not without demonstration enough that they do but flatter Christ with their MOVTHS when their hearts are far from him sayes Iehu 2 Kings 10 16. See my zeal for the Lord of Hosts but we know his zeal was but for himself So these men are offended if any thing be said to touch them or their wayes pretending dishonour to Christ and they cry out BLASPHEMY because it reproves their blindnesse or ignorance shewing that they are the blind leaders of the blind and both fal into the ditch Luk. 6.39 so do it out of pretence of love to Christ and zeal for the Lord of Hosts If so be it were so that they did make God their zeal and Christ their rest and their dependance as they would have all beleeve what is the reason that these men professing themselves Servants to Christ and Messengers from Christ what 's the reason I say they are so in love with the world who more hunting after Honour after Riches after Applause and in all things seeking themselves as much or more then others making no profession what 's the reason that they must come forth as messengers sent out from Christ and yet they must have two coats Mark 6.9 contrary to their Masters command and they must have their scrip and their bag and who more taking care to provide for the body for food and rayment and the like and yet they say they are doing the Lords work yet dare not trust their Master for outward things shall any man think these men have trusted their souls with him who dare not trust their bodies with him but they must have so much a year and they must indent with the people or else they will not work how say you are not these those that make merchandise of the word of God certainly these men can never make out themselves messengers from Christ 2 Cor. 4.2 approving themselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God neither hath he Commissioned them nor given them their errand nor revealed his secrets to them but they run before they are sent and say thus saith the Lord when he sent them not Jer. 14.23 neither have they seen any vision as the Prophet saith Certainly these are not the men that preach the word of God out of a ready mind and constraint of love depending on the Lord for their recompence and reward 1 Pet. 5.2 but for filthy lucre sake These men never yet received the truth in the love of it in themselves but preach for honour and for praise and because it is a place in credit and this delights them and is very pleasing to the flesh and because they are had in honour and so much they will speak forth and no more then may stand with those things and they dare not venture either their honour or riches or credit c. upon the account of truth no not for their lives Are these of Pauls mind who cryed out woe is me if I preach not the Gospel but these men if they can have but the accomodations that attend a Minister in these dayes 1 Cor. 9.16 as riches and honour and praise and full tables and entertainments and feasting and uppermost seats and the like they will doe well enough for dispensing the Gospel and do that warily and tenderly enough without prejudicing their own esteem or offending others And are not these men faithful Stewards think ye as they would fain be esteemed that can thus order their wayes and keep up themselves and dare not for their ears commit themselves nor their works to the Lord nor to the Authority and power of truth in the hearts of men I am much grieved to see these things and yet who seem more zealous then these men who say they are doing their Lords work just so did the Pharisees up and down whom Christ so sharply reproves for Hypocrisie and Blindness and Covetousnesse and Deceivers c. being blind leaders of the blind and both fall into the ditch Mat. 15.14 But the reason of all this is because these men were never yet emptied in themselves they never took up the crosse of Christ Ibid. 10.38 or denied themselves but are rich and full and holy and wise and sober and very strict as they would be thought and think so of themselves for though they talk and babble of these things in a litteral way yet they never had them in experience but boast of things in another mans line 2 Cor. 10.14 15. and stretch themselves beyond their own measure borrowing this mans words and the other mans experience and because Paul and others have been witnesses to the truth and of high manifestations of God brought forth in them this they appropriate and arrogate and say t is their condition when t is no such matter but having a shew of humility and godlinesse they deceive the simple and are such who serve not the Lord Iesus Christ but their own belly and by good words Col. 2.23 and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple and are such who cannot give testimony to the truth in themselves they are full of curious collected choise words but if you bring those words to experience they plainly discover they know nothing of them but do indeed oppose the truth in themselves for they love honour and greatnesse and the praise of men of whom Christ saith plainly How can YEE believe who thus seek honour one of another and not that honour which commeth from God only Joh. 5.44 Certainly these men whatever they talk of Christ and preach of Christ and make a great noise in words yet they will be found to be no other but as sounding brass and tinkling Cymbals 1 Cor. 13 1 They will undertake to invite others to Christ and never found Jesus in themselves for no man can come after him but he that denies himselfe Mar. 8.34 and takes up his cross and follows him and though they in words and notions talk of self-deniall and selling all for the PEARL yet they are wise in themselves and holy in themselves and rich in themselves and they have a power to act in the waies of God and to conform them selves to the rule have these men sold all think you and though they say men are dead in trespasses and sins yet how many MVSTS do they lay upon them and doe Thus and Thus And whence is all this but because indeed they never yet followed Christ never yet found him never yet believed in him never yet denied themselves were never reduced to emptiness and nothingness but are still alive and whole in themselves except it be for a few outward neglects or omissions now and then and that they can make up again with a little double diligence and this is their way and herein lies the life and top of their Religion And truly brethren how can these things be otherwise Did the woman with the bloody
The Judgement Set AND The BOOKES Opened RELIGION TRIED whether it be of GOD or of Men. The Lord cometh to visit his Own For the time is come that Judgement must begin at the House of God To separate The Sheep from the Goats and The Precious from the Vile And to discover the Blasphemy of those that say They are Apostles Teachers Alive Rich Jewes but are Found Lyars Deceivers Dead Poore blind naked The Synagogue of Satan In severall Sermons at Alhallows Lumbard-street By JOHN WEBSTER A servant of Christ and his Church Micah 3.5 c. Thus saith the Lord concerning the Prophets that make my people erre that bite with their teeth and cry peace and he that putteth not into their mouths they prepare war against him Therefore night shall be upon them that they shall not have A vision c. The Sun shall goe down over the prophets and the Day shall be dark Their Seers shall be ashamed and the Deviners confounded yea they shall All cover their lips for there is no answer of God LONDON Printed for R. Hartford at the Bible and States-Arms in little Brittain and N. Brooks at the Angel in Cornhil 1654. To All those Dear and Pretious Soules that have been Hearers and are in any measure partakers of the power of those Truths delivered in these following Discourses Deare Friends IT was for your sakes that the good pleasure of the Heavenly Father who maketh all things work together for the benefit of those that love him Rom. 8.28 who are called according to his purpose carried me forth and made use of me who am less then a worm and most weak in my selfe yet strengthened through his Almighty power to manifest these things unto you And it was for your sakes that the goodnesse of that Father of all mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 and God of all consolation kept me so long to sojourn amongst you for I can truly say that what I am or have been unto you in the way of Christ it was his good pleasure and grace that made me so for the mutual comfort both of you and me for I cannot do any thing against the truth but for the truth for I am not able to think or say any thing as of my self 2. Cor. 3.5 but my sufficiency is of God and I am able to do all things yet no otherwise but through Christ who strengthens me Phil. 4.13 And therefore it is unto you that I direct and be queath these insuing Discourses who have been Ear-witnesses unto what God gave me a door of utterance to deliver amongst you And I hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that they are not onely written in your papers or table-books but in the fleshly Tables of your Hearts 2 Cor. 3.3 not with the hand of man but with the finger of God And being requested that they might be made publick the Lord led me unto a willingnesse thereunto for these Reasons I shall now declare 1. That you whom God in some measure hath endued with the spirit of discerning and made you to heare the voice of Christ and not the voice of strangers Joh. 10.3 4.5 may judge and beare witness out of what principle these things are spoken whether they proceed from that wisdom which is from above Jam. 3.15.17 that is first pure then peaceable or from that which is from beneath which is earthly sensual and devilish Mat. 11.19 for wisedome is only justified of her Children and of no others for it is Christ in you the hope of glorie who is that quickning spirit Col. 1.27 or spiritual man that judgeth all things 1 Cor. 2.15 yet he himself is judged of none 2. That those who are alienated from the life of Christ Eph. 4.18 through that ignorance that is in them and are The JEW in the Mysterie that alwaies resists the Holy Ghost and as their Fathers did so do they Act. 8.54 55 56 57. may know that though they gnash upon the Saints of God with their teeth cry out with a loud voice stop their ears run upon them with one accord cast them out of the City and stone them yet do those holy ones of God look up steadfastly into Heaven and see and behold the glory of God the Heavens opened and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and do freely cry aloud unto the Lord that he may not lay this sin to their charge 3. That those poor creatures who are wise in their own eyes and think they know someting Pro. 3.7 when they know nothing as they ought to know may behold and see that the stone which is rejected and set at naught by those who think and call themselves Master-builders and would have others to think also so of them Mat. 21.42 is becom'd the head stone in the corner and it is the Lords doing though wonderful in the eyes of men 4. That those who have spoken evil of these Truths accounting them as blaspemous erroneous and heretical may know that according to that way which they call Heresie Act. 24.14 I worship the God of my Fathers And if there be any thing in these Discourses that the wisdom learning or reason of men can overthrow then it is not of God for Mat. 15.13 every plant that the Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted out but what is of him must stand And therefore if the wisdom of the Serpent hath any thing to say against any thing herein conteined let it be brought forth for I hope and know that the Lord in me and in all his will defend his own truth so that the gates of Hell shall not be able to prevaile against it Mat. 16.16 and I can truly say the Lord is on my side I will not feare what man can do unto me 5. That the Lord alone may be magnified who hath carried forth my spirit to bear witnesse against all unrighteousnesse of men who withhold the truth of God in unrighteousness Rom. 1.18 and that without respect of persons and especially against all those Churches Worships Professions Confessions Opinions Covenants Gatherings Traditions of men observations of Times Idol-Pastors Hirelings false Teachers Forms and such like which are made appointed constituted ordained set up and practiced by men by the carnal wisdom learning wit reason and policy of the world Eph. 4.4 5 6. For I witness One body and One spirit even as I am called in one hope of my calling one Lord One Faith one Baptisme Heb 8.7 one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all And this is the Tabernacle that God hath pitched and not man in which Temple all the Saints are living stones 1 Cor. 3.9 are Gods building Gods workmanship and are all gathered into this body by the spirit and power of God and not by man for by one spirit they are all baptized into one body
to him why because there is a vail upon them the Covering of all Nations some things more or lesse excellent some righteousnesse some holinesse some duties some reformation some forms some shadows and These are the Covering by reason of which he neithr sees nor tasts death nor hell nor destruction In Christ there is all life all rest all peace all discovery of good things but if man remain in himself and dwel in his own mountain there is all darknesse and all deformity nothing but death trouble bryars thorns but it never appears so till but death trouble bryars thorns but it never appears so till the vail be taken away till then man is never stript of himself never turned outward but all is under this Covering and while so he blesses himself and saith I am safe all is well there is no death nor hell can come neer me I am a reform'd man I walk exactly I presse after the strictest rules of the word I am under the purest Ordinances here now Gen. 3.6 man eates death and tasts of the forbidden tree and the tree is sweet to him and to be desired But now when Christ comes into the soul really all these thoughts are cursed damned thrown to hell and the man becomes vile abominable in his own fight instead of seeing himself an heir of glory as before his thoughts are clean altered the vail the Covering is removed and he now sees himself an heir of hell a poor deluded undone creature He sees THE ASSE the flesh must not goe up into the mountain with Abraham but must be left below let that bear the burden as fit and meet it should let it bear the wrath of God it must be destroyed it must be condemned it must goe to hell All the glory of man all the excellency of nature all the holinesse of man the wisdom of man all must be left below with the Asse the flesh at the bottom of the hill and there must be a going out of our selves a loosing of our selves that we may goe up to the mountain and there be feasted and there see visions there see strength there see glory there see power there see riches righteousnesse and all good things then man shall see how he called evil good and good evil Esay 5.20 darknesse light and light darknesse there he shall be feasted with all delights there he shall see how wisdom hath furnished her table Prov. 9.2 there the scales are removed here he beholds Jacobs ladder here is the valley of Achor here he enjoys his hopes here he sees visions and the third heavens opened and here he feeds upon the hidden Manna c. But know this Rev. 2. that all these thing are not done at once but by degrees as man leaves the Asse behind so he ascends the mountain as man goes out of himself so he enjoyes Jesus Christ and is made one with him as man is made nothing so Christ comes to be made all man becomes all in Christ and nothing in himself so far as man utterly denies himself so far he eats of these fat things when he see himself oppressed with sin or wrath or hell he presently runs to this mountain when he is parched with drought he runs to this rock to this fountain of living waters Jer. 17.13 below in the valley in himself he can find no comfort nothing but wrath and death and darkensse and destruction there 's is nothing but the bottomless pit there 's nothing but madness and folly nothing but lies and vanity there 's nothing but fears and frights horrors and amazements and the smoak of the bottomlesse pit he now cries out Wo is me Rev. 9.2 did I so much delude my self to think my self to be wise holy c. when as there was nothing but folly and an infiniteness of madnesse And now he sees that there is in him Antichrist indeed the beast with seven heads and ten horns and himself bearing the mark and image of the beast And all this the soul sees by faith for faith is the souls eye when Faith goes up from its self and looks upon Jesus Christ there it sees all riches all glory all wisdom all unchangeableness all purity all life all rest all in all in a word it sees him to be unutterable unspeakable and in him things not able to be uttered not fit to be uttered but only to such as are admitted into the same condition for others cannot comprehend these words they are paradoxes and riddles They see themselves to be nothing but sin and horrour and there is the bottom or the foot of Jacobs Ladder and they see also Jesus Christ with all his riches glory power wisdom righteousness there is the top of the Ladder these things are only to be seen in this mountain When Saints by faith look down into what they are in themselves they see there is a bottomlesse pit of smoak and darkness blackness of darkness darkness that may be felt Exod. 10.21 and they see the smonk covers the face of the whole earth there he sees in this valley such a bottomless depth of sin and Misery that he is ashamed of himself and ashamed that others should see him to be so Now while the vail is untaken away all the endeavour all the wit all the power of the naturall man is to keep on this covering to keep it from being rent he would by no means have it removed he would upon no terms see himself as he it to see himself undone to be nohing but emptiness and misery this kindles the fire of hell in him what he that thought himself so holy so full of goodnesse now to see himself to be so far deluded as to be all sin and all darkness and all hell he that thought himself to be a lover of God and a lover of righteousnesse to be no other but a hater of God and a bater of true holines and a hater of the truth Oh now by all means he would cover and hide this monstrous Image from himself and others he would not for all the world see himself nor have others see him thus vile and thus miserable but the contrary to admire himself to magnifie himself as good excellent and holy but when Jesus Christ comes he wil in despight of all mans wisdom and cunning and power discover him to himself he shall whether he will or no behold his own shape see himself in his own colours Then he cries out Ob miserable man that I am who shall deliver me â—â—m 7.24 Lord help me I am undone I am a man of polluted lips and with Peter Lord help or I perish I shall fink for ever into this bottomlesse gulph from whence there is no redemption He sees now the vail rent and himself lost for ever and that such is the bottomlesness of this gulph that he is in that nothing can redeem him thence but only the blood of
place to sleep in and a pillow to repose and lay their heads upon and to rest their travailing and wearied thoughts and they could never rest till they come to THIS Shinar But I here proclaim to all such be they never so secure in themselves and applauded and cryed up as happy and blessed men by others yet all this is but This Shinar this is but the Babel which here the Lord speaks of and it shall be no other but the place of Confusion Luk. 13.28 Nay Publicans and Harlots shall go into the Kingdom of Heaven when they themselves these perfect men in their own and in others esteem shall be thrust out Alas they cover themselves with a Covering but not with the Lords spirit the bed is too short and the covering too narrow Esa 28.20 they cannot cover themselves therwith yet have indeed preached in my name and prophesied in my name Mat. 7.22 and in my name done many GREATWORKS and wonderful but for all this depart from me ye are no other but workers of iniquity sayes Christ to such the highest and gloriousest and the most seemingly holy of all these things cannot be the place of rest Ibid. 5.20 Mich. 2.10 for except your righteousnesse exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye can in no case enter inter into the Kingdome of Heaven Arise therefore and depart hence this is not your rest For indeed there never is nor never was nor never shall be any other but one onely place of Rest for all the Sons of men And that is onely and alone Jesus Christ that Eternal Rock and Refuge for all Nations and Generations that perfect sacrifice of the Eternal son of God to which nothing in the least can be added and nothing else was ever required or accepted but only this Beloved IMMANUEL in whom alone God is well pleased Mat. 3.17 But when thou thinkst thou must do this duty and that leave this sin and that evil and why because this is the condition on thy part which thou must perform or else Christ will not perform the promise of life and salvation on his part herein men are deluded and for all their pains and endeavours and strictnesse yet they fall short of the kingdome of Heaven For it is not thy works nor thy duties nor thy forms nor thy notions nor thy Church-gatherings nor any thing else of thine which is the accomplishment of the promises but they are all yea and amen onely and alone in him 2 Cor. 1.20 in whom the promises are made if these works be wrought by thy industry by thy care by thy watchfulnesse by thy wisdome by thy power they are all odious and abominable Esa 66.3 God will as soon accept the offering up of Swines blood and regard as soon the cutting off a dogs neck as many of these thy duties for whatever is done by thee or in thee except it be done by the wisdome power and hand of Jesus Christ who is the promise maker and the promise worker and accomplisher they cannot be in him Yea and in him Amen for he alone is the promise that is the maker and fulfiller he must work it by his power but as long as thou thinkest thou canst do any thing or hast any thing to offer or any thing to accomplish and thou must do it on thy part as a condition the Lord abhors all such sacrifices as abominable when thou thinkst such and such rules are prescribed and I must obey and submit to every rule not the least but I must do it and then the promise is mine for now I am in the right way and then sayst to thy soul soul take thy ease this is the true place of rest Luk. 12.19 here thou mayest lye down in safety examine thy self is not this thy end How be it all this is nothing else but the building up of Babel in the Land of Shinar All this while when thou thoughtest thou wast travelling to thy rest thou art travelling quite contrary to ruine destruction and confusion thou art but travelling from the East to the plain of Shinar a place beautiful indeed and pleasant to the sons of men when they had turned their backs upon the East and were gone out from God their rest and were not content with the fountain Jer. 2.13 but followed the Streams which in the end are dryed up and there is no water to quench thy thirst but onely a meer hell and place of torment Luk. 16.24 and not one drop to cool thy tongue Secondly Vse 2 we may see here that Sleepiness is the end that all these builders of Babel propound to themselves they would have some rest from their doings and from their labours and from their wisedome and their endeavours their end in all they do is Security that they may sleep quietly that they may not fear neither death nor hell nor judgement that they may cry to their soules Jer. 6.14 Esa 28.18 peace peace when there is no peace and how they having made a covenant with death and hell here they will rest and here they will build and here they will sleep Being come to this pleasant plain here they resolves to secure themselves and build a Tower reaching to Heaven They consult and conclude now they have their hearts desire and nothing shall be restrained from them And all this they doe sayes the Holy Ghost least we be scattered All these things and all these devices are but Coverings of mens inventing to save themselves from wrath and from the guilt of conscience which else would gnaw within them Mark 9.44 Esa 4.6 Mat. 7.26 and be in them the worm that never dies hereby they think they have made themselves a shelter from the storm and the wind but t is but as the house built upon the sand having no Foundation it can never stand here is no security though they think to provide for and secure themselves and think themselves wiser and holier then all other men Their end is alwayes selvishness to secure and provide for themselves and the means by which they attain all is also within themselves by their own wisdom power parts righteousnesse endeavours and the like Also in this way of man to come to life and rest what does he Vse 3 he bethinks himself with all the wisdom he can to chuse wisely and discreetly we will here build say they to themselves and we will build sure and safe and we will make brick and burn them well that so their building may endure and not fall upon their heads They have still something or other that they themselves invent and pretend the rule of the word to goe by as the safest way something that they finde out that their own self tells them is a likely way Say they to themselves Christ has promised if men beleeve and repent then they shall be saved Well I will goe and perform these and
whether this way of man do not set him at a farther distance from his true rest for if man think he can come to Christ by any thing of himselfe by any Religious actions and performances then from this it must needs follow that he sees not his own weakness nor wickednesse nor there is no sin nor wickednesse nor misery made manifest unto him And he makes lyes his refuge Esa 22.15 and under falshood he hath hid himselfe and drawn way his heart from the living and eternal God to depend upon the lying and deceitful power and wisedome of man and digged to himselfe broken Cisterns Jer. 2.13 So that Secondly this will follow that this man hath made a Rock to stay himselfe upon for if thou thinkest that thy actions and performances will bring thee neerer unto God then other men or that any thing can draw thee neerer but the meer hand and spirit of the Father is not this I say to set up something against the power of the Father Is not this to set up errour against truth and darkness against light and Antichrist against Christ for here it is manifest that there is nothing but the power of the Father to draw men unto Christ Now seeing thou hast made Lyes thy delight and vanity thy trust see what is pronounced against thee for all thy confidence and strong opinions of thy safety and security Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord. Jer. 17.5 So I say this meerly leads man from a denyal of himself to a setting up of himselfe from a waiting and depending on the power of God to a depending and hanging on the wisedome and power of the flesh now when the soule has made experiment of this in it self to finde see and feele it really in his own heart that no hand drawes to the Father but the Spirit onely Oh then this will make the heart of man lament and say what a hard heart have I I cannot goe one step towards my Saviour Mark 10.51 this makes him cry out and say come Lord Jesus and open my blind eyes that I may receive my sight and thou Son of David haver mercy on me and there is none but thou alone can cure my leprosie and save my spirit or else I perish I perish for ever and this is that which makes man to have the true circumcision and to worship God in the Spirit Phil. 3.3 and have no confidence in the flesh Then if it be the Fathers power and spirit that onely draws men unto Christ Vse 2 Then neither man nor Magistrates can draw or drive them thither the work of the Father is his own work and he hath not substituted any other in his place for he will not give his glory to another neither suffer his holy name to be polluted Esa 42.8 Now if it be thus that unlesse the Father draw man unto Christ man cannot come then it must needs be lyes and vanity for any of the sons of men to take upon them and say they can and they must act something either to draw or drive men unto Christ we know this hath been the undertakings of all ages and times Joh. 16.2 but what was the fruit of it Under pretence of doing God good service they have shed the blood of the Saints that it might be fulfilled that not a Prophet perisheth OVT of Jerusalem Luk. 13.33 for still in all ages who have more persecuted the Gospel and the true Professours thereof then those who shew most Zeal and profession of it Christ and all the Prophets and Apostles and generally all the Martyrs have suffered upon this account that upon them might come all the blood shed upon the earth Mat. 23.35 Gal. 4.29 from the blood of the righteous Abel to this veâ—y day and that the bond-woman alwayes persecutes those that are from above Now I say for the Magistrates to say they can propagate the Gospel and keep back errours alas what is all of this nature but high presumption against the power and absolute Authority of Jesus Christ and taking the government of the Church out of his Hand and proclaiming themselves wiser then He But I shall but propose to these poor selfe-wise Creatures these one or two things Are they able to rule themselves and to keep errours out of their own hearts I suppose no man so ignorant of himselfe as to deny or affirm that he can the nature of man being so depraved that he cannot resist really one sin as it is sin And moreover is it not a truth that if the Lord watch not the City the watch-men watch in vain Psal 127.1 And yet thou that couldest not keep one sin out of thy own heart how canst thou undertake to watch over the Church of God and keep out Errours and Wolves that they come not in Alas poor ignorant man this is thy pride and the vanity of thy heart 1 Sam. 17 28. Psal 121.4 for 't is the Lord alone that keops Israel and he neither slumbereth nor sleepeth Againe dost thou not say that thou art a Christian if so then thou wouldst believe that he is a God Alsufficient I am God Alsufficient walk before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17.1 Is he alsufficieÌ„ntly Wise and Strong Holy Good Merciful c. then is not this the manifestation of thy absolute infidelity when thou thinkest he will not take care of his own Church Or else thou concludest thus if he be Wise enough yet he hath not Power enough and therefore thou must help him And is he not Alsufficiently Good and will he not take care of his own cause Never feare but he will I and take so much care Mat. 16.18 that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it And againe is it not said that it pleased the Father Col. 1.19 that in him should all fulness dwell And that in all things he might have the preheminence and saith he plainly Joh. 5.22 Mat. 28.18 Esa 9.6.7 the father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement unto his Son And that all power in Heaven and Earth is given unto him And again to us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders And that of the Increase of his Government and peace there shall be no end upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdome to order it and establish it with Iudgment and Iustice even for ever And that the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this And againe Col 2.3 that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him Now is all the power of the father given into the Hand of Christ And have not we all said the Pope is not the Vice-roy nor Vicar of Christ and does not every man throw dirt upon him and yet we can get into the POPES place and sit in his seat
that is in thee be darkness how great is that Darkness Are they repentings beleevings actings and workings if these be as thou thinkest the means to remove the Cloud off the Tabernacle is not this to trust in man Jer. 2.13 Ch. 17.5 in the power of man and to distrust the living God But is not this rather to repent and believe and trust in God to say Lord I am really blind open thou my eyes thou Son of David have mercy upon me why Luk. 18 39. now this soule seeing this it cryes to and waites upon none but God and then indeed is the heart fixed upon him where it should be from whom comes salvation and deliverance Psal 57.7 And whoever waited upon him that is faithful and strong and only can deliver and was not in due time delivered And from hence it appears when the soul walks in the light he knows full well it will be in vain for him to think to remove the cloud till the Lord remove it It may be the time hath been when thou hast felt the heat of the Divine displeasure and thy ear was then boared and thy uncircumcised heart circumcised and then light appeared and thou blessedest the Lord in that day But now there begins to come darknesse over thy eyes again and thou beginnest to see thy selfe lost again and the Cloud is upon the Tabernacle and thou art gotten into the pathless way Jer. 2.6 and alas thou sayst to thy self and concludest though I am out of my way I will up and be doing I will come to it again and I will recover it and so the poor man begins to wrestle and struggle it out now at this thing and then at that thing so that the poor Saint having lost the light he once had he runs through mire and dirt thinking to come to the light by his prayers and holinesse and so recover himself Then the poor soul thinks he is running to Canaan when indeed he is going back to Egypt And therefore it is clear to me both by the Scriptures and by the experience of the preciousest Saints I ever met with that in this condition its best to sit still For he that believeth maketh not haste Esa 28.16 but waits till the Lord will remove the cloud but if thou wilt turn from the Lord and go by another guide and captain and not by that Moses God hath sent and art going to make a Golden Calfe and and Idol to go before thee if so thou mayest expect that thy carkass shall fall in the Wilderness for thy unbelief Num. 14.29 and not waiting the good pleasure of the Lord for not one entred the promised Land but Caleb and Joshuah know this is the condition and disposition of a Saint that he only rejoyceth in the Lord all his expectations are from him who hath made light and darknesse I have learned saith the Apostle Phil. 4.11 in whatever state I am therewith to be content So that the happiness of a Saint is when he can glory in infirmities as Paul saith and rejoyce in darkness and misery 2 Cor. 12.9 10. for he sees this is his portion and he cannot remove the cloud and he is willing to sit still there till the day dawn and the Day-star arise in him 2 Pet. 1.19 Esa 50.10 Happy is the soule that can sit in darkness and when he hath no light can stay himselfe upon the Lord his God Happy I say is that soul though there be a cloud on the Tabernacle that can sit still and wait the Lords good pleasure and cry unto the Lord till he please to lead him onward towards Canaan And there was a cloud on it by day and a pillar of fire appeared on it by night Know this further from hence That in the time of a Saints greatest light there is stil a cloud upon the Lords Tabernacle at the greatest height of light liberty and enjoyments to his own feeling and apprehension even then there is some darknesse upon the Tabernacle especially immediately after such great light and glory When Paul was wrapt up into the third heaven 2 Cor. 12.7 there was a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him least he should be exalted above measure there was again a cloud let fall over the Tabernacle when he was in the height of his joys a prick was sent him in the flesh a Messenger of Satan to buffet him and therefore he concludes in another place we walk by faith and not by sight T is so with every Christian in the day of his light 2 Cor. 5.7 and the time of his greatest shinings usually and then especially there is a cloud upon the Tabernacle why to let man know thus much that he must not live upon the GIFT but on the GIVER that man must not gather to day for ever but he is to gather to morrow and every day as the children of Israel in gathering Manna for if thou layest up store it will be dead the next time thou commest to feed on it it will all stinke and it will not nourish thee but wait still on the giver and then his mercy will be sweet fresh flourishing and green Lastly from this that the fire shined on the Tabernacle by night we shall onely note that when the Light of the Tabernacle shines upon the soules of men all things else become dark t is night in that soule to all things but the light of the Tabernacle in the night there was a fire and in the day a cloud now I say when the fire shined all things were dark round about it And herein observe these two things first when mans spirit is shut up and sees he no light then is the time for the appearing of this light And secondly this light never appears but when all things are dark in man for light discovers darknesse if any thing else be light to thee and all things else be not darknesse thou never yet discoveredst this light To this soule there is nothing in the whole creation that seems to be glorious and excellent but when the Sun of righteousnesse in him hath shined upon it then it appears to be all darkness when the light of the Tabernacle shines in the soule of man then riches honour pleasure preferments all things below God are darknesse Then the light of his reason wit moralitie and holy qualities that seemed to be a great light and shined before gloriously being compared one with another or with things inferiour Now when the light of the Tabernacle appeares then all these things appeare to be nothing but darknesse emptiness and blindness and are all as meer vapours before the Sun of righteousnesse as the Prophet saith Therefore thy goodnesse is as the morning dew and as the cloud that wears away so that I say Hos 6.4 whensoever the fire in the Tabernacle shines on man then this will be the sure effect in that soule
thou hast murthered him And that thou hast chosen Barabbas a murtherer rather then this innocent one And in that thou hast followed thy own waies and thy own wisdom and bin thy own Guide and by this hast crucified and murthered the Honour and glory of thy glorious Saviour And all this was because he would have condemned his and thy adversaries because he would have destroyed thy Hellish and divellish spirit Mat. 27.66 therefore thou hast laboured to destroy and crucifie him and hast buried him and rolled a stone upon him so that thou thoughtest he should never rise again But t is not all the powers of Darknesse can keep him under for after three daies he will rise again and triumph over his enemies and appeare in glory and Majesty Then it will be discovered who are those deluders that cried Loe here and loe there and said he is the chambers or he is the wildernesse or he is the secret places Then he will speak that word in thy soule Goe not after them joyn not with them for they lead thee from thy beloved then thou shalt see Luk. 17.23 that He whom thou calledst a seducer a divel a blasphemer shall now be thy Judge and those thou runnedst after and thoughtedst thy friends will be found lyers deceivers and blasphemers Now this day of the Lord man would fain put off with all his wit wisdome and inventions and this day of the Lord cannot be meant of a litterall day or a naturall day for that cannot be for who is able to put off one day And as man cannot put off a naturall day nor the rising and setting of the Sunne nor day nor night so cannot he put off this day of the Lord but when it will come it shall come and he cannot put it off with all the art wisdome power and all the inventions and subtilties he can devise but Christ shall be born in BETHLEM Micah 5.2 as it is prophecied of him In Bethlem that is in the house of Bread for he is the true bread and the bread of life man never had true satisfaction or any true bread till He was born in him Joh. 6.55 for his body is bread indeed and his blood is drink indeed Then all mans wisdome and power and all his Fortifications and Strong holds shall be blown down Jos 6.20 then shall the walls of Iericho fall at the sounding of these Rams-horns And then when Christ is once born Herod and all Ierusalem shall be troubled Mat. 23.18 then is the day when Rachel shall mourn for her children and will not be comforted yea all those children which the children of men have begotten and thought they would be a comfort and rejoycing to them and a support to them they in this day shall all be slain with the sword And that light of God that is in every man shall tell them that all their wisdome and endeavours that all their righteousnesse and conformity is nothing worth and that when they have done the utmost that they can Luk. 17.10 they are but unprofitable servants and the best of their strictnesse is not worth one bit of bread Ibid. 13.27 and that God is not bound to them in the least when they have done never so much but Hell is their due Luk 13.27 and their portion for all this therefore depart from me ye workers of iniquity And this day of the Lord will come on a sudden when neither men nor all their Magicians nor Southsayers nor their Sorcerers nor all their Witchcrafts that delude the eyes of the understanding shall be able with all their wisdome and cunning to put it off but they themselves shall be cut off and destroyed though they have used their utmost devices to delude the soule and carry it captive and won them to a liking of their wayes and though Satan hath so deluded people that he appears not a Devil and seducer as he is 2 Cor. 11.14 15. but hath transformed himself into an Angel of light and his Ministers into Ministers of righteousnesse And for proofe of this consider but of two or three places of Scripture and you shall see it clear As First 2 Thes 2.9 10. the Apostle in 2 Thes 2.9 10. speaking of Antichrist and his workings in man saith he shall be revealed and made known and consumed with the spirit of the Lord and with the brightness of his coming even He whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and with all deceivablenesse of unrighteousnesse Though they seem Saints and to be endewed with power yet they are but lying wonders and though they seem to have righteousnesse yet it is deceivable righteousnesse righteousnesse wrought by the power of Inchanters and Sorcerers and Magicians to deceive and blind the understanding for there is no such thing but the contrary for t is no other but the power of Satan and the working of Satan and they are his signs and lying wonders And in that day of the Lord all these things shall be discovered and made naked Nay farther that Satan may hide himselfe and not be known to be Satan he hath this farther policy and inchantment he can cry down an Inchantment in one form that he may be more secure in another and yet be Satan still and all to conceale himself from being known for if he be discovered and the day of the Lord reveal him then ye shall see him fall down from Heaven like Lightning Luk. 10.18 therefore Satan will change his shape and cast out himselfe and in this case Belzebub will cast out Belzebub the greater Devil will cast out the less that so he may take fuller possession And all this is done by no other art but by Magick Inchantments and Sorcery Nay often times the Devil will call that Inchantment which is farthest from it even the wisdome power and righteousness of Christ Because he knows that if he can but make men so apprehend of it they will fly from it for he knows himself hated And except he be disguised he can do nothing yet many men will cry out against Sorcery and Inchantment and Heresie and Errours and Delusions when they know not what they are nay when they themselves are most deluded and surprized by Inchantment So that Satan he is furnished with his subtile devices and yet keeps men ignorant of his devices and they shall not know they are inchanted but cry out upon others to be so They cry out such are Hereticks and Ranters Seducers and Jesuites and see not the real Divination in themselves So that by this you may see when God or the Scriptures speak of Sorcerers Magicians Charmers Inchanters Southsayers Diviners Necromancers Peepers a Woman with a familiar Spirit or the like they not onely mean that External way of Magick though some things in that case may be lawful which may through ingorance be railed against but
had or John or any of the Apostles if thou experiment not the same things without question this is the truth and the life whatever the men or the Masters of the Letter or of the City of the Letter say unto you The words that I speak unto you saith our Saviour they are spirit and they are life Joh. 6.63 they are not onely a dead Letter to the ear and to the understanding but they are quickning spirit declaring true death and true life in us The Scripture in every part there of holds forth either evil or good death or life light or darknesse heaven or hell the Temple of God or the Temple of Idols Christ or Belial that is either man in his lost miserable blind dark undone and helish condition or else Christ the Saviour the life the light the glory the happiness the Redeemer of man Now if we have not experience of either of these two in our selves all reading hearing preaching praying sacrificing is in vain 2 Cor. 3.6 and the Scriptures are no other to us but the killing and deadly letter Lastly we will name one more of their Sorceries and Inchantments and so conclude and t is a very great one In that they take upon them the very Office and place of Christ they think themselves and call themselves Teachers and Divines and men must come to them as to the Oracles of God and they are the Priests lips which shall preserve knowledge come to us and hearken to us and we will direct you and teach you what means and what rules and ordinances ye shall use and which is the way to Heaven when as Christ saith plainly call no man Father nor no man Master upon earth for one is your Master and one is your Father Luke 14.11 c. Joh. 6.44 which is in Heaven but he that is greatest among you let him be your servant And whosoever shall exalt himselfe shall be abased and he that shall humble himselfe shall be exalted And saith again No man can come to me but by the Father and except the Father draw him And again I am the way the truth and the life And yet they say come to us joyn your selves in fellowship with us and conform to us and walk with us for we have the best means we will shew you the best way we have overlookt and examined all other Church-fellowships and none like ours we are squared according to the primitive pattern and to the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2.16 and the word it self justifies all our rules and our way of worship And they say moreover we have the word of the Lord with us and for us and we have the mind of Christ with us we have a dream and we have a revelation and we have seen a vision when indeed they have seen nothing but have stole the word of the Lord from others and borrowed of their neighbour of this and that Authour and have searched what this man saies or that man writes of such and such points and then come and cry the word of the Lord when the Lord hath not spoken in them nor to them but boast of things without their measure 2 Cor. 10 14 c. 1 Joh. 1.1 speak not the things that they have seen and heard and that their hands have handled of the word of life but as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 10. Who seek to commend themselves boasting of other mens labours and experiences and not of their own boasting beyond their line of things not distributed to them 2 Cor. 10. Vers 15. Ezek. 13.6 7. and yet will say The Lord hath spoken and this is the Word of the Lord and yet never found it The Word of the Lord in them or to them neither have they seen any thing nor the Lord hath not spoken unto them And therefore what ever they may say they cannot make it out to the hearts of others but they talk of it at random and by guesse and they say t is so and it must not be questioned for all other received Orthodox men forsooth have said it Are these Prophets think you of the Lords sending have these received the Word at his mouth Ibid. 3.17 No no but they are furnished by their learning and parts and acquirements and so of and from Man And so likewise not onely is the Prophet deluded but the people also for they have joyned themselves with these Prophets and there they will stick and their faith is pind upon their sleeves Oh such a man he is a sound man and he cannot erre and they will heare no where else And so this Prophet as thou takest him to be becomes Thy Pope and thy Holy Father for to him thou givest heed and him thou followest and obeyest And this is the great inchantment in our times when men forsake Jesus Christ the true and only Teacher and depend upon men This is a great mischiefe and a grievious plague but the world is not sensible thereof but blesse themselves in this great evil What say they shall we forsake our Ministers shall we let the Gospell and the preaching of the Word fall to the ground God forbid As though men upheld the Gospel and men could teach the Gospel It is then Gospel to thee when Jesus Christ makes it glad tidings in thy heart and when there is nothing in Heaven and Earth more wellcome to thee and when thou hast forsaken and laid down thy selfe to receive it But till we come to see that there is no other father no other Master but Jesus Christ in all the world in heaven or earth we are certainly inchanted and deluded and are under a spirituall CHARM But be it so Object then what reason is there that we should heare you or receive what you say T is true if I should say otherwise in regard of my selfe Answ I should also be a deluder a lyer and a charmer and a Southsayer I would by no means you should look at me or regard me as if I could doe anything I desire to be no other but as a dead instrument used by the Lord and would not be thought of or esteemed any thing I am no more fit to speak then any of you all if God will speak by you ye may all prophesie one by one as the Apostle saith God forbid that I should think my selfe better then any other Saint of God or think my selfe more honoured by standing in a high place above you the Lord hee knows my heart An hill or a mountain in the field were as fit for me any place I passe not but onely for conveniency of Hearing So the Lord wil but set up himselfe and magnifie his own name which he will doe let my praise my glory lie in the dust and I would be no more stirred and disquieted in spirit with any such thing then a man that is naturally dead And therefore let them look to it Math.
saith he there is no truth in him he was a lyar from the beginning and the father thereof and so continues he doth nothing but lye in all his Religious servants for they will take up any form of Religion and are as conformable as may be as though they were the true servants of Christ but in all this they do but lye and dissemble and inchant and delude And my brethren is not the Devil as fair in his pretences now adayes in taking up forms duties conformity strictnesse and following the mind of Christ many say they will do nothing but they will have the rule of the word for it and they will undertake to open the Scriptures and give out the mind of Christ These Servants of Satan come not on the account of prophaness or ignorance but professing Knowledge and Religion and Learning and they are the great searchers into all knowledge and think themselves not ignorant of any thing but obedient in all things and indeed who more knowing or obedient according to the external Letter then they These are very high and fair pretences yet who were more learned and knowing more seemingly zealous then the Pharisees whose abilities were still manifested in their marvailous cunning catching questions to intrap Jesus Christ these men though they know not the wisdome and the knowledge of God or Christ yet they are notable Apes and Imitatours of them though they know not the truth they will pretend they do and think verily they do and they will frame themselves and their notions as near as man can to understand the Scriptures by his learning wit and industry but alas while they make a shew of knowledge and yet are ignorant of the Truth and the Mystery and this is nothing but a lye and t is no other but the Language of the Beast For mans bucket can never reach the truth and the water of life and no man in Heaven or Earth was counted worthy to open this Book and loose the Seales thereof but onely the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah Rev. 5.5 And there is no man knows the Father but the Son Luk 10.22 and him to whom the son will reveal him Beloved all things in the world are from these two Principles or Roots they are either from the wisdome that is from above which is pure peaceable humble meek long-suffering Jam. 3.17 Vers 15. full of good works or else they are from the wisdome which is from beneath which is earthly sensual and devilish It is given to catching carping insnaring reviling lying slandering c. Now the wisdom from above never teaches men to carp and lie lurking to catch the innocent and guiltlesse man such was and is the wisedome of the Pharisees in all ages Psal 10.9 they will be very forward to argue as though they would willingly know all truth but they do but argue to catch and insnare and when they cannot understand or comprehend then they will invent some gin and forge some lye or other Again this wisdome from beneath it s very full of judging Jam. 3.15 and full of pride and it magnifies all things of mans inventing and whatever man magnifies But do you think any of this is from God or from the Divine Wisedome No no the property of Divine Wisdome is to become humble to lay aside all things of self and flesh and to become teachable and nothing in its own power or wisdom This is the property of Divine Wisdome in man but when man would act and be Something and undertake to observe this rule and the other and they can undertake the alone work of the spirit to lead men into all truth before Christ comes in by his light power and wisdome Joh. 16.30 and they will be journying before the Lord remove the Cloud Exod. 40.36 2 Cor. 11.14 All this is from the Wisdome of the Serpent in man who can transform himself into an Angel of light and his Ministers into Ministers of righteonsness What do these men more then the Pharisees for they by their own power conformed to all outward rules and indeed unquestionable Ordinances appointed by God himselfe and how exact were they in performing them even far beyond the strictest now adayes of all those things they say are Ordinances and yet they are not sure they are so though they cry out The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord Jer. 7.4 and call for the wayes of Christ and the rules and minde of Christ yet how sharply doth Christ fall upon them and call them Hypocrits Mat. 23.27 15.14 Joh. 8.44 and painted Sepulchres and blind leaders of the blind nay and calls them Devils for all their strictnesse ye are of your father the Devil and his works and his will ye doe in all this that ye pretend to serve God by For in all this wherein they seem so holy and strict and to surpasse and outrun all other men 't is onely the Devil that carries them out in their own power and the fruit of it is nothing else but to glory in men and in the flesh The Jewes they had an outward and worldly sanctuary 1 Cor. 3.21 and a formal worship and this they boasted of and gloried in And so t is now men have taken up some things equivalent and like unto these For now Satan appears in things that men call ORDINANCES as outward washings and in call this the true baptisme and Church-order and Fellowships and say his is according to the rule of the Gospel and partaking of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament they call this the eating of the Body and drinking of the Blood of Christ Now in nothing doth the Devil more delude men then in these things calling them the Ordinances of Christ when indeed they are not As you see how the Jews stood upon it justified themselves that they were the true seed of Abraham when he told them of being made Freemen and would have convinced them of their unknown bondage they answered We are Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any Joh. 8.33 and howsayest thou ye shall be made free Now indeed there was a kind of truth in it that they were the fleshly seed of Abraham and they had submitted to Circumcision and to those external iules commanded and this seemed to be somewhat as to outward appeanance as if they were the true seed of Abraham but that was not it and they had Circumcision and yet were not Circumcised in heart neither were they his true seed And so many boast of Ordinances and Washings and Baptisme and breaking bread and Church-fellowships and laying on of Hands and observing the rules of Christ and following the pattern of the Apostles when alasse poor soules they quire mistake the matter t is true t is like Baptisme but t is not it and they are like the Ordinances of Christ but they are not such they would seem to make
off from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power and what greater curse then this Mat. 21.19 Luke 13.9 But a poor Saint he really sees that he lives in the root and that he hath all his wisdome knowledge teaching power to act to suffer to live to move to doe any thing externally or internally 't is all from his union and all he hath is from the wisedome strength grace goodnesse and gift of Christ and from his shinings forth in them and not in any thing or of themselves And he growing on a good root cannot but bring forth good fruit And a childe of God may say as Iohn expresseth it He sinneth not neither can he sin 1 Joh. 3.9 for he is borne of God For he is a branch in this root which sinneth not and a branch in him cannot sin for he is partaker of the Divine nature and the Divine and heavenly sap from which can spring nothing but Good fruits and he is Holy in the holinesse of Christ and rich in the riches of Christ and wise in the wisedome of Christ c. And he knows that whatever he is out of Christ or as he is in Adam all must dye and be condemned and perish Gen. 3.14 and be made no other but meat for the Serpent Let the world consider then what will become of them and their workes when they talk so much of my holinesse my duties my parts my learning my Religion my working It must all be condemned destroyed burnt up You know what Paul saith I laboured more abundantly then they all 1 Cor. 15.10 but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vaine yet not I saith he but the grace of God which was with me And again Rom. 11.36 of him and by him and to him and through him are all things to whom be glory for ever This is one property of a true Saint when he speaks of himselfe of any grace of any goodnesse meeknesse charity love of any good in him he is very tender not to reflect upon himselfe as Holy or as if men should think him holy or wise or meek no sayes he this is none of mine 't is the grace of God that is with me so that this man he hath no sap no life no goodnesse in himselfe but he lives by receiving nad when 't is received he dares not think it his own for he hath all his sap in Christ and receives it every minute from him he does not look on himselfe as having a stock or gifts or a Talent in his own hands given out from Christ as most men take it but he lives upon the fountain as the streame upon the spring and as the branch on the root if the spring stop or the root give not forth the one ceases the other withers and dyes thus doth a Christian suck vertue from Christ every moment and of this he hath such reall experience that all the world shall never perswade him otherwise and hee cannot endure to hear how the world will talk of their wisedome their carefulnesse their endeavours their holinesse and the like nothing more harsh to him This is no other to him Esay 25.5 but the noise of hell and the noise of strangers and the noise of the bottomlesse pit but he is well pleased to be among them that throw downe their crowns before the Lamb Rev. 4.10 that are alwayes singing and saying He alone is worthy to receive honour Psal 18. and glory and power and dominion He is our rock our fortresse our deliverer He alone is become our salvation These are his joy these are his songs in the night no melody to this divine melody From whence also this further discovers the inconsistency of the glory of any creature and that which is in Jesus Christ these two cannot stand together if all be Christs then there is none at all to be given to any creature Baals Prophets in this case are many which cry out for mans power and mans righteousnesse and mans endeavours but the Prophets of the Lord are very few but be sure the Lord in due time will appeare and the fire of the Lord will try every mans work of what sort it is 1 Cor. 3.13 The fire of the Altar will come downe and declare the true worshippers whether those that cry up the power and righteousnesse of man or those that establish only the glory power wisedome and vertue of the son of God And though Baals Priests be many and they take much pains to establish mans righteousnesse and cut and lance themselves for madnesse yet I say 1 Kings 18 38 c. the fire of the Lord shall declare it That the Lord alone he is God he is God and that fire of the Lord will burne up all things that are of man the wood and the stones and the dust and will dry and lick up all the water in the Trench all mans power gifts parts humane learning and whatever man hath set price upon and he shall be left bare and naked and empty and miserable And all the Priests of Baal in that day shall be ashamed of their confidences and of their Idols wherein they trusted and which they have so decked up to make the world believe they are the true worshippers when as they have done nothing else but set up their own inventions and the works of their own hands all savouring of flesh and of man and humane things and nothing at all of Jesus Christ really but meerly in words and in names and in notions Hath man any faith or repentance or hope or love or the like springing in himselfe because they call so much upon man to be up and be doing or can humane learning wit parts or any thing in man work or procure this certainly no if it could where is the honour of Christ who is both the will and the deed and the same God who worketh all in all Phil. 2.13 1 Cor. 12.6 Ibid. ch 1.19 20. And where is the Truth of those Scriptures I will destroy the wisedome of the wise and bring to nought the understanding of the prudent Where is the wise where is the scribe where is the disputer of this world hath not God made foolish the wisdome of this world And againe He taketh the crafty in their own craftinesse Job 5.13 1 Cor. 3.19 And he hath hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto Babes and many such places Then the wisedome of man and the power and glory of man and the power and glory of God cannot stand together there is no possibillity of subsistency but so far as man is something or any thing so far God is debased and made nothing And these men do nothing in all their Preaching and declaring but make a hotch-potch and sowing a new peice into and old
away their captivity Oh! that men were but to come to this condition to be sensible of their misery that they did but really see they were in Babylon in Captivity Oh then what mourning what hanging their Harps upon the Willows Psal 137.1 c. sitting down by the Rivers of Babylon weeping and crying out Oh how shall we sing the Lords song in a strange Land And wishing and saying Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones Will the Ox lowgh when he hath fodder Job 6.5 saith Job Till they have deliverance they cannot but mourn Rev. 5.5 and none can deliver them but the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah to such a soul only is Iesus Christ precious others may talk of him and make a great profession of Iesus Christ in the Letter and talk of Iesus Christ his dying at Jerusalem and of beleeving and Salvation by him but they cannot love him till Iesus Christ be IMMANVEL a Saviour in them Mat. 1.23 then and never before can these Elders throw down their Crowns before the Lamb saying Thou only art worthy to receive honour and glory and power Rev. 4.10 11. for thou only hast redeemed us by thy Blood Thou seest thou canst not so much as move hand or foot to help thy self All thy tears thy prayers are nothing but as Iesus Christ prayes and cryes in thee by his spirit with groans unutterable which cannot be exprest Rom. 8.26 This take as the first difference and examination between those that are wounded and sick and condemned the one he is so and he can go to no other but only to Iesus Christ to be healed and saved The others when they are so they can finde help and rest in men in means in ordinances in fellowships in reformations and better ordering of their lives by their own power The other finde there is no resting no sitting still in any thing below Christ but they hunger and thirst and wait the good pleasure of Iesus Christ and when the spirit which bloweth where it listeth will blow upon their Hearts John 3.8 They are like a hungry man whose stomack doth so gnaw he cannot rest without food and like a thirsty man who cannot be satisfied without drink It is not husks nor shadows nor pictures nor Idols will serve his turn but he must have real food he must have Christs body which is meat indeed Ibid. 6.55 and Christs blood which is drink indeed He must have the Eternal God help him or all he can do is nothing to him Beloved were men but come to this to be really miserable and truly in bonds which men so much talk of and so little feel ye need not direct them this way and that way ye need not bid them cry or pray or run to hear or the like their very misery would constrain them whereas otherwise men take up these things for form and for custom and complement and to be thought religious and to quiet their consciences and the like But they would be like the blind man which notwithstanding they hindred him and reproved him and bid him not pray nor cry yet the sense of his blindness made him cry out after Jesus Christ Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me Luke 18.39 If men did but find see and feele the burning within them and the sting of the fiery Serpent they need not be bid to look up to the Brazen Serpent John 3.14 Secondly If thou beest a true seeker of deliverance a true waiter thou wilt abominate and scorn all other Deliverers but only this Only Deliverer Jesus Christ all other thou lookest upon them as Physitians of no value Job 13 4. Thou seest there is but one Teacher but one Counsellour but one Saviour They will not go after them that say Loe here is Christ and loe there Mat 24.23 in this way and in that form saying joyn to us we are in the best way here ye shall find rest and satisfaction but they see really and are fully convinced that there is nothing else but the Eternal Father making out himselfe through his son 1 Tim. 3.16 c. even Christ manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles beleeved on in the world and received up into Glory And sayes the Apostle Gal. 4.3 4. Even so we when we were Children were in bondage under the Elements of the world but when the fulnesse of Time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father So that it is clear that soul that truly seeks deliverance it sees Jesus Christ only to be able to deliver that there is nothing lesse then Him nothing besides Him But herein lies the misery of all the Sons of men they pretend to seek Iesus Christ and think they have found him because they have heard of a Iesus Christ who died at Ierusalem and though they have no union with him yet if they can externally beleeve in him that 's enough though they never receive any vertue from him nor he was never formed in them And herein generally most men professing Christ sit down and rest and blesse themselves and never yet saw truly their own misery how they are departed from the fountain of living waters Jer. 2.13 and how they dig to themselves broken Cisterns which are empty and dry and can hold no water And in their extremity hither they come to their own Cisterns thinking to refresh themselves and quench their thirst but they are empty and dry and so many men who are great professors of Religion dig wells for themselves but they are not the Wells of Salvation Oh my dear friends Esa 12.3 my heart bleeds to think how these men delude themselves with golden dreams And they pretend great love to Christ and say he is their hope and their help and they will wait upon him and cast their soules upon him when as they do but as it is Ps 78.34 35. they returned and inquired early after God Ps 78.34 35. and remembred that God was their rock and the high God their Redeemer Neverthelesse they did but flatter him with their mouths and they lyed unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they faithful in his covenant How do these men keep a great stir and make a great noise for their Religion and who seem more zealous then they or more eager for worship who more flattering and smooth in their expressions and say thy Servants thy Servants and who seem to be more affected with dishonour to Christ and are very much offended at errors and heresies and blasphemies but I fear and
otherwise whatever man may call them they are none of his Ordinances but they most prophanly put their empty cold dull blind and lame sacrifices upon him And hereupon thus thinkst and concludest that He hath been thy Deliverer I say whoever thou art that makest thy duties and thy conformity and indeed thy Ordinances for they are none of his thy support thy comfort thy rest in the least herein thou hast turned from the true deliverer Heb. 10.29 the true Saviour and hast trod him under foot and crucified him and hast made thy self thy God thy Deliverer thy Redeemer thy Saviour And the day of the Lord is comming when these things will be made to appear to thee and wrath will come upon thee unexpectedly even then when thou thinkest thy selfe secure and safe and all is well and when thou thinkest that thy peace is made and wrath is removed and there is no more frowns and storms from the Almighty when indeed thou hast all this while but made a covenant with death and hell Esa 33.8 1 Thes 5.2 and then the day of the Lord shall come upon thee as a thief in the night when thou thinkest all is well and thou mayst sleep securely then will Christ summon thee to Judgment 1 Cor. 15.52 Luk. 18.8 Rev 1.7 Mat. 24.41 and the Trumpet shall sound in thy own breast And when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth No but then all the Tribes of the earth shall wait and lament because of him Even so AMEN Then two shall be grinding at the Mill and two in one Bed the one taken and the other left then he that is on the house top shall not come down to take any thing out of his house for the day of the Lord shall surprize them on a suddain and as a thief cometh when no man expects him and as our Saviour saith of his doctrine so do I of these things he that hath ears to hear let him hear and he that hath eyes to see let him see and he that hath an heart let him read and understand Mark 4.9 I know Beloved men talk much of what they should doe as if they were so willing to do any thing Christ commanded but really and in truth what do all these men that seem to be so much for doing I say what do they doe doe they not in all these doe quite contrary to what they should doe If Christ hath smitten them then He alone can heal them and yet they will be healing themselves and delivering themselves when they should be seeking to Jesus Christ and looking to him and waiting upon him for deliverance And the way to be delivered is not to run to this man and tother Minister and hang upon this mans preaching and tother mans counsel no but thou wouldest see that all mans preaching and teaching and counsel is in vaine and that there is no other way nor no other Deliverer but only Jesus Christ thou wouldest not be tyed to this man or the other but thou wouldest say of all even of the wisest the gravest the soberest miserable comforters are ye all But thy trouble and thy guilt and thy sting within thee would make thee hearken when Iesus Christ would qualifie thy conscience and draw forth thy sting and quench the burning of Hell fire within thee so thou mightest but hear the voice of Christ If thou beest wounded for any tydings of Christ Amos 8.11 12. thou wouldest run from country to country from land to land and from sea to sea to hear the word of the Lord for thou wouldest see that in all men there is a famine Amos 8.11 12. not of bread but of the word of the Lord for Christ only gives forth his word he is the bread of life Joh. 6.51 the true bread which commeth down from Heaven t is not Moses nor any man can give this bread but only Our heavenly Father And when thou hast done all that is commanded thee yet thou must not rest in thy doing nor in thy using means nor in thy praying but stil in all must count thy self but an unptofitable servant Luke 17.10 Thou must not sit down and say I have done my part I have prayd and heard and walkt strictly and joyn'd my selfe to the best reformed Church Alas if thou rest in these things and thinkst now I have done well and it shall be wel with me all this praying and doing Christ calls vain babbling Mat. 6.7 and vain repetitions which is but to doe like the Heathen who think to be heard for their many words and much babbling all this thy doing which thou keepest such a stir about Esay 5.20 is no other then calling darknesse light and evil good And when thou goest out to look for any Minister or servant of Jesus to heale thy wounds take heed of the Idol-shepheards Jer. 6.14 which wil prophesie peace when there is no peace to speak deliverance when Christ hath not bid them for none can heale thee but he that hath wounded thee Ezek. 13.11 And so for any other who prophesie lyes and dawb with untempered morter who say to thee goe thou and repent and believe on Jesus Christ and thy sins shal be forgiven thee know this is not the way neither are they true Prophets for repentance and faith is alone Gods gift and his work And if he be a true messenger of the Lords sending all he can say is I am but an instrument I cannot give nor help thee to repentance nor faith neither can I direct thee to get them but only by waiting on Jesus Christ who alone is the Giver I am but the forerunner to the Bridegroom I have nothing to give nor I cannot direct thee where to get that thou seekest before he comes or before his pleasure is to bestow it whoever he be that undertakes to be any other but a Messenger as John Baptist was crying I am not he but I am the voice of one crying Mark 1.7 8. Prepare ye the way of the Lord I baptize with water but he that commeth after me is mightier then I he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost He cries there is no Teacher but Jesus Christ no Prophet but he we have nothing to give there is no riches but His. Examine thy self how thou staiest thy heart what quiets thy conscience hast thou it from man or from Christ hast thou found that all thy runnings too and again from this man and to the other hath done thee any good but thou hast found that let man say what he could yet stil thy trouble continued and thou couldst rest in nothing below Christ I have known some that by running hither and thither they have for a time for a yeere or two or more somwhat allayed the rage of conscience being directed to outward conformity and getting of repentance and taking up constancy in this and