their subjection to the Divine Power that hath opened their Understandings when they come into the World again they are ensnared and entangled and many times for want of watchfulness through a looseness of mind and unruliness of their tongue they run into anger and passion and this grieves the Holy Spirit of God And how should you come to God through the Mediatour when you grieve his Spirit and quench the motions of it These things have been hurtful to many that for their time might have been Pillars in the House of God Take heed of this and let the goodness of God dwell upon your minds that you may feel and experience the inward administrations of it there are many that are much affected with the outward Ministry and are very desirous to hear the Servants of God declare the things that God hath wrought for them and in them and the wonderful things that God hath opened to them yet when you have heard all that Men can say about it if the Divine Ministry of the word of God doth not make powerful impressions upon you and sanctify and renew your Souls the outward Ministry of the Word will do you no good Now that you may be established in the truth that you have been taught this Testimony ariseth in me to desire every one to heed and attend to the manifestation of this Life of Jesus in your selves Whatsoever God hath bestowed upon me or another you may perish for all that and I am not the better for what God hath bestowed upon you but may perish notwithstanding but that God hath manifested Eternal Life to my Soul let that be every ones Center this will make you holy and blameless and preserve you in every State and in the hour of Temptation and in the midst of Snares this will be a Bulwark to you this will 〈◊〉 as the Walls of Sion which is the Salvation of the Lord. That so you may be preserved sensible of the goodness of the Lord That Grace Mercy and Peace may be multiplied in your bosoms this will make you dear and affectionate one to another Though there may be an external Fellowship among those that Preach and profess the same Doctrine yet when they break off from that when once Men depart from the power of truth they grow stubborn and rebellious but when Men come to be gathered into the inward Fellowship that stands not in terms and words but in the Revelation of Christ and in the Participation of his vertue and goodness the more you are united in this the more you are Knit one to another and become one and useful and helpful one to another The Lord vouchsafe to every one of you a tast of his goodness and you will prefer it above all that the Devil and his Instruments can present but if you retire more into this Heavenly and Divine Life of Jesus you will feel and enjoy more Peace and Satisfaction and true Consolation in your Souls than I or any Man in the World can tell you of Sermon VI. The Kingdom of God within Preached at Grace Church Street July 26. 1691. YOU have read and heard much concerning the Day of the Lord as a Great and Notable Day many of you are now Living Witnesses that the Great and Notable Day of the Lord is coming in which the Accomplishment of Great and Notable Things the Mighty Works of God which have been Prophesied of may be lawfully expected It is the work of every Christian to wait upon the Lord in the light of this Day and to be acquainted with the Works of the Lord both inwardly and outwardly for the Day of the Lord is a Day of Power and that Power of God worketh wonderful things and if we are not kept in the light of that Day the Lord may work great things and we not know â—t we shall be looked upon as careless and negligent Witnesses of the Works of the Lord as those that do not regard them If you would be Faithful Witnesses you must have regard to the Works of the Lord â—nd the Operation of his hands One that â—s minded to be a Faithful Witness he will â—ake notice of what is said and done you â—re called to be Witnesses of the Works of â—he Lord Jesus Christ and of his doings â—ou must stand where you may hear and see â—nd understand what the Lord is about â—o do at this time In your Testimony and Witness-bearing â—he greatest thing we have to expect in this Day of the Lord is that God will set up â—he Kingdom of his Son Christ Jesus and â—nto this all the Prophets did bear witness â—n their time and now it is our turn to bear witness of it by sensible and living expeâ—iences of the accomplishment of those things â—hat they Prophesied of that the Lord will â—et up the Kingdom of Christ and bring â—own and lay wast the Kingdom of Antiâ—hrist This our Saviour taught his Disciples â—o pray for Sixteen Hundred Years ago that the Kingdom of God might come and all the true Disciples of Christ ever since have prayed for the coming of his Kingdom and many of them have seen the coming of it and rejoyced and others have died in the Faith of it and have been gathered into the Kingdom of Heaven But my Friends that which chiefly concerns us at this Day is to behold the Kingdom of Christ the Eternal Son of God within us to go forward and prosper and the Kingdom of Antichrist suppressed and destroyed and utterly laid wast and this is wrought two ways 1. inwardly 2. outwardly First inwardly there is a greater inclination in the minds of People to look more at the operation of Gods power in this great work outwardly than to look at it inwardly but unto that there must be a daily Cross taken up and it is my business at this time to tell you in the Name of the Lord that your Duty and mine is to turn our minds to the working of the Power of God in our selves and to see that other Kingdom of the Man of Sin weakned and brought down within us and the Kingdom of the Son of God set up within us then there is no fear but he will carry on his work outwardly and we shall see as much of that work as belongs to our Generation but the great Matter and chief Concernment of you and me is to see the Kingdom of God set up within us which stands in Holiness and Righteousness our business is to wait till we see the Righteousness of this Kingdom set up within us in our Hearts and Souls and to have a real change made We all know and we must confess that we have been subject to the Man of Sin whatsoever we are now We have seen the Reign and Government the Rage and Tyranny of the Wicked one that hath led us into Rebellion and Disobedience to the Lord our Maker how do we like that Government to be Ruled by the
ingrafted word which is able to save my Soul I shall not only hear the word but live in obedience to it What signifies it to make a Profession that I have the Light within if I do not give obedience to it for without that it is all Hypocrisie all Pretence to Holiness Righteousness Mortification is but Hypocrisie any further than we find the power of Truth making an impression upon our Hearts and Minds bringing us to the obedience of Faith Let them therefore that profess Righteousness live Righteously and they that hear the Gospel live in obedience to it and those that profess to be Christians let them live like Christians indeed When every one comes to know within himself so far as the Gospel has shined upon him that they have received the Truth in the Love of it and love the Truth as it is in Jesus and are obedient to the Gospel they shall know the Salvation of it There is a discovery of Gods Power in the Gospel and there is a believing of it and a hoping in it this is that which belongs to a Christian this is the beginning and the first step to a Christian Life we must believe in Christ for without Faith it is impossible to please God He that believeth should be careful to walk in the truth that he hath received and then he shall have a Testimony of the Power and Vertue of it in his own Soul This Vertue and Power if he joins with it hath the Government of his Heart and Life and gives him Victory over the World and the Temptations of Satan You know in the Primitive Times there were Believers that not only had Faith but lived by Faith and by that Faith they got Victory over all the allurements and pleasure and vanities of the World I have fought a good fight saith the Apostle 2 Tim 4.7 8. I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that Day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing I have got the victory and there remains an Eternal Weight of Glory for me My Friends this is our ambition and all our Labour among you that you may be built up in your most Holy Faith that you may be brought home to Christ in all your Meetings and gatherings together you should desire to be enriched with Faith and to have your own Store-house filled with all the Fruits of the Spirit and not only seek for the knowledge of the truth but be subject and obedient to what you know otherwise by your Religion you will but hurt your selves And the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1.12 speaks of knowing the Truth and of being established in it and of some that after they had escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome and the latter end with them is worse than the beginning for it had beed better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered to them There is a Power goes along with the Preaching of the Gospel that will enable you to do what you know the Gospel is a powerful Doctrine whether you know it or not or whether you submit to it or not yet pray remember that Gods People are a willing People in the day of his Power they are a certain sort of People that are devoted to God and submit all their Worldly Honours Interests Profits and Pleasures to the pleasure of God and desire no other pleasure or happiness but to enjoy his presence and favour they are satisfied with this and they are a happy People being made a willing People in the day of Gods Power they are willing to deny themselves to take up their daily Cross to follow Christ have Salvation upon his terms There are a great many Professors that have notions and out-side appearances but they want that Vertue and Life and power that should settle them in Religion and a love of the Truth The Lord that knows our Hearts knows that our Labour and Travel among you hath been designed for your good and that our hearts desire is that you may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus We would have People consider and attend and hear what God speaks and remember what he hath taught you by the Ministers of the Gospel We have all ears to hear let us thank God for that blessed be God that there is a power and an ability of hearing with an outward ear but there are many that will not so much as give the hearing to what might from the Lord be spoken to them He that hath ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches and what he saith to his own Soul hear what the Spirit saith of your own State and Condition if it be good bless God for it are you in so good a Condition that you have no trouble no distress to lament no wants to supply blessed are you that have none but if you find you have done amiss and if the Lord should call you this Night to give up your account the Lord hath a great deal against you I am sure and I tell you it is your duty to turn to the Lord with unfeigned Repentance that through Christ Jesus you may receive Pardon and Remission of all your Sins and so hear what the Spirit saith to your selves and in your selves Pray come and make it your work and business the rest of the time that you have to live to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling that when Christ comes you may say come Lord Jesus come quickly purfie me and sanctifie me and prepare me to be presented to the Father without spot and blameless the day is coming that this will be the desire of every one of you And it is the earnest breathing and desire of my Soul that every one of you may have an eye unto the Lord and he will look down from Heaven and have regard to the cry and the sighing of the Needy Soul God will arise and find out the People that breath after him and that desire to be reconciled to him through the Mediatour Christ Jesus the Lord loveth to find out such a People and I am glad to Preach to such a People the glad tidings of the Gospel and to teach them as God hath taught me Good and Upright is the Lord therefore will he teach and guide you in the way which you should go Walk humbly with God he will resist the Proud but he will give Grace unto the humble Walk uprightly before the Lord in this Gospel Day that shines upon you love the appearance of God and prize it though it hath not been so Glorious to you as to some others yet
is given for another reason and there is truth in it but that truth is but a delusion they would excuse themselves when they have yielded to a Temptation I am weak and frail I cannot resist the Devil tho the Devil is not stronger than Christ yet he is stronger than I he worketh with all his might power and subtilty to deceive me and ensnare me and overcome me I am a poor frail Creature therefore I must yield to him This is a carnal reason if I were to grapple with the Devil in mine own strength and to deliver my Soul as if God had left me to my self If thou say Lord thou hast set me to grapple with the Devil and to withstand his temptations Lord I am not able to do it my self God will answer thee I have laid help upon one that is mighty that is able to save to the uttermost all that come to me by him So that thou are not to overcome the Devil by thine own power and ability If any man reason thus the reason is out of Doors for we are saved by Christ therefore I cannot plead mine own frailty seeing God hath provided a Rock for my defence that is stronger and higher than I that I may trust and relye upon So that you see the frailties of our nature is not a sufficient reason we must seek further for it yet and when we come to search narrowly and to the bottom of our Hearts I will tell you here it rests it hath its center in the perverseness of the Will that is in man that is contrary to the Will of God It is the opposition of our Will to the Will of God we may talk what we will of Salvation and Christianity that we have a mind to be saved and go unto God when we die and to enjoy the happiness of Heaven to Eternity We may talk thus but as long as the perverseness of the Will continues I am the cause of mine own ruine if I grow in a profession this perverse Will will grow up with me under that profession and under any profession change your judgment and opinion as often as you List this will go along with you the reason and the bottom of things will come to this none can overcome the Devil nor be a Disciple of Christ without a daily cross When people come to this to see a necessity of taking up the cross of Christ and denying themselves When it comes to this there are such shifts and evasions and arts that men have to cover themselves to make themselves and others believe that such and such a thing is consistent with the Will of God and that they may do it and save their own Souls but they boast of their own deceit and are glad that they can make a shift to save their own Souls so that there is no hopes of their ever being purged and cleansed and of having any holy work brought forth by them but when a man comes to be sensible of his spititual condition and is sincere and honest he will be ready to say unto God if I be deceived in any thing open mine Eyes Lord if I indulge my self in any thirg that hath a contrariety to thy holy Will Lord I beseech thee discover it to me such a man will lay aside his own Will if it be contrary to Gods Will Now here is one that is a very fit Object for Christ to work upon he will not be long before he be savingly convinced When a man comes to the Word he is convinced of such an evil in his Conscience where no body but God and himself were privy to it or had any knowledge of it It is discovered that he liveth in such a practice as is contrary to the mind of God God hath convinced thee that thou lovest it and livest in it And if thou wilt but break off that evil practice that hath sent his Son Jesus Christ to turn thee from every evil way and to Redeem thee from all Iniquity This truth hath a savour in it and if thou art sincere and upright there is nothing for thee to say or do but to set thy self against every thing that is contrary to the mind of God and thou wilt have light from Heaven sent to guide thee and direct thee in thy way thither if thou wilt but receive that Grace that is freely given of God unto thee through Jesus Christ he will certainly purge thee and cleanse thee from thy Sin and turn thee from every evil way notwithstanding the perverseness of thine own Will and Power of Satan And he will work in thy Heart by his Grace till it hath wrought thee off from thine iniquity and wrought iniquity out of thee and so bring forth a holy work to God Without Faith it is impossible to please God We cannot please God without Faith nor with it neither unless it be the gift of God There is a great deal of Faith in this Nation and in this City But do you believe all their ways are pleasing to God We must distinguish of Faith here When the Apostle would give a description of saving Faith he tells you that it is the Operation of God if I have not that Operation and a regard to it how can I have that working But since it is the dispensation of the Gospel of Christ and design of Christ to turn people to the operation of God in their own hearts we would have them believe it If there be a drunkard or a prophane person if God work faith in his Heart he will be convinced and say what a stroak hath the Lord given upon my Conscience and he will see it is the Lords work Then believe whoever thou art and lay hold of this for this is the Operation of God for thy Salvation this is the Operation of God upon a believing Soul the stroak of Gods hand and the Power of God and then thou hast the work of Faith by which Faith thou art enabled to keep thy self from that thing that God smote thee for and before he give thee over the same hour thou wilt find the same hand smiting thee for another sin this will be like fire in thy bones kindling up thy zeal and hatred against thy sin and will kindle in thee a holy fire of Love to God that hath not let thee lie in thy misery but minded thy condition and had compassion on thee This love God will shed abroad which will run over thy Heart He hath shed abroad his Love saith the Apostle Rom. 5. upon our hearts by the Holy Ghost to constrain us to yield obedience when thou fallest into the way of Faith which is the Operation of God the Devil comes and knocks and bounceth on this side and that and will tempt thee to walk in thy old course but God will not fail to give thee the power to withstand temptation The Lord Jesus Christ he worketh in peoples Hearts to turn them from
THE Second Volume OF Mr. Stephen Crisp's SERMONS THE acceptance which the First Volume of the Sermons of this Author has obtained from Persons of different Perswasions hath occasioned the Publishing a Second of which many seem very desirous I shall say no more of thew let the Works speak for themselves but will only add that the Writer is still willing to satisfie any Inquisitive Doubter none of whom he has hitherto met with that these as well as the former are the Genuine Declarations of Mr. Stephen Crisp without any addition or alteration he having used the utmost exactness in taking and Transcribing them and his care and acuracy therein has been acknowledged and confirmed by many Ear-Witnesses who have heard them from the mouth of the Preacher THE Second Volume OF THE Sermons OR DECLARATIONS OF Mr. Stephen Crisp Late of Colchester in Essex Deceased Exactly taken in Characters or Short-hand as they were Delivered by him at the Publick Meeting-Houses of the People called QUAKERS In Grace-Church-street and Devonshire-House London And now Faithfully Transcribed and Published With some of his Prayers after Sermon LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside 1693 Sermon I. Truths Testimony against the Power of Sin and Satan Preached in Grace-Church-Street June 13. 1688. My Friends GOD hath made you Witnesses of the great Work of this Day the Lord I say hath given you Eyes to see and Ears to hear and Hearts to understand the great Work of the Day he hath called you forth that you may be faithful Witnesses every one in your measure of that which he hath brought to pass in your sight for he hath revealed his Power the Eternal Power by which the World was made he hath revealed and manifested that power for the raising up of Life for the subjecting and bringing under death and the Power of it for a great while a Testimony that hath been born in the Nation hath been unto Death he that hath the Power of Death that is the Devil he hath had a great many to sound out his Power to declare the continuance of his Power how that Death must Reign and Darkness must continue and that the Kingdom of the Man of Sin will never be brought down But now in our Day Glory to God on high here is another sound come forth the Lord Jehovah hath uttered his voice and who can but Prophesie The word of Prophecy is given of God and many are raised up to publish it and to sound forth the Name of the Lord in the Expiration the Ruine and Destruction that is and shall be brought upon the Kingdom of Iniquity upon the Kingdom of the Man of Sin and to Prophesie and declare in the name of the Lord that Righteousness shall run down like a stream this is the Gospel the glad tidings that we receive from God and have ministred unto you that you might believe and that believing you might come to wait upon the Lord and behold the accomplishment of it For my Friends herein hath consisted all the labour and travel and exercise of the Servants of the Lord and for this cause have we suffered many things and gone through many Trials because we have stedfastly believed and therefore we have spoken it that the Lord will certainly by his Almighty Power lay waste destroy and bring to an end that Power that the Wicked one the Devil hath had upon the Minds and Spirits of the Sons and Daughters of Men and that he will set up and establish in the very same Soul a Law of Righteousness and a Law of Truth and will cause the Beauty of Holiness to shine forth through them where Iniquity hath Lodged where the wicked one hath Ruled Now you that have believed this Testimony you have received it as glad tidings unto you for you are weary of that old Service you are oppressed under the Power of that strange Prince there was a kind of Spirit and Power that had Ruled over you that neither gave you life nor breath nor had done any good thing and yet you were subject and many there were who through the grace of God that came to see that State and Condition of Sin and Iniquity was not a happy State and by a secret kindling of the Sparks of Gods Love in your Souls e'er you knew him there was a Cry raised to be delivered if it be possible If there be any Deliverance O why may not I be delivered If there be any Redemption why may not I be redeemed If there be a Power that can set me free from the Service of this Wicked one why may not I be set free Ah Friends remember the Days and Nights in which these Living Cries did run through you then you was poor indeed then you was humble and broken and the Lord beheld you in those days he saw your State and Condition he saw how helpless you were and did not he arise to help you Did not a Power spring forth in the Day of your humility in the day of tenderness by which you became able to make War against the Lusts of your own Hearts and did not you overcome and prevail in your War did not you make progress by the Power and by the Grace that first raised desires in you and as you made this progress and gained ground as I may say of your own Corruptions your Faith came to be strengthned and you were confirmed in the belief and in the obedience of the Truth and the more you trusted and relied upon him the more did he magnifie his Power in you he made known his ability and his strength in your weakness so that you did become Living Witnesses every one in your measure that there was such a Power and that that Power was able not only to save from a little or from a few but was able to save to the uttermost to save out of all that was polluted and defiled and to cleanse and purifie the Conscience from all dead Works and to enable you to serve the Living God Now the Lord having thus established you and confirmed you by his Power that you were sound in the Faith and firm in the believing of the Truth My Friends all the Labour and Travel and Doctrine and Exercises of the Preachers of the Gospel to those who were Converted and Confirmed became very acceptable So we preached and so you believed here was an Unity in our Faith here grew up a Fellowship a Communion in the Faith and the Lord became glorifiâ—d in the Assemblies both of them that preached and of them that heard because each one had a place in the Body and each one had a Saviour of the word of Life by which the Body was nourished Now my Friends that which lies particularly upon me to leave with you for my Testimony and I pray to God it may be placed in the hearts of all you that have believed that is that you may all wait
living presence but this doth not bear them up in a time of Tryal but if a Tryal or an Affliction comes they sink under it and they are filled with anguish and perplexity so that the word barely heard spoken and heard and not rooted in the mind doth not minister to the work the words spoken do not carry that kind of operation upon them as to witness an inward work wrought upon them But where there is an effectual work and operation in the Soul it continues in its labour and travel from Death to Life And as those Heavenly things those Divine operations of Gods Power are spoken of there is an Amen in your Souls saying as far as you have travelled thus hath God dealt with me he hath indeed by his power carried some beyond my State and Condition and my Faith is hereby strengâ—hned and my Hope is confirmed he that hath begun a good work so graciouslâ— in my Soul will carry on his own work and bring me to higher attainments and further experiences that some of his Servants bear witness of So that now being exercised the work goes on and the pleasure of the Lord prospereth in Christians that when they meet together in the name of the Lord they know for themselves that the Lord is present with them they know what the word of the Lord is unto them if they hear the word preached to another State and Condition then what is their State and Condition yet they abide in and keep that which makes manifest to them their own State and this suffers not the Soul to be carried away with the word and sight and vision of a higher state than their Faith can witness to and they keep low and humble and tender and have a care of their own Souls as the Apostle when he was come to glorious and high attainments in the work of the Lord yet he would not glory of any thing but what the grace of God wrought in him We do not boast of things that are not wrought it us It is possible for the Creature to gather in and comprehend the form of things that they have not the work of in them and a great many have done so to their great damage and some it is to be feared to their utter ruine They have comprehended high things and the notions of great attainments they have heard them declared and spoken of thus and so and some have in their speculations declared to others their Conceptions about those things yet those things were never wrought in them they could Preach of humiliation when the root of Pride was not removed they could Preach of Regeneration and the Old Man not put off and the New Man Created in Righteousness not put on All this kind of Preaching hath been in the World and is still too much in World but it hath not produced and brought forth any profit and advantage to the Soul either to Preacher or Hearer for it hath not been accompanied with a Divine and Heavenly Blessing but the true Ministry Ordained of God brings forth a work of Holiness and Righteousness in the Soul And therefore every one that God hath thus reached and hath opened your understandings and hath made you capable of comprehending and of understanding Divine Things take heed lest by the subtilty of Satan and the wiles of your great Enemy you be at any time lifted up and exalted in your Minds in the notion of the things that you have not attained not that you should not so understand the things of God that God openeth to you as they are many times opened to the Creature before the work of them is in the heart of the Creature and why so Why are they opened to me It is for thy encouragement that if thou dost hold on and be stedfast in waiting upon the Lord these things God hath in store for thee Now the Creature waits and saith though I have not attained such things as I have seen yet the very sight of them encourageth me to wait upon the Lord that I may experience the witness of them in my self there are many that have had some tast of great joy and apprehensions of Heavenly things which they have not attained but they know what they are waiting upon God for not that they may have a little joy which passeth through them but come to have that joy and tranquility which will accompany them in all their Doings and their whole Conversation God hath opened many things to you and you have seen the way of Righteousness which he hath cast up for you and many have taken strait steps to themselves till they have attained to saâ— Now my Salvation is nearâ—r than when I at first believed Let such go on and follow that Guide by which they have been directed and they shall at last attain to a further State not only to know that their Salvation is now nearer than when they at first believed but that they may come through the Divine Spirit of Grace that they followed and so closely cleaved to as their blessed Guide in their way to have an enterance administred to them abundantly into the Salvation of God whereby they may sit down in the Kingdom of God with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and have a Wall about them which is the Salvation of God Here is a great encouragement for Sinners and Upright ones to follow on to know the Lord and then they are sure they shall know him for they shall behold his Glory and their Souls shall be satisfied for nothing else will satisfie them People may have great openings and great discoveries of things and may have delight and joy in the opening of things as it was with the Disciples when Christ our Lord Conversed with them in the Flesh he opened many things to them and they had great Jâ—y and Comfort in those things which he opened to them yet there was something wanting to suffice them John 14.8 Phillip said unto Christ Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth us there was something further to be discovered and revealed so that they could not find their Souls to be satisfied and sufficed till they had it Christ gave them such an Answer as relates to that Administration that we are now under he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father Now they had seen Christ daily and conversed with him and had eat and drank with him in that fleshly and bodily appearance wherein he Conversed with them but they had not a sight of the Eternal Son of God in a Spiritual manner as he was the Son of God and their Saviour so they had not seen him And he that had seen Christ in a Spiritual manner he had seen the Father also So it is with us in our day we have in our Profession the Teachings of this and that Man we have Conversed with Christ as it were as to his Fleshly Appearance we have read the History of his Birth and of
to God without the divine assistance of that Power that did beget them and alas the least they have sustained hath been that they have fallen into Evil and they have defiled their Way and run into Temptations though it hath pleased the Lord whose Mercy is Infinite to pull them many times back again out of the snare which they were fallen into and to take them up again and to wash them and cleanse them and purifie them and set their Feet on a sure place This was more than they deserved but his Mercy and Goodness and Tenderness is over all his Works This he hath wrought for many a one and not only once but many times it is hard venturing it had been better if such a one had never fallen or that their Foot-steps had never slid from the ways of the Lord than after they are fallen to be renewed again by Repentance It hath caused sore Judgment and Condemnation and Anxiety of Spirit And they have given their old Enemy an advantage to whisper in their Ears Thou hast lost thy ground thy Sins are gone over thy Head and thou shalt never find Repentance These are the Words of the Wicked one who seeks occasion against us and through our carelesness and not being watchful we put an advantage into his Hand Now seeing you know he is vigilant and seeks occasion that he may turn you out of your Way before you attain to the end of it you ough◠to be vigilant to keep occasions from him But some may say how may I keep occasions and advantages from the Enemy 〈◊〉 I answer the way hath been often told you and I dare say most of you have tryed it and found it to be true that so long a◠you have remained in a watchful State and Posture and have had your minds exercised by the Grace of God by which you wer◠convinced of your Sin and by which you◠Duty was manifested to you So long you gave the Enemy of your Souls no occasion but the Truth preserved you wherein you trusted and wherein you hoped and waited for the vertue and power of it Did you find want of ability then Did the Enemy prevail then He did not cease to Tempt when you was in the most watchful State of a Christian the Devil did not the◠cease to tempt you but you found in you a power that resisted him and said Get thee behind me Satan So long as you are upon your watch so far as you keep your mind fixed upon the Divine Power so long you are in a sure place and whosoever turns aside from this they suffer great harm and prejudice and if ever they be restored again it is with loss and damage and sore exercise and if they be not restored they are lost to all Eternity Then 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 And then they said within themselves this must be the way Sirs these things pertain to your Everlasting welfare I speak to you as to a People that God hath abundantly Loved and it hath been far beyond any thing of desert He hath made known his ways to you the Lord may say concerning you of this City as of old What could I have done more for my Vineyard that I have not done So he may say concerning you What could I have done more to make them a grown People a holy People an intire People that They may bear my Name and walk before me in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of their Lives What should hav◠been done more for them But this is an Exercise to us whom God hath blessed and set as watchmen to behold and see the state of his People and to fee◠and bear the burthens that are to be born and this is the great burden that after al◠that God hath done and that we do in the hands of God all that is necessary for the welfare of the People Yet here are some that turn aside and here are some that have defiled their way and we testifie in the name of the Lord that whosoever walks in a defiled Way shall never come to an undefiled Rest therefore that you do not attain to that undefiled Rest it is because ye have been defiled Seeing the Holy conversation of the People of God is the effect of the working of his own Power and Spirit Here comes the Rest by and through a Mediator even Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Mediator between God and Man and the Leader of all his People in the way of Holiness and Righteousness which he hath made manifest to them that believe and obey the Power And He hath purchased Eternal Salvation for all that Believe and Obey the Gospel But the Transgressors do not obey the Gospel the Spirit of Christ doth not lead you to Transgression and the Power and Light that comes from Christ doth not lead you to Pride Vanity Envy and Bitterness Where-ever these things are led into there is another Spirit and that other Spirit hath another tendency and it leads into the wrath of God And my Friends this is that which my Soul desireth at your hands and it is for your good and advantage it is my Duty to discharge my Conscience and to speak plainly as the Lord shall give me utterance to warn you that you abide in the Truth for if so be you be not saved but will turn aside after your own Hearts Lusts after your Pride and the Vanity of the World and the Lusts thereof you may blame your selves and your Iniquity will be your Ruine We that have given up our selves to God for your sakes and for the Churches sake we speak these things which we have Learned of God and we earnestly press you that are convinced that you walk in the Truth which you have believed There is no great need of more knowledge and of the Vision of Heavenly and Divine things for abundance of you have seen more of the things of God than ever you have travelled and come up unto I would to God that every one of you that are convinced would come up To the measure of the knowledge you have received O! that you would answer the Lords Power in opening and discovering his Mind and Will concerning your Travel and the things that belong to your Everlasting Peace that your footsteps may be directed thereby If you will walk in this undefiled way you may lie down at Night and rise in the Morning with Peace and in the favour of the Lord and have the answer of a good Conscience in his sight The means that must help and conduct us in this way must be that familiar Converse that the Soul must have with something greater then it self the Familiar Converse that the Soul must have with the Divine Power with that manifestation of Divine Light and Grace which through Jesus
despise not the Day of small things live in subjection to that Grace that the Lord hath given you and the Lord will give you more Grace and pour out his Spirit and multiply his Blessings upon you the Lord hath begun a good work in you and he will carry it on to the day of Christ and will vouchsafe to bring the Glorious Day of his Visitation upon you To the Lord I leave you to his Favour and Protection I commit you remember that there is no Salvation but by Jesus Christ and none to be had by Christ till you come to Believe in him to him that searcheth the Heart and tries the Reins that pardoneth Iniquity Transgression and Sin for the sake of Christ Jesus the Mediatour to him I do commit you not doubting but that he that hath begun a good work in you will at last compleat and finish it to his own Praise and your Salvation Sermon IX The Excellency of Peace with God Preached at Devonshire-House August 5. 1691. My Friends IT is Mans great happiness in this World to have Acquaintance with God with the Lord that made him from whom he hath Life and Breath here and his Eternal welfare hereafter this doubtless every one will acknowledge one time or other that peace with God is a great Jewel and the best Estate and Riches It is the great desire of every one that they may attain this one time or other and there is a great neglect of happiness among the Sons and Daughters of Men in not seeking of it and not labouring to attain it while it is to be had Oh! how many trifle away their time about fading and perishing Objects and they know at the same instant that they are yet destitute of the favour of God and of peace with him Oh Friends the very thoughts and consideration of the worth of this Jewel and of the misery of being without it and of the uncertainty of our time while it is to be attained might put every one upon a serious diligent enquiry after the way and means whereby they might attain it that so they might have a resting place for their Souls and satisfaction to their inward Man that it shall go well with them when time shall be no more And they that come to this Consideration and are resolved in their hearts and minds that they will labour after this and set their whole endeavour after iâ— they will in the first place seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof These do need a daily encouragement in their way to Heaven and there is nothing on the Lords part wanting to such Souls but that they may attain their desire But alas this hath been and is still the misery of thousands they are seeking after peace with God but they err in the way to it they do not seek in that way nor take hold of those Methods by and through which God hath promised Peace you shall scarce meet with any body but they would have Eternal Life and Peace with God we shall not need to perswade People to wish for and to desire to have Peace with God when they shall come to die and lay down their heads in the dust There is not a Balaam but he desires to die the Death of the Righteous and that his last end may be like his There is not a Scribe or Pharisee or any that profess Religion but they are seeking after Eternal Life The Lord Jesus did witness concerning them that they were an envious proud persecuting People yet that they did seek after Eternal Life and they pitched upon some Methods and Ways whereby they thought to get and enjoy it but all this was errour still they were out of the way of attaining it and so are a great many people at this very day they are in a State and Condition wherein they are never like to enjoy it the Methods and the ways that they have chosen to themselves to find Eternal Life by and to obtain peace with God will never answer the end And God hath been pleased to discover to us the many by ways that People have chosen and seek after peace with God by therefore we are willing at all times to shew People their errour in these great matters of highest concernment to them If they did err in their way of seeking to obtain some earthly good and missed of their end they know the price of it it is but a loss of so much which if they had taken a right course they might have attained but it is an unspeakable loss an inestimable loss if they lose peace with God and all the pains and labour they are at to obtain it I beseech you Friends consider these things they are of great weight and you will say so one day or other for saith our Saviour what will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul O how sad is it to consider that a Man hath not made provision for his Soul that he hath not a place of rest for his immortal Soul and that the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ are not open to receive his Soul when his Body can retain it no longer If this be a Mans state when he comes to die it had been better for him that he had never been born Men may live and gather Riches and enjoy a plentiful Estate but if they be destitute of the favour of God and peace with him what will they do with these perishing enjoyments they cannot possibly satisfie themselves with these Transitory visible things but if these persons only mind their Bodies and neglect their Souls do they not live like the Beasts that perish The Beast seeks after his Meat and when he finds it he eats it with delight and pleasure and in a little while he lies down and dies and there is an end so it is with careless Souls that have no regard to their future State but they say Let us eat and drink and be merry for to morrow we shall die Oh that every one of us here did apply our hearts seriously to the consideration of the weight of these things that concern our Eternal State if persons did this then they might come to an enquiry in their own Souls what method and way is most safe for the attaining of so blessed an end For you know there are abundance of People if you look up and down in the World you will see every body almost hunting up and down in some way of Religion or other and are engaged in Religious Performances what is the matter what would you have We would have peace with God here and everlasting Rest hereafter in the Kingdom of Heaven that we would have Thus have the Nations been scattered and driven up and down in the pursuit of Happiness and Satisfaction There is a general Belief amongst people that there is a Heaven and a
Hell and that they must have their part in one of them there are none that desire a Portion in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone Those Prophane Wretches that cry to God to damn them they do not mean what they speak they would be saved for all that every one will cry at last Lord have mercy upon me if he hath but time to say so Let us cry Lord have mercy upon me now Lord bestow thy Favour upon me Lord lift up the light of thy Countenance upon me Lord touch my hard heart and soften it and break it by the power of thy Spirit open mine eyes that I may see the wonderful things of thy Law open mine ears that I may hear thy voice It is good for People to make use of time while they have it for whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and God will pour out his wrath upon those that call not upon his Name He that calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved and God gives great encouragement to People to seek after him What mean you by seeking after God I have gone to Church and said my Prayers I have gone in that way which my Fathers have lead me and directed me I hope I shall find mercy at last I am a Believer I believe in Jesus Christ that died for my Sins and rose again for my Justification I hope through the merits of Jesus Christ I shall be saved What mean you by seeking after the Lord Do not we all hear of him and pray to him every day Is there any thing more common than this that People speak to one another generally about as for the general knowledge of God you and I may see to our sorrow that a great many cry Lord Lord that are never like to enter into the Kingdom of God If all that take the name of God in their mouths should enter into the Kingdom of Heaven it would be a very foul Kingdom If all the Drunkards and Whoremongers of England and all prophane ungodly Persons â—hat will take the name of God in their mouths â—hould enter into the Kingdom of Heaven it would be a very unclean and impure Kingdom â—here is nothing enters there that is unclean that is â—bominable that loveth and maketh a lye So that â—here must be some more peculiar People that â—hall have an abundant enterance into the Kingdom of God and there must be something that will intitle them to it For you may remember our Saviour saith No Man knoweth the Father but â—he Son and he to whom the Son shall reveal him So much as may be known of God by works you and I may know without the Revelation of Christ we need not wait for this knowledge we can have it by Books we can have it without Christs Revelation Nothing would serve some in our Saviours time but Eternal Life and our Lord Jesus bids them search the Scriptures for in them saith he you think to have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me Yet for all the profession they made he tells them No Man hath seen God at any time neither seen his shape nor heard his voice they were strangers to God though they had a general knowledge of God So it is at this day there is a general knowledge of God and people hope to attain peace with God and Eternal Life Their Parents and their Tutors have instructed them in the Principles of Christianity and about the Attributes of God but all this will not bring a Man to a saving knowledge of God and reconciliation with him For a Man that is as wicked as the Devil can make him knows these things and yet may be a Servant of the Devil and do his work he is not born again and become a Child by all his External knowledge Now he that desires to come to the true saving knowledge of God our Saviour hath told us That none know the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him that is a sure way to come to the true knowledge of God by Jesus Christ he hath the Key that openeth the Heart and he will bring us to the true knowledge of God the Father Christ hath the Key of David which openeth and no Man shutteth and shutteth and no Man openeth He can bring us to behold the glory of God in his own Face without him we are never like to come to the saving knowledge of God Poor Man is in a lapsed fallen state he is fallen into Sin and is in a state of alienation from God and therefore he cannot come to him but by a Mediatour There is one Mediatour between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus and he must make peace for him else he will never have it how then shall we come to Christ if he is the only means and there is no other by which we may come to the knowledge or God as the Scripture speaks hearken to it how may we come to Christ I answer you will never come to him if he first come not to you you will never be able to do it It is not coming to Christ when you say you do believe that Christ died and rose again and ascended up into Heaven and sits at the Right hand of God and lives for ever to make intercession for his People and to read those words and Doctrines which he preached up and down at Meetings and solemn Assemblies but if you believe that he is the Eternal Son of God and the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him you must come to him and entirely give up your selves to his Glory and Service without this you cannot come to him nor will he bring you to the Father Christ is come near to us he stands at the door of our hearts and he stands and knocks behold that is a word that calls for attention for People to take notice of Behold I stand at the Door and knock what dost thou knock for saith Christ that thou mayst open the door of thy heart for if any Man open I will come in and Sup with him and he with me and my Father will come to him and we will make our Abode with him Now People are loth to be at this pains and trouble to open the door of their Hearts to Christ or they will not believe it is Christ that knocks and that rebukes and checks them when they refused to open to him when they find something within that reproves them for their Sin and doth condemn them that they cannot be quiet They will never believe that this is Christ How can this be Christ say they He is Ascended up to Heaven and he is at the Right Hand of God the Father Will you make me believe that this is Christ knocking at the door of my Heart I cannot believe it but what saith our Saviour Unless you believe that I am he you shall Die in your
Sins For there is no body else can help you out of them There is a twofold consideration that we are to have of Christ one is as he is Made of a Woman made under the Law and another consideration of Christ is as he is the Eternal Son of God Men have very gross thoughts of Christ to think that because he is in Heaven therefore he cannot be here too They measure him by themselves they know because a man is at London therefore he cannot be at York at the same time Thus these men object Christ is in Heaven How can he be here His Doctrine and Precepts are here let us make use of them all he will come again at the Day of Judgment but there is a Day of Judgment Doth not he Judge you now He is the Judge both of Quick and Dead and he is the searcher of Hearts and the tryer of the Reines so that thou canst not think an ill thought but he will tell thee of it he is nearer to thee than the Wife of thy bosome or thy Husband that is near to thee Husband and Wife may think an ill thought but they cannot tell one another of it but Christ is one that comes so near thee that thou canst not conceive an ill thought against thy Neighbour but he will tell thee of it This is the Lord Christ as a Spirit a quickning Spirit who is made manifest in the Flesh He hath given to every man a measure of the Spirit to profit withall The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men Notwithstanding the distinction by Learned Men between Common Grace and Spiritual Grace this Grace That brings Salvation hath appeared to all men This manifestation of the Spirit and Light within we have from Christ These are the Ways and Methods that the Lord Christ hath taken to approach near to us Now your own reason will tell you if this be the way and means that Christ takes to approach near to us we cannot take another way to approach to him if Christ hath taken I say this way to approach to us by the Light and Manifestation of his own Spirit which convinceth us of Sin If this be Christs way of coming to us there can be no other way of our coming to him but by the same method of his Grace He saith If you have the Light Believe in the Light I have the Light I am Enlightned there is something that Discovereth my evil Thoughts Why must I believe in the Light That you may be the Children of Light as our Saviour speaks They that are the Children of Light shall have it for their Inheritance and they that are Children of Darkness must have Darkness for their Inheritance While we have the Light we must believe in it and we shall be made Children of Light God hath sent his Son and the Son hath sent his Spirit and his Heavenly Grace into our Hearts that we may draw near to him and be directed how to attain acquaintance with him and to do that which pleaseth God and come to be in union with him and do the works of God This is that which God requires of us That we will believe on him whom he hath sent That we may embrace the Light and believe in the Light in the Lord Jesus Christ Pray what do you mean by believing there is something within me Checks and Reproves me for Sin and calls me off from it and bids me turn over a new Leaf Must I hearken to this Is this that which you mean by believing As to this degree of believing they that reject it now shall believe hereafter for all the World at last and the Damned in Hell shall certainly confess that there was Grace and Light and Means afforded to them and they might have gone farther and have escaped that misery that they are fallen into But there is a more precious Faith that I would have you partake of a Faith that worketh by Love Since the Lord hath been so gracious as to extend his mercy and Love to me I am so taken with the Love of God that I will be obedient to him this Faith that worketh by Love is the Faith of Gods Elect that by which we may obtain Victory over our Passions and Lusts and over Satan and the Snares of the World when we are come to close with the Grace of God and to believe in Christ this is well But we must also yield obedience and subjection Yet when Faith hath brought forth obedience you cannot be justified by it you cannot be saved by your obedience but by Christ alone He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith and a Mediatour from first to last Now all that come to close with the appearance of Christ in their own hearts they have laid hold on the method appointed for their coming to him It is Christ they must hear he is come so near to Men that they may hear his voice and hear him tell us our very thoughts Why should not I hear him when he checks me and reproves me for Sin he comes near and tells me I have done amiss Lord I have done iniquity I will do so no more Thus Christ Converseth with his People and doth not only check and reprove them when they do that which is evil but perswades them and enables them to do good He is a Mediatour he is a middle Person and hath taken Flesh upon him that he might reconcile them to God that do believe in him Now when we come to have acquaintance with God and have chosen him to be our God he teaches us to do what is good and reproves us for what evil we have done Who can chuse a better guide to lead him into acquaintance with God than Christ that is conversant with us piercing into our thoughts and speaking to us I may hear him with the inward ear of my heart when I do evil he checks me for it and tells me the thing I should seek is of inestimable value and if through my unbelief and carelesness I miss of it it had been better for me that I had never been born now we are in the way of coming to receive the end of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls let us not neglect so great Salvation No Man can save himself nor save the Soul of his Brother nor find a Ransom nor procure an Offering for the expiating of his Sin therefore let every one that would have his Sin expiated and pardoned and cannot be satisfied and quieted till he hath peace with God let him come to Christ the Mediatour and come with Faith and Truth in the inward parts and submit to him and be willing to be ruled by him then Christ will save him and present him without spot and blemish to his Father Consider that those that are the People of God are led by the Spirit of God and they have missed their way to reconciliation with
all Power in Heaven and Earth that thereby he might be enabled to perform the great work of God in establishing Righteousness and in bringing forth a Holy People to serve a Holy God This is the great blessing that is come to us and to all Mankind through our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that came to turn every one from the evil of their ways That is the way and method by which our Lord Jesus accomplished the end of his coming and the Will of his Heavenly Father Moses and all his Washings and Offerings and Sacrifices could not make clean and purge the Conscience and by all his Offerings and Sacrifices he could not reconcile us to God But Jesus by his once Offering himself did forever perfect them that are sanctified and by one Offering reconciled us to the Father and so brings forth a Holy Generation unto God through Regeneration and the Sanctification of the Spirit And seeing the Lord hath been pleased in the Riches of his Grace to open this new and living way for man's returning again into unity and fellowship with his Maker The Question my Friends that I would put to you on the behalf of God is for all of you to consider whether it is not best for every one of us to lay hold of Salvation to lay hold of that blessing wherewith the Lord hath blessed us that so the principal institution of Christianity might not only be named and noised but might come to be enjoyed and witnessed in every one of our own Souls And that all might wait with expectation on the Lord Jesus Christ for fulfilling of this great Work in themselves There is a general Notion among People that Heaven is a Holy Place and that nothing that is unclean can enter into it to have a habitation there when time in this World shall be no more with us and that time which we have given us I am sure is given us of God as an opportunity of fitting and preparing us for his dwelling place and every day and hour of it ought to be imployed in that great Work that so we might draw nearer and nearer to that state and condition that suits and befits that holy dwelling where Saints and Angels for evermore praise the Great and Glorious God So that I am persuaded you believe that you and all of us are to be accountable to God for all the time which he hath bestowed upon us whether we use it to the purposes for which he hath given it or whether we mispend our time upon those things that are not profitable to us and upon these considerations we had need all of us to take heed to our present state that we are come to and are arrived at in the present time As for the future time that we all know we are not sure of and the future state that we may hope to come to There is no certainty of it unless there be an Improvement of the present time and the opportunities of our present state therefore every one should apply their Hearts unto the seeking of Wisdom and Understanding and unto God that he may give us to understand our present state and our present fitness or unfitness for the Kingdom of Glory and Happiness and of that Holy dwelling we hope to enjoy for ever If I will but turn my mind inward to the serious consideration of my present state and condition I can tell whether I am fit or unfit to approach Gods presence And if I find I am unfit I must have recourse to the Divine Working of that great Power which God hath ordained and appointed for this purpose I must come to him to work all my works in me and for me according to his good pleasure And that he never will do unless it be by crossing me in my Carnal Pleasure and Corrupt Inclinations for that which pleaseth man doth not please God And God will not revoke the Holy Scripture that tells us That they which live in pleasure are dead while they live they that are indulgent to their own Affections and their own Delights and their own humours they are not at all ready to please and glorifie God they are not fitted for it therefore he never sanctifies nor brings any into a true Christian state but through a daily Cross so that if I am not fitted and prepared to do that which is pleasing to God I may be fitted by taking up a daily Cross to Glorifie God here and enjoy him for ever What those things are that you are to do I need not tell you nor what you have done I judge no man There is one that judgeth he will tell you if you ask him what your state and condition is He will tell the Drunkard if he ask him whether he is fit for Heaven and also the Proud and Haughty person whether they are fit for Heaven Let such as are guilty of these or any other Sins enquire of the Oracle in their own bosoms am not I fit for Heaven notwithstanding all this He will tell thee no there is no unclean thing shall enter there nothing that defiles nothing that hurts or oppresseth The Proud Peevish Malicious person that is hurtful to others that hurts his Neighbour he is shut out Rev. 21.27 There shall in no wise enter into Heaven any thing that defileth and Rev. 22.15 For without are Dogs and Sorcerers and Whore-mongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a Lie None shall enter into the Holy City of God but those that are purified and purged from all Iniquity Therefore God hath sent his Son Jesus seeing none else could do it Moses and the Prophets could not do it therefore he sent Jesus to bless us in turning every one of us from our Iniquites and from our evil ways one man hath this evil way another that evil way It is all one to him his Work is to turn every one of us from our evil ways But why then you may say are so few turned from their evil ways throughout Christendom Where Christ is Believed in Professed Read and Heard that yet so few are converted and turned for we see great numbers of Lyars Swearers Drunkards Unclean Persons among us where Christ is cried up at a mighty rate and yet people are not turned from the evil of their ways there is something sure that is the reason of it I would have all of you consider what the reason of it is that those that profess to be Christians are not turned from the evil of their ways for Christ hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him and he is able to do it and he was sent from God on purpose to do it but this is a certain truth it is not done and what is the reason of it He came to his own and his own received him not what is the reason He hath caused his Grace to appear to every man in the World and yet they
fit and prepare us for the everlasting Kingdom of God they that do wait upon God shall see this work wrought inwardly in them they know more by Faith than they can see by Sense I know and am certain that the Power the Devil hath in the World shall be broken down and Righteousness shall be exalted and justice and equity shall prevail in the Nations I shall not perhaps live to see it but I may see it by Faith I may see enough for my generation and they that live in the next generation shall see it also for the Church of God is the same from one generation to another Now unto us it is given to see the things that in former generations were Prophesied of God having saith the Apostle Provided some better thing for us â—hat they without us should no be made perfect The Church of God from one Generaâ—ion to another have their measure and deâ—ree of service and bear their proper Testiâ—ony and leave the rest to succeding Geneâ—ations it concerns us in our Generation to â—ee a change made inwardly in our Souls and â—he Kingdom of Christ set up within us and â—he Kingdom of Satan brought down in our â—elves This doth not concern my Son or Grandson only but it concerns me and when they grow up to mature Age in their â—ime it will concern them therefore that which is most profitable to us is that we have such a station and stand in such a place â—n our time where we may see the work of God carried on I have considered many a time that there are many brave Men and Women in this Age that might have been eminent Witnesses of God in the World and born their Testimony to his truth but their Faith hath been weak and ineffectual they have discovered their unbelieving hearts and have joyned with the common herd of the World because they thought such great things could never be done that the Kingdom of Satan could never be pulled down and destroyed and the Kingdom of Christ set up within us But I would hope better things of you things that accompany Salvation and that he that hath begun a good work in you will carry it on to perfection that Living Praises and joyful Thanksgivings may be rendered to him who alone is worthy who is God over all blessed for ever to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Sermon VII The undefiled Way to Eternal Rest Preached at Devonshire-House July the 29th 1691. My Friends THE Lord will be with all his People that are undefiled in the Way â—hat are Spiritual Travellers walking in â—hat undefiled Way that leads to an â—ndefiled Rest There are some that by â—his Way are enter'd into Rest that Rest â—hich God hath prepared for them We â—annot apply to our selves that promise that 〈◊〉 made to us of entring into Rest unless we â—e real and true Travellers in the Way that â—ads to it for if we do We deceive our â—wn Souls Therefore you that have had a Sight and Vision of the Way Everlasting that leadâ— unto a Holy Rest you are Engag'd Peoplâ— to make straight steps therein and to have iâ— your daily Care and make it your continual Business to look that your Goings and Foot-steps are of the same nature and kinâ— that the Rest is that you desire to enter into For it is an undefiled Rest that we all are or ought to be Travelling after thereforâ— every one of us must be undefiled in the Way and every Foot-step must be of the same kinâ— and nature and separate from all that whicâ— defileth it and polluteth it that so it maâ— have a tendency to the bringing of the Soâ— nearer to its Rest This Holy Rest many Travellers have aâ—tained by this Holy Travel and many aâ— still in hope to attain it But now they that are full of hope of â—taining this Rest but their Foot-steps aâ— Goings are not of the same nature and kind they are not holy and pure they are not uâ— defiled These have not their Faces truâ— Sion-ward though the Face of their Profâ—sion may stand that way but the Loâ— looks at the Heart of every one and 〈◊〉 knows which way the Heart stands thâ— who have their Hearts truly turned to tâ— Lord they have the mark of Holiness 〈◊〉 their Eye and the mark of purity and righteousness in all their Undertakings because they know there is no attaining to that Divine Rest but by a Holy Way and Travel therefore their trust and reliance is alone on the Lord that is to keep them in all their Way for if they be never so clearly convinced that Holiness and Righteousness is their Duty and is the way whereby they may attain to the Kingdom of God though they are never so fully convinc'd of it yet there lies an impossibility of any walking therein without the Divine Assistance of the Grace of God for though they have been convinc'd by the appearance of his Grace and have had a light that openeth to them a sight of these things it is not this Sight and Vision that will enable them To run the Race that is set before them For the manifold impurities and hindrances which are in our Way between our coming out of Egypts Land the Bondage of Corruption and our entring into the Kingdom of God are too mighty and too great for any Man with his knowledge and strength to overcome The Children of Israel might as well have gone through the Red Sea without the help of God as the Christian Traveller can go through the many difficulties and the many impediments that he is to meet with in his Way without the assistance of God's holy Spirit My Friends It hath been a Labour and Travel at this time upon my Mind that all whom God hath so signally Blessed with the Knowledge of the Truth that you may see your Way and most clearly know and understand that your Way leads to Life Eternal that all and every one of you in your particular Meetings are to have a dependance upon that which can help you in your Way For I have seen too many that have had a wrong dependance after they were rightly Convinc'd and after they have had a true knowledge of their Way wherein they should walk they have too much trusted to openings and sights which they have receiv'd they have thought their Mountain so sure and that their Feet have been past sliding that there hath grown up a state of presumption that they have thought they should never turn aside and have not had due regard to the renewing of the divine Power of God in their Souls that God's Children always musâ— have They have as I may so say forgotten what our Lord said Without mâ— ye can do nothing they have passed a Sentence upon that Doctrine in their minds and they have thought they could do something that they could withstand Temptation that they could do some Work for God and Service