open to keep the Sons and Daughters of Meâ— alive is by this Word Every Word 〈◊〉 proceedeth out of the Mouth of God hath a Ministration of Life in it and therefore all that are desirous of the enjoyment of the Immortal Life and of the preserving and encreasing of it they are diligently to wait to be made Partakers of this Divine Ministration Outward Bread is for our outward Preservation but Man is made inward as well as outward he hath a Soul as well as a Body Now Christ to signify to us what the inward Man is nourished and fed by tells us That Man liveth not by Bread only but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God So now in this our day as well as in former Days it hath pleased God to give unto a Remnant an experimental knowledge of the Truth of this that they have been quickned and made alive by the Word of God that is they have heard and felt and tasted of the Word of Life that was with the Father before the World began that hath been divinely ministred to them by the mercy of God through Jesus Christ many that were dead in Sins and Trespasses he hath said unto them Live He hath given unto many an inward sense of their State who sometimes had it not he hath brought many a one to feel sin to b a Burden and an oppressing Load who sometimes before have taken Pleasure and Delight in it This is a great change that is wrought in a Mans Mind that he should come to be loaden with that burthened and oppressed by that which was before â—is Pleasure and Delight yet this great Châ—â—ge hath been wrought in many a Soul by the operation of the word of God of that inward Word that inward Voice when the Lord hath taken Men in hand himself There are many have taken Sinners 〈◊〉 hand and have gone about to convince theâ— and convert them but they were not able to do it but when the Lord hath taken Man in hand himself when his Creator hath undertaken to deal with him himself then the Man cries out I am a Worm and no Man then he cries out under the sense of the judgment of God then he cries out under the indignation of the Lord which he hath kindled by his Sins he cries out for Mercy then he prays for Remission then he wishes that he had never provoked the Lord for the Word that goes out of the Mouth of God hath â— mighty Force and Power upon the Spirit of â— Man so that he is converted and changed â—â— it as the Prophet said of old The Word â—â— God is pure converting the Soul Now where any come to an experimentaâ— knowledge of the Word of the Lord of thâ— inward Voice whereby God speaks to thâ— Sons and Daughters of Men they have râ—ceived thereby an infallible feeling of thâ— own State and Condition this is the firâ—â— Lesson learned by it They come to have certain infallible knowledge of their oâ—â— State and they are sure that they cannot 〈◊〉 deceived for it brings an Evidence with it in their Consciences so that whatsoever this Word of Life signifieth to a Man he hath the knowledge of the same thing evidencing it in his own Conscience as the Apostle saith If our Hearts condemn us God is greater than our Hearts and knoweth all things Now here is a way found out for Men to obtain divine Knowledge by a divine Means for the Lord speaks by his Spirit and if Men come to hearken to that Voice unto that Speaking they perceive readily what it saith unto them The Lord tells People as well now as in former Days what he hath against them and this every one in the Closet of their own Hearts come to understand We read in the Book of Revelations what our Lord Jesus Christ appointed John to write to the seven Churches in Asia that he had a few things against some and many things against others Now that which is the design of our Meetâ—ng when we are Assembled together is that we may know what the Mind and Judgment of God is concerning our Selves How shall we know that unless we ask him and come to wait upon him and enquire at the Oracle of Counsel that God hath appointed in the Bosome of every man For he signifies his mind unto the Children of men by that Light â—nd Grace which Jesus Christ hath Planted in â—hem he hath Enlightned every man that comes â—â—to the world with an undeceiving Light and he hath ministred of his truth and Grace to every man tho' the man be bad and untrue and in the Dark and there be Darkness in him yet the Light shineth in Darkness The Man may be a false Man yet there is true knowledg in him if this false Man harken to the Voice of Truth when the God of Truth signifies what his Mind and Judgment is concerning him and his present State So that here is an opportunity offered and if a Man believe the word of Truth which is administred to his own mind he cannot say such a Man hath deceived him for it is Truth it self which is signified to him which he believeth For the Truth is the object of 〈◊〉 Faith and he believeth it of himself he believeth that while he remains wicked in 〈◊〉 unrenewed state he is out of the Covenant of God and in the high Road to Destruction if he doth not get out of it and return to God and mind his Duty He believeth this and he believeth the Truth It hath been so with many it hath been so with us all this is the firâ—â— kind of Faith and Belief that ever we receive for when Truth signifies to us our fallen state our alinated state when Truth signifies and discovers to us the Partition Wall of Sin and iniquity which we
have builded up whereby the Glory and favour of God was hid from the Soul we believed this to be true we would have been looked upon as Heires â—â— God 's Kingdom yet when we are come to hearâ—en to the Truth we find that we are Children 〈◊〉 the Devil and do his works shall a Man believe this after he hath been forty years a professor of Christanity If a Man believe Truth there is no danger in believing it tho' it be his own Destruction that is threatned Now the great thing that I would have ushered into the Hearts of Men is that they may believe the Truth for Truths sake If Men will believe the truth they must believe many things against themselves which they are not willing to believe but saith Christ no Man can be my Scholar my Disciple but be denying himself I must deny my self my pretensions to Christianity my supposed Saintship and â—itle to the Kingdom of God now if I would be convinced that I am a wicked Man a prophane Man one that doth not live as becomes the Gospel I must believe truth the Voice of truth being of infallible certainty it is signified Divinely by the immortal Word that cannot deceive us this ought to be the reason why People should believe the Testimony of it tho' it be against themselves they that do so presently come to find the effects of it for they were in their Sins and Trespasses before and so are still they were before in a kind of liberty in a kind of ease and indulgence of themselves and still their Sin remains in them and they remain in it but they are now under a sense of Sorrow under a weight under a Burden under an oppression which signifies they are alive and quickned for if you take an outward comparison they remain not senseless and dead now lay what Load you will upon a dead Man he will neither groan nor grumble at it but if he comes again to life he cryes take off the Burden the weight and oppression that lyes heavy upon me This is the difference between being deaâ— in sins and trespasses and being brought to liâ—â— and sense again this word of life that comâ— from the Mouth of God begets a sense in evâ—ry one that receiveth it it is of great serviâ—â— and use to all People to be acquainted witâ— it that desire to be Heirs of life eternal thaâ— desire to be Inheritors of the Kingdom of God But how should they come by it they thinâ— by this duty and the other duty and this and the other Temporary performance to obtaiâ— it no but if they will have life they muâ—â— have it from the God of life that created them he must Create them again to good works they can have it but by one way all must be brought to it that way it cannot be by hearing a Man preach unless the Spirit doâ—â— cooperate with the word of God there is nâ— possibility of being quickned and necessiâ—â— binds me to hearken and have a regard to the one means Now I say to you saith Chriâ—â— speaking of Peoples way of living to eterniâ—â— Man liveth not by Bread alone but by evâ—â— word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of 〈◊〉 now when we come to understand this 〈◊〉 as spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ we 〈◊〉 conclude there was a possibility of understaâ—â—ing and hearing that inward Voice and Word of Truth in our own Hearts that God did speak to us by his Son Jesus Christ who enlightned us Hereupon Meetings were appointed at first that the Word should minister Life in them and Life to them that attend them and to this Day our Meetings are appointed for this purpose that we may have â—he ministration of Life and Vertue from Christ the Fountain of Life and Vertue by whom we are to be quickned and strengthned and by whom those that are dead in Sins and Trespasses are to be quickned Therefore I would have every one always to have a Reverence to the Word of Life that speaks in themselves for if we speak as we are moved by the Spirit of God and utter those things by verbal Testimony which God hath made known to us if you have not an Oracle in your Bosoms if you do not at the same time perceive an Eccho of Truth in your own Souls this will do you no good but be an empty sound which will pass away again but the Mind that is serious and settled in waiting upon God with an earnest Desire that it may receive Benefit in going to this and the other Meeting such aâ—one will say I pray God bless this opportunity to me that so I may receive Benefit to my Soul Where People meet in this manner they have not only an administration of Doctrin from without from this and the other Instrument but they have a Ministration of the Word of God in â—â—emselves by which a Man liveth Let us not be 〈◊〉 and hurried away with the grand Error of the Times the great Error of this Age and of the Ages by-past that there is no possibility for People to understand and hear this Voice of God this inward Voice There are say they no immediate Teachings now adays no Inspirations now adays they had as well said that there are no Conversions now adays I will prove it from the Holy Scriptures that there is no Man in this Age is like to be converted to God or redeemed from his Iniquity and brought to the knowledge of his Maker unless he have it by the inward Working of the Eternal God Not by Mans Preaching and Instruction nor by reading all the good Sermons that ever were preached without the Co-operation of the holy sanctifying Spirit which begets Life in them that believe and if these Men say none can be Converted then we must all go Headlong to Hell and they and all These Quakers may say what they will there is no immediate Teaching now adays no Man can know the mind of God nor understand the Scriptures none can open theâ— to you But blessed be God this Darkness is râ—moved this Vail is gone over and taken â—way the brightness of the glory of the Goâ—pel hath expell'd this Darkness and thousanâ— now adays do not onlâ— hear the Minister reprove them but they â—eâ— a Voice within that doth reprove them 〈◊〉 â—â—iquity and they find and feel a Judgment and Tribunal within themselves and that God hath an immediate way of Counselling and Instructing them if they will hearken to him You that are under any sense of this that are come to such an inward sense of the operation of the Word of God if you have heard it reprove you exhort you judge you and condemn you consider that this Word proceeded out of the Mouth of God and not out of the Mouth of any Man You hear the sentence of God upon you in your own Consciences Whence comes it This is out of the Mouth of God Every Word that comes
out of the Mouth of God administers Life Sense and Conviction and you feel it and receive it and you may have more familiar Acquaintance with it There is not a Day or Hour that passeth over your Head nor mine but if we attend to this inward Voice we may know what it speaks to us by its Counsels Doctrins Reproofs Convictions and Illuminations for the Spirit speaketh expresly with an express signification unto the Spirit of Man and if he be under a Temptation to tell a Lie and he comes to a little Pause or Question whether he shall tell it or no if he hearken to this inward Word he will not pause long about it but such a Sentence will arise in him as that to Joseph How can I do this great Wickedness and sin against God How can I speak a Lie tell a Lie when in so doing I sin against God Here is a sentence of Truth wilt thou receive it or not No saist thou I will venture to tell a Lie then shalt thou come into the rank of them that do Despite to the Spirit of Grace that trample under Foot the Son of God and count the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing What Sentence such shall have at the latter end you may read at large in the Holy Scriptures Now there is a great necessity that every one be persuaded to hearken to this Voice not only at a Meeting but on all Occasions they have in the World I hope I speak to many serious and religious Persons that are enquiring about their Immortal Souls what may be best for their Souls whether 't is better to go on in Wickedness or leave off and that resolve and say I would be glad to leave my Sins as well as you if I had Power and to live a holy Life As for the want of Power that you have not Power I do not wonder at it for till you come to an exercise of Faith in that which hath empowered the People of God in all Ages I wonder not that you have not Power You say I am so weak that I am overcome before I am aware the Devil is so subtil and cunning with his Temptations that I am surprizeâ— and snatch'd into Temptations and overcomâ— with evil before I am aware He is like 〈◊〉 Roaring Lion going about continually so all 〈◊〉 whom he may devour But who can he devour Can he devour those that hearken and submit to the Word of God If he could then none could escape him if the Devil could pluck out of Gods Hands then no Body would go to Heaven nor ever shall if he have Power Where the Devil finds any in their own Hands as suppose a religious Person of this and the other Religion who never experienced any thing of this Power of God but trusteth to his Duties and Performances this Man is at his own Hand now such a one the Tempter hath Power over He can make him cheat his Neighbour and lead him into Drunkenness and Uncleanness sometimes and into the greatest Abominations but if a Man come into an exercise of Faith and dependance upon God and hath left trusting in his own Hands and saith I see I cannot preserve my self from sin I see a necessity of putting my trust in the Lord and of waiting upon Gods Power to keep me If the Tempter come to such a one he cannot prevail all the Devils in Hell cannot stir him one jot the Devil may tempt him but he stands in the Power of Faith he knows his Name and saith Get thee behind me Satan when the Devil comes before him and lays a Temptation before him he casts it behind him if the Devil rises up against him he can chain him down he can say in the Name of the Lord Get thee behind me Satan This is the Reason why many are tempted and not overtaken why many are tempted to sin and not overcome How comes it to pass that we do not do every thing that we are Tempted to There is something that keeps us the Devil is not so bad to Tempt but we are as bad in our own Inclinations to yield to him The Heart is deceitful above all Things and desperately wicked who can know it There is more Wickedness in it than can be uttered If People be tempted and not overcome something must preserve them if there be something that preserves a Man from any Evil it can preserve him from all Evil. The Reason why some People are led into Temptation sometimes and resist it is because sometimes the Temptation suits not their Inclination sometimes their Reputation lies in the way sometimes one thing sometimes another But when a thing they are Tempted to suits their Profit and Pleasure then away with the fear of God and nothing shall hinder them I will have my Pleasure But they that understand the Keeper of Israel and come to know his Power living in their Hearts these always bring their Deeds and Temper before him and they come to him for a Verdict and Judment and they ask Doth this tend to the Honour or Dishonour of God Is it good or evil The Oracle of God in the Heart says do it not it is evil Thou wilt kindle the Indignation of the Lord against thee what will it profit to gain the whole world and lose thy own soul or what wilt thou give in exchange for thy Soul Here is one at hand that can give Counsel to all of us at all times this is he that we must advance our Labour and Work upon the Stage of thâ—s World among the Sons and Daughters of Men is to advance the Vertue and great Authority of this mighty Counsellor Christ Jesus we do say and affirm in the Name of God that the same Light and Grace by which God hath brought us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light and from the Power of the Devil into the Kingdom of his dear Son the same Power is extended to you that you may be sanctified and saved from your Sins One Sect will say my Tenets are so and so and our Ordinances are so and so will you come over to us You shall be a Member of our Church Our duty is to come over to the Grace of God that shines in our Hearts now we are Witnesses for God that he doth not desire the death of them that die but rather that they would turn and live for his Word is gone forth and his Light shines and his Glory is risen upon the Nations that they that inhabit the Earth may fear him Fear God and give Glory to God The hour of his Judgment is come Do you know that to be true that you may not be deluded you shall certainly know that the Hour of God's Judgment is come Thus when any one suffers himself to be led away with the Evil One when he feels after that a Remorse upon his own Heart 〈◊〉 finds a secret Judgment and Tribunal set up in his
own Bosom against Whoredom Lying Drunkenness Fraud and other Sins he knows he hath done amiss he is not going to a Confessor that will take off and remove the Guilt from his Conscience he hath offended the Majesty of the great God and God hath signified to him Is not Judgment come and hath not God set it up in his own Heart if through Custom in Sin thou losest the Sense of this Judgment it is not because God hath determined to take Advantage against thee but because thou actest against thy self and comest to be past feeling thou wast once under a sense of these things and thou wast not past feeling if thou at any time told thy Parents a Lie thou hadst Remorse but now thou canst tell a Lie and not feel it thou art past feeling whose Fault is this The Lord would have brought thee to love Truth but thou chusest Lying if thou periâ—◠〈◊〉 Blood will be upon thine own head the 〈◊〉 clear from it They that receive the Word of God 〈◊〉 Life for man liveth not by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God You are sensible of God's speaking this Word to you I exhort you all in the Love of God that you would prize this manner of Speaking and look upon it as the greaâ—est Mercy that ever you enjoy'd that God hath not given over speaking to you and that Conscience hath not given over speaking to you and that the Spirit of the Lord doth yet strive with you he will not always strive you may be of that sort of Fools before you die that make a mock of sin and be as trees twice dead and plucked up by the roots You that are sensible of this inward Voice prize it above all your Mercies Health and Wealth and all other Mercies are not worthy to be compared to this Voice of God speaking in you They that prize this will never complain for want of Power they will find Power in it all the Power in Heaven and Earth is contained in this Truth that shines unto you They that come to be exercised in this Word receive Power from God for God gives it to them he gives them Power by degrees from being Sons of Belial Sons of the Devil to become Sons of God to as many as believe in his name They that receive this Truth grow tender of a Lie of a vain Word they find themselves grow tender feeling and sensible Hâ—â—e is a token that the God of Life is quickâ—â—â— them I am now tender of speaking a Lie to my Neighbour I will not do that thing to another that I would not have another do to me when you come to a tender state which is far better than an hard-hearted state you will have an Evidence in your selves That man liveth not by bread only but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God Blessed are they that God hath brought into Acquaintance with his Word of all Nations and People upon the Earth they are a blessed People though there are manifold Blessings that reach indifferently to all the sun shines and the rain falls on the evil and the good and on the just and unjust yet this is a Blessing that can only make the Soul happy that an Intercourse between it and its Maker is open that there is an open Intercourse for the Lord to hear a Man cry and he to receive his Word all those that God hath brought into Covenant with himself by Christ he hath made sensible of this Intercourse and way of God's speaking to his People which he spake to them by in former days Take heed that this way be not stopt up you know by what it was opened and what will stop it up again when you were in much Trouble and Grief you cried to the Lord and he delivered you But if I regard iniquity in my heart said David the Lord will not hear me You cried to the Lord again it may be and he did not answer you and the Lord cried to you and you answered him not but hearkned to your Lusts Yet the Lord by his long-suffering and patience hath won upon a Remnant and hath brought them over to believe and trust in his Power for Salvation and as soon as ever they came to believe in him they found his Power to remove out of the way that which hindred the Intercourse between God and their Souls What a great Stir was there in removing out of the way the Pride Corruption Enmity Loosness Wantonness and abundance more of evil things that made the Soul like a Wilderness What hacking up and burning up was there God's Word like a hammer and like a fire did break up and burn up these things and the same Word of God like a Sword did cut down those Sins and Lusts which prevailed over you before By this means God hath opened a Way for you to have access to him and for his Word to have access to you When you come to the Lord in this way you know you live by this Word and if you hear the Word of the Lord spoken immediately to you your Joy and Consolation increaseth and you have sweet Communion and Fellowship with God and Christ and with one another by this Covenant of Life How came you into it It was by removing a great deal of Rubbish out of the way If you should let this Rubbish grow up again which kept you from the Joy of the Holy Ghost will it not do it again If your Pride Corruption Enmity Prejudice Looseness and Wantonness if these be suffer'd to grow up in any of you they will do as they did before they will separate you from the Lord and from one another As the Truth brought you to God and this heavenly Fellowship with him so if a wrathful Mind and wanton Spirit get up again it will separate you from God and scatter you from one another then you will live in the outward Life and die to the inward one and perish Remember you were told so Every one that goes from this living Word and suffers any thing to arise of the old Nature so much as that riseth so much will your way of Intercourse with God be stopt sometimes Men cry to God but they have a Bar in their way and they come for Comfort to the Throne of Grace but they cannot receive those Ministrations of Joy and Peace which they desire their foolish hearts are darkned and their minds blinded and they will go on in darkness and be left out of the Holy Covenant which God hath called his People to You that God hath engaged to be his by the Operation of his Power O live in a holy Fear and watchfulness and know this That let your Understanding and Gifts be what they will you have nothing but what is given you and what God he hath given you he can take away Thou hast decked thy self with my flax and my wool and
in the World but letting her Ear hearken to this Old Serpent she was beguiled there grew up a Consultation in her reasoning part It may be so as he saith I will try So I say to you that are come to a state of Sanctification and in some measure to know the cleansing Power of God and that you have not believed in it in vain but it hath effectually wrought some Change and Alteration in you and is still carrying on the Work of your Salvation Many Temptations will attend you and many Snares will be laid in your way but God hath preserved you to this Day I know the Devil 's Wiles and Temptations are manifold they are fitted to every one's Inclinations fitted to every Opportunity and to every occasion in this World Men are tryed every way by the Tempter to see which way he may ensnare them he tries every way to ensnare and entangle the simple that he may turn them to the right-Hand or to the left that their Souls may be destroyed and perish I cannot speak to you by a more emphatical word by a more familiar Exhortation than this Take heed you be not beguiled as Eve was many will be tempted as she was but I would not have you do as she did and yield to the Temptation Take heed that you do not defile your selves but keep your garments white you that have been washed and cleansed labour to keep your selves unspotted from the world this is pure religion and undefiled that which hath enlightned many a Nation and shall enlighten many of those whose Religion is to be undefiled and to keep themselves unspotted from the world I pray God increase the number of them that so the blessed Work of Sanctification that hath begun in this way may be carried on to his Praise and the Salvation of our Souls to the spreading forth of his Glory and the exalting of his Name that the Strangers which are scattered and desolate may be brought into his holy Way and walk in it that we all in a Fellowship together walking in that holy way may through the Eternal Spirit offer Praise and Tanksgiving to God who is worthy to receive Glory and Honour Power and Dominion for ever and ever Amen SERMON IV. Baptism and the Lord's Supper Asserted Preached at Grace Church-street April 15th 1688. If any man hath not the spirit of Christ he is none of his IF I should say no more there is that in every ones Conscience that will make Application If he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his you may say Whose is he then If they be none of Christ's that have not his Spirit whose are they They are all his whose Spirit rules them every one of us doth belong to him whose Spirit ruleth over us unto whose Power we are subjected You know this distinguisheth People in the World One King knoweth his Subjects from another King's Subjects they are under the Obedience of this that and the other King or Prince his Law is over them they are subject to it so here is a Decision of all the People in the World who they belong to We all of us I hope do expect there will be a Decision at the Day of Judgment and believe the things we read concerning that That there will be a Decision and some will be placed on the right-Hand and some on the left-Hand some will have the Sentence of Come ye blessed and others the Sentence of Go ye cursed but now there is a way of finding out the Decision of the Matter before we go out of the World before the Day of Judgment when there will be no Remedy that is then it must be and abide so now there is no need it should continue so if it be amiss it may be mended if I do not belong to the right Prince if I be not under the right Power and Spirit I may be for now it is a day of Grace a day of Mercy I have been a Rebel to the right Prince I may be pardoned and taken into Favor it is far better for People to know their state now than to know it then because then there will be no Remedy The Apostle in laying down Fundamental Apostolical Doctrines that were to be belived and taken notice of and are in our Age so that we may say Things written of old time were written for our learning he makes this Affirmation and Position of Doctrine He that hath not the spirit of Christ is none of his he doth not belong to him if he be called a Christian he is not a Christian if he hath not the Spirit of Christ It is but a Name he hath got he hath not that which makes him essentially so for nothing can make a Christian but having the Spirit of Christ therefore when they would vindicate their being Christians they prove it thus For he speaking of God hath sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts and we know the mind of Christ we know him that is true or we are in him that is true These things if they were right if they were true were evident Demonstrations that they were a sort of Men who depended more upon thâ— Spirit and spiritual Teachings and Spiritual Guidance than upon Rules and Methods of Teaching that were in the World I speak of this Friends because you know as well as I how averse this Age of ours hath been to have any thing spoken of Spiritual Dispensations or about spiritual Teachings though a Man hath been counted formerly a wise Man a learned Man a Man of parts if once he come to smatter out a little about inward Teaching it is enough to spot him and make him ridicul'd of his Acquaintance as if there were no such thing in the World We have a Book called the Bible it is from one end to the other full of such Expressions of being led by the Spirit you have an anointing which teacheth you all things The whole Tenor of the New Testament is about Spiritual Teaching and Divine Operarations and of Faith being the operation of God and the Old Testament hath abundance of Expressions by way of Prophecy that in the New Testament Dayes if People would look for the Law of God they must look for it in their Hearts and if they would know God they must look to the mediator the Lord Jesus Christ The New Testament seems to go that way Christians should be the most Spiritual People in the World that is the Guide the Rule But say they the Scripture is the Foundation of Faith and Manners Belief and Practice this is but Dissimulation I am afraid that is to be found in some What is the Scripture the Rule of Faith and may People believe what they find in Scripture Yes but say some it is best be aware for fear of Error What is in the Scripture is serious sound and orthodox and did Quakers think you never find in Scripture that People
This sort of People are to be pitied and the Souls of all good People will piâ—â— them for such as these seek the Living amoâ—â— the Dead they seek to them to redeem theâ— that cannot redeem them We have soughâ— say they for Power and Strength from them that had not enough for themselves they were captivated as well as we and all this because we came not to him that is stronger than the Devil You will take the same course and stay till grey Hairs come and you go down to the Grave with Sorrow unless you come to one stronger than the Devil and theâ— trust in him believe in him and expect Deliverance by him The Reason why Peoplâ— do not expect Deliverance is because tâ—â—â— Two Things are shut out of their Belief 〈◊〉 I. They believe not that a sinful Life will carry them to Destruction II. They think there is not any possibility in this World to live any other than a sinful Life The Devil hath brought Men to this pass that they live as easily in a sinful Life as a Fish in the Stream We are in the way say they when we were baptized we were initiated into the Christian Church we were baptized with the Sign of the Cross that shews we are Soldiers of Christ and bear his Badge and Banner upon us and the Man said at that Time I was made a Child of God and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven if this be not true then I am cheated and deceived for I am to believe this to be true the Church hath affirmed that these things are to be belived and to question the Verity of the Church is to question all I would question whether thousands find the Truth of it When thou wert baptized there was a kind of Covenant and Bargain made for this Child of God and Heir of Eternal Life That he should forsake the Devil and all his Works and the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and the sinful Lusts of the Flesh And there is Security given that this Child shall never serve the Devil and sinful Lusts and never be proud but serve God and keep his Commandments Now this Security being taken then they suppose that this Child will certainly be an Heir of the Kingdom of God It is very true stand to thy Church if this Security that is taken for a Child be but effectual then there is no doubt of being a Child of God and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven But if this Security fail is the Church to blame if Men's Hopes to Eternal Life fail Was it not my Condition That thou shouldest forsake the Devil and all his Works and the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and the sinful Lusts of the Flesh and if thou break the Bargain and thy part of the Covenant and miss of Eternal Life who is to blame Look to the Security see that thou forsake the Devil and all his Works and the Pomps and Vanities of the World But thou mayest rather say I have enjoyed as many of them as I could and for the Lusts of the Flesh I have enjoyed as much of them as I can and what dost thou believe thy self to be a Child of God and an Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven notwithstanding If I promise to deliver a Man such a Bail of Silk or other Goods upon the Payment of so much Mony if I fail in delivering the Goods he will not deliver the Mony A Man must forsake the Devil and all his Works and never lust after the Pomps and Vanities of this World that is a Child of God let us see him grow up and if he goes on to be faithful in this Covenant till he die I do not at all question but he will be an Hâ—â—r of eternal Life but when all this is broken and the Sâ—curity signifies nothing and the Man is given up to serve the Devil breaks all God's holy Laws erreth and strayeth from the Way of God's Commandments like a lost Sheep and Grasps at the Pomps and Vanities of the World as much as he can and thinks he gets no more than comes to his share and when he shall indulge the Lusts of his Flesh this is a Child of the Devil he is a Child of that Spirit that was a Lyer from the beginning Never talk of being a Child and an Heir of God's Kingdom such a Man is in Fetters he is to go along with the Devil and his Angels and there is a Kingdom prepared for them a Kingdom of Darkness and he must have his Portion with them in Everlasting Misery Tophet is prepared of old for all the workers of iniquity What for those that are baptized Yes But do not you deny Baptism No not I I would have Men and Women baptized with a Baptism that will do them some good Some have seen the Vanity and Weakness of this kind of Baptism and called it Baby Baptism and therefore would go and be baptized and plunged in the Water over head and Ears but they came up again with the same Heart and Mind and the same Polluted Soul John baptized in Jordan and all Jerusalem and Judea came to be baptized of him There were a sort of baptized Persons then thâ—â— crucified the Lord Jesus Christ that never did them harm in his Life but much good This Baptism had never an Apostolical Patron but there is another Baptism that is so infallible a Baptism that if a Man were surely baptized withal he was sure of Heaven he would never need any other Assurance of Heaven than to be baptized with this Baptism Jesus Christ The Lip of Truth speaks of him He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved He shall be saved in spight of the Devil and all his Temptations in spight of Persecutions and the Stumbling-Blocks laid before him Here is a Baptism worth a Man's while worth all his Labour if he could obtain it He that cometh after me saith John the Baptist he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire Here is a Baptism belongs to Christians an Ordinance ordained Far be it from us to deny Baptism but we would light of the right since there are so many sorts This Baptism is so right and certain that it assertains a Man of his Salvation but it is done by the Holy Ghost and with fire If it be by the Holy Ghost then it is far enough off from us for there is no Holy Ghost in our Days say some so this Baptism is ceased and Inspiration is ceased If the Holy Ghost and Fire be the Matter of Baptism the thing being failed and ceased the Consequence cannot follow thou and I cannot be baptized because there is no working of the Holy Ghost in our Days say some this Baptism is with the Holy Ghost and with fire with Fire for burning 〈◊〉 our Corruptions and purifying our Hearts But the Holy Ghost hath done working upon Men say they why then there is
elswhere we pay down our Mony for their Redemption but we will not pay our Mony if they be kept in their Fetters still Would not any one think himself cheated to pay so much Mony for their Redemption and the Bargain be made so that he shall be said to be redeemed and be â—â—lled a redeemed Captive but he must wear his Fetters still How long as long as he hath a day to live This is for Bodies but now I am speaking of Souls Christ must be made to me Redemption and rescue me from Captivity Am I a Prisoner any where Yes Verily verily he that committeth sin saith Christ he is a servant of sin he is a Slave to Sin If thou hast sinned thou art a Slave A Captive that must be redeemed out of Captivity who will pay a price for me I am poor I have nothing I cannot redeem my self who will pay a Price for me There is one come that hath paid a Price for me That is well that is good News then I hope I shall come out of my Captivity What is his Name is he called a Redeemer So then I do expect the Benefit of my Redemption and that I shall go out of my Captivity No say they you must abide in Sin as long as you live What benefit then have I by my Redemption I could have been in Captivity no longer if I had not been redeemed I must wear my Shackles and Fetters still and be subject to my old Master and Patron and when he will have me be drunk I must be drunk and when he will have me be unclean I must be unclean Thus many profest Christians there be you see it with your Eyes that will tell you they believe all the Articles of the Creed and they have been baptized into the Christian Faith and can rehearse all the Principles of the Christian Religion and perform the Duty of Christians in going to Church saying their Prayers and in giving Alms too it may be they are such as would be called Christians they would be called so yet they are not Redeemed from their vain Conversations for what makes their Shackles and Fetters about them When their old Master bids them be Drunk they will be Drunk and when he bids them commit Whoredom or Lie or Cheat their Neighbour they will do it You do believe the Devil leads you to this you will not say the Spirit of God led you to it If one demand How did you do it You say the Devil prevailed upon me What hath the Devil Power over Men after they are Redeemed What sort of Redemption is this Then comes in the old Shift again we are Redeemed from the Punishment of our Sin but not from the Act of it Now if those that are called Ranters had told me this Tale it had been like them but when Doctors of Divinity tell us this Tale it is so unlike Divinity that it is Carnal Sensual and Devilish To tell Believers they are redeemed from the Punishment of Sin but not from the Act of Sin that this is the benefit which we receive from Christ's Sufferings that we may sin on free Cost that there is no Guilt contracted by it will any Man or Woman that understands they have a Soul venture their Immortal Souls on this Divinity I hope not They will not venture their Soul on this Foundation-Doctrin I hope God will awaken the Consciences of People that they will not hazard their Souls upon such a carnal devillish Foundation that if the Devil should preach he could not preach a worse Doctrin than this to persuade Christians they may live in Sin and Sin will not hurt them nor impair or break their Peace with God and Reconciliation with him I will tell you how it hath been with me in my Childhood if I had spoken a vain Word or a false Word I had contracted such a Guilt thereby that I was ashamed to draw near to God to pray to him I knew he would not hear Liars I knew there was no way to be accepted without Repentance and Amendment of Life I believe others have met with the same dealing from God by the secret Strokes of Conviction that have come upon their Hearts when they have sinned against God So that I am still of the Mind that the Persons that depend upon this kind of Doctrin do at some times especially when Sickness comes and Death looks them in the Face or in times of common Contagion or Pestilence at such a time they have a weight of Guilt upon their Consciences for this Doctrin will not support them at Death but that then they believe they have contracted Guilt or committed Sin I have wished many times that the Lord would open the Eyes and Hearts of the People of this City and of this Nation to see how miserably they have ventured their Souls Will Merchants in this City ever venture their Goods at such a Rate as Men commonly venture their Souls What will they venture their Goods in a Ship without a bottom before she goes to Sea Now this Doctrin hath not a Foundation shall I believe a Person that tells me I do not contract Guilt when I feel it upon my Heart when I commit Whoredom and Drunkenness and Cheat my Neighbours shall any one persuade me that I do not contract Guilt O Friends we are speaking of great Matters it is about Eternity that we are speaking it is about the hazard of Eternal Happiness therefore I pray let every one be serious and consider what I say for I speak â—n Gods Name and on your behalf Men are â—o come to a true search in themselves what a Life it is that they live Many support themselves by the Doctrins and Precepts of Men and they buoy themselves into Conceits of Salvation let them examin whethâ—â— it be a Life that hath its supportation by tâ—â— Spirit of God this is material for every oâ—â— to consider There are none can live tâ—â—â—d buâ— by the Life they receive from God The grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men Now here is an universal Doctrin There are a sort of Men in this City and Nation that tell us That saving Grace is given only to the Elect. Saving Grace is given to all Men but you must construe those Words all the Elect where they are somewhat injurious and would cast off the condition of the Text if they make a distinction in the latter part of the Sentence for it will not be good Sense The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all the Elect teaching us to deny all Vngodliness c. Here is Vs taken out of the All. The same Grace that is our Teacher appears to be the Teacher of others tho' they turn it into Lasciviousness The Grace is the same tho' they make many School-distinctions between common and saving Grace The Apostle explains it by telling what Grace he means The grace of God which
sight of God that is but the painting of a Sepulcher and covering the rottenness that is in many but the Lord sees into the inside of every professor and whosoever names the name of Christ and departeth not from iniquity they do but take his name in vain and contract a guilt upon their own Souls so that every one that seemeth to be Religious ought to enquire whence their profession springs If it springs from a real possession of a measure of that which sanctifies the Life and shews it self forth in its working and operation many times abundantly more than it doth in Word and profession It manifesteth it self in Holyness and Righteousness to the Honour of God it s the aim and design of all such to exalt the name of him whom they profess by Holyness and Righteousness shining forth in their works for it will never shine through words alone many good Words may be spoken yet God not glorifyed but his name may be dishonoured by them but whosoever comes to feel that which is Life in themselves they know what will Honour God they feel the Birth Immortal that is of God of his own begetting by the Word of Truth This living birth is that which brings fortâ— living praises the other is but flesh that which is Born of the 〈◊〉 is Flesh and it glorifyes the Flesh and â—â—en the Flesh is most of all glorifyed most of all exalted it is then but as the â—â—wer of the Field it is then cut down and withered the Sun of Righteousness shines with the beams of the Everlasting glory of God and causeth it to wither and come to naught So Friends let your Minds be gathered inward that you may be able in your own selves by vertue of the divine gift of God to distinguish between the Voâ—â—â— of the true Shepherd and the Voice of a Stranger that so your minds may not follow a strange Voice that you may follow the Lord with your whole Heart with a fuâ—â—â—â—â—pose 〈◊〉 Heart for there is a real Word of prophecy discovered in the inward parts which doth Distinguish between the precious and the Vile in every ones particular and that which is precious in one it answereth to that which is precious in another and that which is vile in one it answereth to that which is vile in anothcr For there is an inward and secret mistery of iniquity as well as a mistery of Godlyness The mistery of Godliness is when God is manifested in the flesh the mistery of iniquity is when the wicked one is making himself manifest and appears and discovers himself in the Flesh that he may rise up and glory in the Flesh Now the eternal Truth which never changeth that is it which giveth a discerning this hath always put a difference between the true and the false Prophets the true and the false Apostles between the true and the false Ministers the difference hath not been so much in words as in Power as the Apostle speaks concerning some in his Days that had endeavoured to deceive and draw Men aside from the Simplicity of the Gospel when I come saith he I will know now their Words were not so much taken notice of what they said whether their Words be true or no I will not know their Words but their Power How should he know their power if he was not in the power himself Now this Divine Power as every one acquaints himself with it it worketh unto the Sanctification of them when they have fellowship with the stirrings and movings of all others that are partakers of it this is that which will establish and confirm your Minds in the true Faith and simplicity of the Truth that you turn not aside to the right Hand or to the left If you have regard to the principle of Divine Truth that you have received from God then you can receive confirmation from any one that hath a Measure according to it There is a measuring Line and the Reed of the Sanctuary that measureth the Temple and all that dwell therein that measures them with one Reed and one Measure and every one answereth to that Measure according to the stature and degree of growth of the grace of God they arrive to and now they are come to a fixed foundation Others there are in the World that haâ—â— laid their foundation upon this creaturely help and the other creaturely help upon this Man and the other Man but now true Christians they come to have their foundation their rooting and Building upon Christ Jesus upon that word of Life that first of all gathered their Minds into a desire after Holyness into a desire after acquaintance â—â—th God that made them You that are true Christians can remember how you were begotten and that which did beget you that Word of God that is incorruptible that is immortal that was not of a dying quality that need not be supported by this and that and the other means but it hath its support in it self it hath its nourishment in it self and it grows up in 〈◊〉 â—â—lf and every one that receiveth it they grow up in it until they come more and more to partake of the Life and qualities of it that as he is so they may be in the present World But alas this is never known but where the Word of God hath its free passage Many have tasted of this Word of God and by tasteing of it have been acquainted with the powers of the World to come they knew well enough the Power that would bring forth another World A new Heaven and a new Earth and Righteousness in it many have felt the Power that have never continued to see the working of it never continued to see and witness what this Power would work going â—â—de from the Power of the World that was to come they have never seen the coming of it but their foolish Hearts have been darkned again and their Imagination have grown vain and they have conceived to themselves a false liberty to the Flesh and their Wills have been strong and have prevailed over them that tho' they had tasted of the Powers that did belong to the World to come they never saw the working and operation of that Power to bring to pass that which by sight and vision they did behold Therefore it is needful for every one of you in every state and condition that the Lord hath brought you into to keep your selves in a deep Humility to know the Afflictions Temptations and Trials you are under and to exercise â—â—ur Minds not only on what you have got over for when some come to look at what Sufferings and Difficulties they have got over they are apt to be exalted above measure and lifted up in their Minds but let every one know the state and condition in which at present they are labouring let every one consider what is their present state and work their help lies in that condition Some have always a
according to the Preparation of the Sanctuary the Preparation of Gods Dwelling and holy Place The Worshippers must be holy there must be the Fear of God and a reverence of the great God upon their Minds before People can offer an acceptable Sacrifice unto him as the holy Apostle saith Heb. 11.6 He that cometh to God must believe that he is which signifies that a Preparation ought to be in the Minds and Hearts of People that would draw nigh to God or perform any Service or Worship to God they must have the knowledge of the God whom they worship they must first know that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Here is a qualification for Worshippers for religious Persons as they expect when they meet together to find the Lord in the midst of them they must be qualified accordingly there must be an Awe upon their Minds I am in the Presence of God I have an expectation from God that he will open his abounding Treasury and minister some good unto me or else to what purpose do People draw nigh to God It is because they would have something of him but they must come in an humble petitioning frame He giveth Grace to the Humble It is the Lofty the Proud those that exalt themselves the Fat and the Full that want nothing These saith the Prophet the Lord beholdeth afar off A proud Man or Woman cannot draw nigh to God the Lord looks upon them afar off nor do they partake of those divine and heavenly Comforts and Blessings and Counsels and Instructions that the humble Mind hath the Promise of and will certainly enjoy The humble God will teach he will instruct the Meek in his Way but what is this to the lofty Mind What is this to one that is exalted and conceited and puffed up and reckons himself full and wanting nothing while he is swimming in the Streams of the Pleasures of this World and savours only the things of the Earth the Pleasures of a sensual Mind These Persons are not hungry and so they are not fed they are not thirsty and so they never obtain that which can satisfie the Soul Our Lord Jesus Christ pronounced a Blessing upon them that hunger and thirst but that is nothing to them that are full and lack nothing So my Friends in this and all other religious Assemblies a great care ought to be upon every one that their coming together to wait upon the Lord may be in that reverence and fear and that hope and expectation at the Hands of God that they might be bettered by it or else they all lose their labour as Cain did he would be an Offerer he offered Sacrifice but was not accepted because his Miâ—â— and Heart wiâ—â—â—ot right before the Lord 〈◊〉 Sacrifice was rejected It was before he had killed his Brother â—he had great Guilt upon him before he had â—illed his Brother he wanted a well-doing If thou dost well â—â—â—lt thou not be accepted But if thou dost noâ— wâ—ll Sin lies at thy Door Hâ— was got into evil doing and an evil Mind hindered his acceptance with God so iâ— doth with all Men and Women in the World that meddle with religious Worship and Sacrifice to God if they meddle with evil doing There must be a taking off the Mind frâ—â—he evil of Sin and Corruption and the Min◠〈…〉 be brought over to something that they have received from God before ever they can be accepted You know the general Doctrin of all Protestants is That we have no acceptance with God but through Jesus Christ we have no way to please God nor can do any thing that shall be liked of in his sight but only through one only Mediator Now if so be I go to worship God or perform any religious Duty without respect and reference to the sense and participation of the vertue and power of that only Mediator how can I be accepted And it hath pleased God out of his infinite Love to Mankind to send this great Mediator into the World that every Man that comes into thâ— World is made a Participant of something of the Life and Vertue of that Mediator So you read John 1.4 In him was Life and the Life was the Light of Men the true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and that with respeâ—â— to Men whether they are good or no both to good and bad tho' Men are bad as all Men are by Nature So that tho' they are Children of Wrath and Heirs of Eternal Damnation and in their natural State by reason of Sin yet for all that this one Mediator in whom this Light hath shined he hath sent forth that Light among the Sons and Daughters of Men that is the Light of Men that enlightens every one So there is an Offer made of something that presents it self to the view of every Man that is good if he apply his Mind to it he may have that Good that comes by Jesus Christ he may draw nigh to God as bad as he is he hath some good that God hath bestowed upon Men good and bad There is no Man such a Liar but he hath some Truth in him there is no Man so ungodly but he knows that which is pure and holy that which hath reproved him checked convinced him of his Ungodliness This presents it self to the view of every Man and Woman and calls them to Repentance Now for Men to make a shew and pretence to Worship and not have regard to the glory of God how can they draw nigh to God or God draw nigh to them Our Lord Jesus Christ saith That where two or three are gathered together in my Name I will be in the midst of them but if People meet together in their Sin and Wiâ— me◠〈…〉 â—hey hâ—ve a looâ— and a vain Mind â—nd intend to 〈◊〉 Wicâ—edness and Sin if theâ— meet 〈…〉 â—et not in Christs Name but in the Devils Name and he is in the midst of them and he works and Rules in the Hearts of the Câ—â—â—dren of Disobedience So that this hath been the ground and reason why abundance of Meetings upon this account have been fruitless as to any Benefit to their Souls and Peoples Expectations have been frustrated as to their Salvation they have not met with that in which the Blessing is and to which the Promise is made The Promise is not made to People that the Devil rules there is no Promise to such but the Promise of Eternal Wrath to be executed upon them with the Devil and his Angels to all Eternity if you can make that a â—romise The Promise of Life and Salvation which is recorded bâ—â—â—â—e Prophets and Apostles it hath always relation to the Seed that are iâ— Covenant with God In this the Covenâ—â—â— stands saith God to Abraham Gen. 17â—â— I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting
the godly they do not like such a Life now but they will like it then Friends you that are Lovers of your Souls and meet together upon that account of being better and having Expectation and Hope that you shall receive Comfort and Benefitâ— your meeting together I tell you as a Sâ—â—vant of God and a Lover of your Souls it is but a little while and you will wish that you had chosen the most holy harmless innocent Life that ever you saw your selves or heard of from any body else and you will wish that you had been more watchful over your Thoughts Words and Actions There is a day a Day a coming when we must give an Account for every thing that we have done whether good or evil you must give an account for your cursed Debauchery for your Swearing and Lying and inordinate Passions you must give an account for every vain Thought and every idle Word If this will certainly come to pass how shall I prevent these Idle Words and evil Actions Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way saith the Psalmist by taking heed thereto according to thy word I am not as those that say Lo here and lo there I do not say You must come and learn Truth of me but if you find it you must find it in your selves What if I live in the Truth that will not serve thee and if I be a holy Man that will not sanctifie thee thou must hearken to Truth 's speaking in thy self thou mayest hear it speaking in thine own Heart before thou be an Hour older you may hear it call you to Righteousness and Holiness and if you heâ—â— it you may do it too if you please for there is a Power that goes along with it I know enough thou wilt say but I cannot do what I know I have not Power What ails thee that thou hast not Power If I had Power then I would abstain from all Sin and break off from my evil Ways but the Devil throws this Object and the other Object in my Way and by his Temptations he doth insnare me I have not Power to resist Would you have me do more than I can do and as long as I have not Power I am to be excused Now here is a Device of the Devil to keep People in his Net still If Men would be true to themselves they would not be long without Power If thou art convinced of the Evil of thy Ways and that it is thy Duty to break off from Sin there is a Power offered to thee that if thou joyn with it thou mayest overcome all Temptations and forsake thy Sin I would have you all prove and search and see whether I speak Truth or no I am persuaded there is not a Man or Woman here but they have sometime abstained from an evil Work which they were tempted to How were you restrained because you knew it was an evil Work you durst not do it the Devil had not a coercive Power to force you to do it I knew it was an evil thing and I joyned with that in my Mind which dissuaded me from it and I prayed to God to give me Power to abstain from it The Devil tempted thee on still who helped thee against the Temptation God restrained thee by his Grace Will not he be a present help unto thee H◠〈◊〉 the same yesterday to day and for ever depend upon him still and he will be always ready to help thee and support thee and strengthen thee and thou shalt be kept from Sin in an Hour of Temptation Consider that all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to Christ and if he be able to keep thee thou shalt not fall into it 〈◊〉 â—hose that come unto me saith Christ noâ—â— shall pluck them out of my hands and my father is greater than all If thou comest unto Christ he will in no wise cast thee out and if thou depend upon him he will preserve thee and none shall be able to pluck thee out of his hand If thou joyn with the Truth and with that which is holy thou shalt have Strength and Ability to withstand Temptation and overcome it and I may speak with Reverence Christ hath bound himself to those that trust in him Those that keep the word of 〈◊〉 patience I will keep them in the hour of temptation If I keep waiting upon his Power that is ready to help me and have a mind to be â—urified and sanctified and to have Righteousness brought in to my Soul and have mine Eyes unto God and my Expectation from him he will work in me to will and to do of his good pleasure Now here People have a fixed Foundation for their Faith there is no working at this rate without bearing a daily Cross Theâ—â— are a great many can receive the Truth in Words and receive Doctrines and Teneâ—â— and that with Delight but there is no practising Holiness and Righteousness without a daily Cross and Self-denial There are a great many have come to Truth as far as it stands in Words but when it comes to something that they must do to speak the Truth and live in the Truth they meet with so much of the Temptation of the Devil so much Lust and Corruption and Ungâ—â—liness in themselves they meet with such evil things that their Souls joyn with and yield to that they cannot go on in the ways of Holiness unless they look up to Jesus and have an Eye to their Saviour and take up his Cross and follow him Whatsoever Reproaches and Sufferings and Persecutions they endure they must have a godly Resolution to follow the Lord Christ and say I will obey his Commands he shall have the Rule and Government of my Life and be the Guide of my way whatsoever stands in â—y way I will take up my Cross and deny my self Without this there is no good Christianity in the World There are a great many that seem to be religious and are Professors of the Truth We all know there are many Professors of the Truth in Notion and with some Zeal will talk of it but they do not know how to live and walk in the Truth they do not live uprightly and honestly in it they do not keep their Words they do not live justly and honestly with all Men nor do unto others as they would havâ— others do to them They can tell how to speak and act then why do they not do it They have got a Notion thaâ— they are above the Cross of Christ and Self-denial is far below them People will not live in the Truth This is wanting in the whole World If we look into this City we shall find a great many are illuminated there is abundance of Knowledge and Understanding among Professors â—bundance of Learning and great Nâ—â—â—â—rs of learned Men What is the Reason that Oaths and Curses and all manner of Wickedness runs down the Streets like a River there is Pride
and Wrath and Envy and Revenge and Violence to be found among us as if it would pull down Vengeance upon this City They have heard preached in Pulpits much of Holiness and Humility Patience and Meekness That a meek and quiet Spirit is an ornament of great price Men have heard much Preaching against Pride Prophaneness and Drunkenness and Uncleanness but they have heard it like a tale that is told not much concerned about it and have given little Credit or Regard to what they have heard of these things Why are People so wicked The Reason at last results into this Men are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God they are not the servants of Christ but serve diverse lusts and pleasures and are led captive by the devil at his will and so they go on in Iniquity All the Laâ— of Kings and Queens cannot â—â—â—train and curb them when the Law of Christ is not written in their Hearts but when Men come to see a Necessity of Self-denial 〈◊〉 taking up the Cross this will produce a Reformation This is that I labour for and all good Men and Womâ—n will do it It is time to cry for Reformation Vain Fâ—â—hioâ—s and Garbs and Pride have been cried up why should not we cry for Reformation before the Wrath of a provoked God is kindled agâ—inst us and his Vengeance poured down upon the Natioâ— We must reform our Lives How shall Men reform you will say By getting the law of God within their hearts that is pure and holy and heavenly that will be as a light to mens feet and a lanthorn to their paths Now till People come to this they will go on in Sin and Iniquity till they be swept away with some overflowing and dreadful Judgment So that my Friends in the Fear of God and out of Love to you I seek that you may be brought to God through Christ that you may live in the Love and Fear of the Lord and when you come to die you may have Rest and Peace for your Souls There is no Rest for those that are evil-doers There is no peace saith my God to the wicked The Ungodly cry Peace peace and talk of Peace but there is no Peace for them but they shall have for their Portion tribulation and wrath and anguish this shall certainly come upon every one that doth Evil. It is no matter what Religion you are of if you do not obey the Truth but live in Unrighteousness Now Friends my Exhortation to you â—ll is That you will return to the Truth in your own Hearts and do it while you have time I am not pulling and persuading People to love my Truth but to love God's Truth in their oâ—n Hâ—arts to love it and obey it and you cannot do this unless you resolve to take up a daily Cross and be Followers of Christ who is gone before to prepare a Place for them that are his true Disciples and then he will present them to God as holy harmless and undefiled for these are Heirs of that evâ—â—lasting Kingdom which God hath prepared 〈◊〉 them that love him SERMON XII Christians should be often thinking on the Name of the Lord. Being his last Sermon â—â—eached at Devonshire-House July 17th 1692. a while before his Death THE People of God in former Ages did think upon the name of the Lord I would it might be the daily Practice of all that make Profession to be the People of God in our Days to think upon the Name of the Lord. This you know is an inward Exercise invisible and known to none but God he only knows when you are met together whether you are thinking upon his Name whether the Exercise of your Minds is upon his Power or upon whatsoever else your Minds are engaged They whose Exercise and Desire is to feel God's Power and to be acquainted with his Name the Lord is nigh to them to reveal his mighty Power and his Name to them and they are a People that partake of his Goodness and of his Vertue and 〈◊〉 an experimental Knowledge of the divers Administrations of both his Judgments and Mercies to their own Souls and so they can proceed from Thinking to Speaking of the Goodness of God from the Experience that they have in themselves that the Lord is gooâ— to them For all that some do in their manner of speaking of God and his Goodness and crying up the Name of the Lord it is alâ—â— worth nothing it is but Noise But every one that partakes in his own Soul 〈◊〉 somethiâ—â— of the Divine Vertue and Goodness that flows from God invisibly to him through Jesus Christ he hath Assurance in himself thaâ— he speaks the Truth It is not mere Words made ready to his hand but it is his owâ— Knowledge and Experience of that whâ— God hath wrought in him by his own Spirit there are none that think upon the Name oâ— the Lord and his Power and the workiâ—â— of it but they are able to speak of it eâ—â—â—ctually and truly I know it hath been and is the practiâ—â— among many that they are able to speak 〈◊〉 God's Goodness from what they find in 〈◊〉 Writings and Sayings of some that lived bâ—fore them that did bear an honourable Teâ—â—â—mony of God's Goodness in their Religâ—â—â— and they learn to say it over-again iâ— particular Age But what hath this Tale that they have told wrought This Report they have made How God was with the Christians of old the Primitive Christians and Martyrs they have told a Tale of these things and what hath it effected It hath either brought forth Christians or it hath not Therefore the way for People to be grounded and settled in Divine Knowledge is for every one to speak what they know And if they know nothing of these things to say nothing of them And the way for them to come to receive Divine Knowledge is by thinking by meditating by considering of that Converse that God hath with their own Souls for there is a way provided for all Men to converse with God that made them Every Man and Woman may ask Questions of him and may have Answers from him if they have Patience enough to wait for them every Soul here present that shall come to be serious and with seriousness of Mind shall ask of God what their State and Condition is if they were to die presently God will â—ell them He will answer them he will shine unto them by the Light of his Son Jesus Christ and let them know whether they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of their iniâ—uity still or whether they are redeemed out of it and brought into Covenant with himâ—elf But will you believe his Answer I would have no Man go about to ask such a Question of God unless he hath a mind to believe the Answer that God giveth him To what purpose should Men ask if they ask and ask amiss If they ask without Faith they do
not believe except the Answer please them Many in our Days have put up their Petitions and Prayers to God that he would discover to them the State and Condition of their Souls The Lord hath answered them that notwithstanding all the Profession that they have made of his Name and of their Faith in his Son Jesus Christ and of the Work of Redemption yet he hath told a Man Thou art still unredeemed thou art still in thy Sin and Lusts and Concupiscence prevail over thee thou art still in Bondage This is God's Answer to many but there is something ariseth in their Minds that they are not willing to believe this I would think better of my self than this What if thou dost think better of thy self Thou art never the better for â—he word of the Lord stands sure There is no removing of it there is no â—â—nial of the Truth If this Truth condemn thee all the World canâ—ot justifie thee and this Trutâ— by which God condemns the Sinner is in the Sinner's own Heart What will he do with it It is in the Sinner's Conscience it doth not only condemn him by Book out of this Chapter and that Verse out of this Author and the other Author but he is condemned by God's true and faithful Witness in his own Conscience Thou wilt not believe iâ— but if thou believest not this then thou remainest in thy Unbelief of the Truth and nothing else but believing it can save thee No counsel else can deliver or redeem thee So that the best Advice and Counsel that I can give a People in this case is this That when they come to such a religious Meeting as this is they would come with a Mind prepared and fitted to think upon the Lord to think upon his Name and the way by which he brings People to himself for no Man can be called a Child of God that doth not partake of his Nature If a Man be never so wise and rich and great in the World if he be a Prince or an Emperour without this he is a Child of Wrath Now if these Children of Wrath meet with something that convinceth them if they are touched and become a sensible People then Crowns and Diadems are nothing to them Such a one will say If I be a child of wrathâ— a Captive to Sin and my own Lust and Concupiscence yet for all that I will go to a religious Meeting where I hope the Word of God will be preached I hope to meet with something there that will do me good and I have a Desire that I may be translated out of a natural State from being a child of wrath and to be brought into the kingdom of God If I have this Desire in me God that made me wrought it in me for by Nature we cannot so much as think a good thought When Men think of being better and of amending their ways and doing their Souls good these are very good Thoughts in themselves When such Thoughts are begotten in any Men's Hearts I would have them to ascribe them to the Grace of God and nothing else Preachers may do much where these Desires are begotten but it is not in their Power to beget these Desires Many have come to a Meeting with loose prophane and wandring Minds and though many good things have been spoken to them it hath not reached so far as to beget good Desires their Hearts have been so alienated from the Grace of God in themselves which is the great superiour Worker to which we are but Servants and Ministers there is none can beget any thing but he in whom all Power is They that are under the Power of Darkness the Devil begets in them Wantonness and Vaniâ—â— Prophaneness and hardness of Heart Some go away from a Meeting without being touched and perswaded and they have no good Hope of being better But where People are really touched in their Spirits with a desire after something that will do them good they must come to the Fountain of Good the God that made them and think upon him if they cannot see his glory and hear his voice yet they can think upon him This is the least Duty of a Christian to think upon the Name of the Lord and where their Minds are exercised about divine Matters about the State and Condition 〈◊〉 their poor Souls If I die this â—ight what will become of me This and that Sin I have committed how shall I be able to answer to God for one of a thousand of all my loose Thoughts Words and Actions They that come to a Consideration of this and a due Sense of their State and Condition though it is such a State that they do not like of that it is not such as it ought to be yet notwithstanding it may be better they may be brought out of it into a better condition Now this is the duty of all to be waiting upon God the Fountain of all Good that they may receive something from God for every good and perfect gift comes from above from the Father of Lights the Father of thy Light and my Light that Light comes to us from the Father of Lights If we have any perfect Gift bestowed upon us it is bestowed by God therefore you will grant that we are all obliged from the great◠〈…〉 least to wait upon him if we have the 〈◊〉 Expectation from God by a Meeting otherwise we had better keep away But I am apt to judge that the most here are come with some Desire that if it please God they may receive Benefit by their Meeting Where shall they have it They say if such a Man preacheth then I can edifie much by him This is a great Mistake for let who will preach there is no Body can receive any Benefit but it must be from the Lord as the Fountain of Good for the best Preachâ—rs in the World are but Instâ—â—ments in the Hands of Godâ— if God doth not bless his Labours 〈◊〉 â—â—eacher can do nothing to the Souls of Pâ—â—ple bâ—â—â—an sound the Truth 〈◊〉 their Ears outwardly but he can reach no further God only speaks to the Heart If thou mind the Preacher and not God that made thee all his Preaching will do thee no good It may indeed help thee to a Notion or Speculation but that comes not to the Inside that will be no better the Insidâ— wants mending There are great Deformities Scars Spots Stains Wounds and Lamenesâ— upon the Soulâ— of Men by reason of their Sins Lusts and Corruptions and there wants a Remedy and thâ—â—â— is no Physician of value but God that 〈◊〉 us after his own Image The Devil hath brought in Deformity he hath made one proud another cruel another wanton another an Oppressor another malicious this is all the Devil's Work And for this end 〈◊〉 Jesus came into the world that he might destroy the works of the Devil He came to destroy Pride Malice and Lust these are the