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
upon the Lord to see all that brought to pass which you have believed For I take notice by the Eye that God hath opened in me by which he hath made me to take care of his Flock and sometime put his word in my mouth that I might speak a word in due season I say by this Eye I take notice of many that have received this precious Faith and thereby have believed thereby have believed the great and high state their Faith reacheth so far they know that Power is able to bring them into a perfect Dominion over their Lusts and Passions and Corruptions and over the Spirit of the World over Pride over Anger over all things that are opposite to the Divine Life their Faith is as sound as we can Preach it in respect of the extent of it but their Faith hath not reached thus far in its operation upon their hearts they have not had the power going on to accomplish and fulfill that which remains Are there not some here and there that are settled in the belief of the Truth but are got into an ease from the Labour of the truth but if I be sound in the Faith my Understanding is opened I do not only believe this matter but have inward Evidence and Demonstration that I am certain past all doubt and question of it that the Lord reveals the power in them that believe that purifies them and makes them every whit clean and here I have a Fellowship and Communion with them that preach and them that believe But my Friends all this will not give you Communion with God though there is Communion with the Church of God with respect to Men who are come into one Faith and Doctrine yet for fellowship with God it stands in a life beyond all Doctrines and beyond all words and expressions therefore your business and mine and every one that we first undertook when our faces were first turned to God that we may be followers of Christ in the Regeneration For many may be firm in point of Doctrine and yet may not follow Christ Jesus Many hold the Truth but do not hold it in Righteousness but unrighteousness Now my Friends have a care your Religion and your Souls Eternal Welfare are concerned This Doctrine I leave you in Charge in the name of the Lord God Flatter not your selves never a one of you because of the soundness of your belief but look for soundness of heart and for a right Spirit to be created in you a Spirit that can no way endure any thing that the light of Christ hath made manifest to be evil if it be Truth you own then Exercise Faith upon it and whatsoever Sin or Temptation assaults you say I shall overcome in the Name of the Lord Jehovah I shall bring thee under be what Lust Passion or Corruption soever thou wilt in the name of the Lord I shall overcome thee and bring thee under Travel on in the Faith committed to you and you will be more than Conquerors you will not only grow into external Fellowship with the people of God in the sight of Men but into fellowship with the Church of the first born whose names are written in Heaven and your Communion will not be in Words and Doctrine and Principles of Faith But your Communion will be with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and so in all your Meetings together the joy of the Lord will be your strength and the joy of his great Salvation your Covering and he will manifest his gracious Presence with you and that Power which hath kept you to this day from your Childhood and preserved you in all your Battels and Conflicts with the World and strengthned and encouraged you when you sometimes went sorrowing and mourning night and day and fearing lest you should not overcome your Adversaries that Power that hath kept you hitherto will do greater things for you than you have yet been Witnesses of Therefore Dear Friends this I would leave with you there is nothing will keep you and me in that little time that remains to us here to spend on Earth but that which will keep us in the exercise of Faith towards God and his Son Jesus Christ who is able to save us to the uttermost let us wait to see the power of God for Sanctification and Holiness that will reach as far as saving us from our Sins This hath been the greatest reproach that ever our Adversaries have thrown upon us that there are some among us that talk of believing in the power of God and talk of an ability for overcoming their sins and living a Holy life and living without sin while they themselves live in it This is the greatest reproach that ever our Adversaries have thrown upon us Whosoever have been the cause of this reproach God will require it of them for the Lord is jealous of his Name and Glory and he will have the Praise and Honour that is due to his Great Name for working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure saith the Apostle though I know nothing by my self yet am I not hereby justified When you come so far as that that you cannot charge your selves then the Lord will not charge you but take heed that therein you place not your Justification hereby you are not justified Therefore have an eye to Jesus the Author and the Finisher of your Faith He begins the work of Faith and he will carry it on until he be the finisher of it and the justifier of you he is the Mediator of the New Covenant that alone justifies the Children of God depend not upon your own Holiness and Righteousness for justification keep your eye to Jesus the Author of your Faith who will also be the finisher of it keep your hearts with all diligence and walk humbly with God watching lest your Adversary that you have overcome prevail against you By going from the Power there is no safety for the Flock but only while they keep in the Shepherds Fold be faithful and keep your selves in the love of God and he will be present with you and keep you to be his Witnesses to the end of your days and will raise up another Generation to be Witnesses to his Power when he hath taken you to himself To that Mighty Power of God I commit you for preserving of you in humility of Mind and Soul and my Prayer for you shall be that you may go on and make a progress in the good ways of the Lord until his Work be finished in you His Prayer after Sermon HOly and Powerful God of Life who art the Creator of us all in whom we live and move and have our being thou hast made us all for the purpose of thy Praise and Glory that we might serve thee in the Land of the Living among the Sons and Daughters of Men and not only so but thou hast given us thy Holy Spirit as thou
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
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
his Life and great Miracles and of the great love he had to Mankind by which he laid down his Life for them We have been Conversing with Christ as to his Fleshly manifestation but consider whether there doth not till now remain an empty place in our Souls something that is not sufficed and satisfied What would you have Have you not Scripture Read you not there of the Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ I would still have something more for that will not suffice me I would have Pardon of Sin and my Peace with God and the Light of his Countenance lifted up upon me and further manifestations of Christ to my Soul We can never see the Glory of God but in the face of Jesus Christ This is the discovery that Christ makes to the Soul that believeth in him this is that which gives satisfaction A Christians Work is to be Conversing with him and exercising his mind under the gathering and â—â—â—ching of him that can lead him to the Father none but Christ can do thaâ— lead them to the Father and shew 〈◊〉 the Father and he hath in our day revealâ—â— himself and made himself manifest by his Spirit that Spirit by which we come to know his Holy Teaching Reproof and Instruction daily discovered in our Souls the Spirit is our Guide that Spirit we are led by and are to walk in Let men go under what form and denomination they will They that have not the Spirit of Christ are none of his until they come to be guided by his Spirit People are not led into Sin by the Spirit of Christ they will tell you these are the Devils Temptations and the Frailty of our Nature and the Corruption of our Hearts by which we are led into Sin it is not the Spirit of Christ It would be a horrid thing for men to say that the Spirit of Christ led them into Sin there are few or none so wicked as to say so The business we are to do in the World is to obey the will of God and where the understandings of Men are so illuminated that they are satisfied in their minds that God hath been pleased to give them a manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal All those that have this Spirit of Christ are directed by it to do the Will of God and to deny their own Wills and the Will of others that would draw them from their Duty that they owe to God in their Generation It is an excellent state and condition for a man to be guided by the Spirit and to be brought under the Government of Christ who is The Way the Truth and the Life So that they that come under his Government are directed and Pointed out every day to do the will of God This thou must do and God will be pleased with thee and this thou maist not do for if thou do it the Lord will be angry with thee it is Sin against God So that we have a Heavenly advantage to be taught of God by his Spirit to have the Divine and Daily teaching of the Spirit of God revealed in us if we are at a loss or make a question or dispute about a matter the Spirit will lead us into all Truth if we give up our selves to his Guidance and Teaching This hath been our desire labour many years not to draw People to observe what we say for who can direct another Man in all things relating to the Service of God If we were never so certain our selves we cannot convey certainty and infallibility upon all occasions to another if we should speak never so much and be never so much conversant with them Therefore our work is that all People in all things relating to their Souls might have recourse continually to the infallible Teacher and Guide which God through Jesus Christ hath made known to them If People be ruled by this they cannot but live in Unity and Love one another they will not fall into malice contention and hatred one against another It is impossible for Nations to make War and Destroy one another if they would be guided by the unerring Spirit of Christ for how should it contradict it self For how can any thing that agrees with the Standard of Truth which Christ hath set up act in contradiction to it for nothing is Truth but what concurs with it therefore it must needs agree with it self If we be directed by the Spirit we shall call that good which is really good and that evil which is so If there be thousands directed by the Spirit of Christ which leads into all Truth that which is good to one is so to all and that which is evil to one is so to all We must first know what is good and then receive power to do it If we come to be instructed by the unerring Spirit To know what is the good and accepâ—able will of God We shall receive daily power from him to do the will of God we shall all speak the same thing and be of the same mind and live in Love and Unity There is no evil wilfully done against God where the Spirit of Christ the Gospel Spirit comes to prevail upon us it will bring us to a peaceableness of Spirit to live in Love and Unity And the great work we have in the World will be to do the good and acceptable Will of God both with respect to our solemn Worship of God and our Duties towards our Neighbour then there will be Tranquility Peace and Joy and Comfort to all the Churches of Christ that are under his Government And it is given to the Sons and Daughters of Men every where when they come under the Yoke of Christ and take up a Daily Cross and live in Self Denyal this will bring Peace and Concord among them Many will come to our Meetings and spend a little time to hear what we say We exhort them to give up themselves to the peaceable Government of the Spirit of Christ that will finish Transgression and make an end of Sin and bring into the Soul where Sin reigned Everlasting Righteousness Where there is a great deal of Pride Malice and Envy the Spirit of Christ will root it up and all that evil that the Enemy hath Planted in men he will pluck it up and bring in Everlasting Righteousness and Plant Love in the same Soul and establish and settle it such a one will have more Joy Pleasure and Delight under the Government of the Spirit of Christ in one day than any one can have that is governed by the Evil Spirit in a thousand days You say the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withall what profit shall we get How doth it appear that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal Because there is that Life and Grace stirring in the heart that makes it profitable and Truth doth so prevail that it makes us to
from God and a preparing for Life that Life that unites us to God again and when People are in earnest in this travel they are really resigned up to the government direction and leading of him that is gone before that hath made a way for us and will further our Progerss towards the Kingdom of God And therefore my Friends you know the way and know how the Power hath reached to you and hath opened your understandings that you may be faithful to that power in your own Souls and may have the true use and improvement of this and all other such Mettings as this for the gathering of your Minds out of all visible and changeable Objects unto that Life which God hath revealed that so in the exercise of it you may hold your fellowship with God and with one another here is the bond of Perfection here is that in which God hath Created Peace and Rest and Joy for his People so far as every one is Partaker of this innocent Life and feels himself changed into it they are gathered into the Church and they are gathered into fellowship with the head of it and are comforted in their Membership in their partaking together Though I be but a little one yet I pertake of the same vertue which the Lord ad-administreth to the greatest Saints while I am waiting upon him and of the same Divine Consolation and Operation and Power that weaneth me more and more from the World and that which is corruptible and raiseth up in me daily more and more fervent desires after that Bread which perisheth not Now herein Men and Women have an evidence of that Christianity in themselves the Spirit of God bearing Record and Witness to their Spirits which all the loose Professors of Christianity in the World are strangers to their evidence in themselves being against them they seek to have evidence without them and to gather up some kind of marks and tokens and sayings and sentences from without to make them believe that they are in Covenant with God and that they are in a state of Salvation by Christ but he that ttuly believeth hath an evidence of his Christianity and of his Reconciliation with God and he hath this evidence in himself a Divine Spiritual Testimony that answereth to his own Spirit that witnesseth to him that he is one of the Children of God And my Friends to this you are called whether you are come to it or no it is this you are called to with a Heavenly call that you might no longer live in the Rudiments of this World to be seeking and looking here and there for a ground of Peace and of Rest a ground of Hope but may know and feel the same thing the same ground of Eternal hope that the Saints of old had what is that What reason did they give and render of their hope of Eternal glory The Apostle tells you plainly the ground or reason of their hope of being glorified in the World to come was Christ in them the hope of Glory they witnessed that Christ gave his Life for the World Take the Glorious Testimony that the Apostle did bear in one of his Epistles saith he the life was manifested in me it was not covered up or hidden that People could not find it God was pleased to bring it to Light by the Gospel When a thing is brought to light you may see it This he affirmed in his day and the same is affirmed in our day The Life is manifested what Life Not the Life of this World but a Life not defiled not polluted but the Life that is of God a Heavenly Life that is Holy and Pure that Life is manifested we have seen it and we exhort all to lay hold of it to lay hold of Eternal Life some had a sight of it that had not laid hold of it they saw it in a Vision and they might say possibly Oh that I could live such a Life that there were no sin in me in my words or thoughts or actions what a gracious Life would that be They had seen that Life they had tasted of it but they did not lay hold of it but let it go by them take heed of that when you have seen it with open eyes Blessed are your eyes for they have seen and your ears for they have heard saith Christ to his Disciples They saw that Life that was holy harmless and undefiled lay hold on this Life especially when you are thus assembled together in a solemn manner in the presence of the Lord waiting to behold it and to see it more and more discovered to you and labour to have that gathering Power that will bring you to it that you may know the strength â—hat comes by it to the Soul There is none of you but you will meet with Temptations in this World that will draw you into Death and Darkness to things That are Carnal and Sensual and Devilish sometimes How shall I stand if I be not centered in that Life that was before the World began and before the Devil was If I labour to feel the influence of that Divine Power this is able to keep me my Faith tells me so I know that Power is able to keep me if I keep in the exercise of it The trust of a true Believer is that whatsoever Temptations and Tryals they are exercised with they know one already come In whom they have trusted who is both able and willing to deliver them So by this means he is kept harmless and innocent and blameless in his Life and Conversation Thus you might be kept if you would regard and have respect to the Life that is manifested in you Whosoever comes to know and feel and witness in their Souls the discovery and revelation of the Life of Jesus they know there is in it a certain Dominion over that which is contrary to it and you have many of you had experience of the exercise of the Power of God in your own Hearts that hath inabled you to reign over those things that have formerly ruled over you That you can now subdue vain thoughts and evil desires that you can withstand Temptations that come from without and from within Now if you could do this and if ever you have done it you did it by that Power that God discovered and revealed in you from Jesus Christ You had not such hold of this once before you believed but by believing the word of God sent unto you it being fixed by Faith in the Heart That Faith which is the operation of God You could then do that which you could not do before and forbear that which you was led away by These experiences which God hath given you should encourage you to hold on in your Labour and Travel and engage you To grow in the Grace of God and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Whatsoever is propounded by men in the Profession of Religion this ought to be
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
for which cause he is not ashamed to call them Brethren Heb. 2.11 They that are sanctified are become Saints they bring forth the Fruits of Holiness and Sanctification and they are come into Fellowship with God and one another Every Branch in me saith Christ that beareth not Fruit he taketh away but every branch that beareth Fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more Fruit. That branch which beareth not Fruit is cast into the Fire and burned There are some that bring forth Fruit but it is Fruit to the Flesh and the Wicked one but I hope you are not of that number These separate themselves from the Life of the true Vine these have no Fellowship nor true Membership with the Church of Christ while they walk as Captives to the Devil and Sin these are of the World and not of the Church If you would have Fellowship with the Church do not think to have it by outward Conformity Do not think that this will maintain your Fellowship with Christ without a Life of inward Holiness and Righteousness for that day you break with the Truth in your selves you break off your Fellowship with the Church of God and break your peace with God and can no way be restored again to the favour of God but by an unfeigned Repentance For the Mystery of Faith is to be held in a pure Conscience how is my Conscience defiled if I wrong not this or the other Man or Woman some can hold the Mystery of Faith so far as it consists in a Profession they can profess it and they can Preach it but they have not held the Mystery of Faith in Christ so as to receive Life and Vertue and Comfort from him You have got the History of Words and Doctrines but as soon as you defile your Consciences by doing evil things and depart from a Principle of Grace as soon as you defile your Consciences you make Shipwrack of Faith But my Friends as you have a mind to continue and abide in the Faith and in this Travel and Heavenly Journey I would give you this as a certainty it may do you good when my head lies low The way to continue in the Church of God and Communion of Saints and to retain your Peace with God is to keep a Familiar Converse with the Truth in your own Souls and it will keep you from falling and lead and guide you in your Way in your Travel and Journey to Heaven As the Mother when her Child cries after her but cannot go she takes it by the hand and leads it so if you keep close to the Truth it can lead you through all Difficulties through great Business as well as little and deliver you from Snares and Temptations and when you are assaulted it can bring you off clear As for Communion with God and Communion with the Saints and People of God it stands in that Peace and Purity and keeping a Holy frame of mind in your Heavenly Travel in the undefiled Way that will at last bring you to the Undefiled Everlasting Rest that remains to the People of God Sermon VII The Dawning of the Day of Grace and Salvation Preached in Grace-Church-Street August 2. 1691. My Friends YOU cannot but know and be sensible that a Gospel Day a Day of Grace and Salvation hath Dawned upon you and that the Light of it hath broken through many Clouds of Darkness which sometime you could not see through This is an inestimable and unspeakable mercy of God unto us that the Light of the Gospel of Salvation shineth upon a People that without it must be miserable There hath been a very Dark and Cloudy Day upon our Fore-fathers and also upon us in the days of our Ignorance We are apt to wander hither and thither and to be turned aside with the wind of Mens Doctrine that we could not find a rest a home or a settlement for our Souls in order to Life Eternal And there be many have cryed unto God that he would please to reveal hiâ— Way and to make it known unto them and they have been apt to Covenant with the Lord that if once they could come to a certainty they would walk in it Unto such as these the Lord hath bowed his Ear and hath answered them and in his answering the cry of the Soul he hath brought Salvation near and hath revealed the Power by which he would bring it to pass in every particular Soul that receiveth the Gospel of his Son But now Friends you that are sensible of this Blessed Glorious Visitation of this Gospel Day in which Salvation is brought near It is needful for every one to examine their own Hearts whether they have really received the Gospel whether they have received and embraced the great bounty and unspeakable blessing of the Gospel with which the Lord God of Life hath visited us or whether they have rejected it For though it is our happiness to know the Visitation of Life yet it doth not follow that every one that is Visited will be made an Heir of it for There are many that fall short through their unbelief For there are many that have received the Gospel who do disobey the Gospel of Christ and so have not Eternal Life by it When People come to this serious Examination of themselves herein then the Light and Grace that comes from Christ unto every one of us both to him that rejects it as well as to him that receiveth it that will make known to them their State and Condition with respect to the Gospel of Christ For there be a great many that by an Alienation of their minds from the Light of Christ Jesus are apt to be mistaken in their State and to make a better judgment of themselves and of their state inwardly than really it will amount to in the day that the Lord searcheth and tryeth them But they that make a judgment of themselves by the openings and discoveries that they have through the Light of Christ Jesus for so we are to do in this weighty matter they make a judgment of ther state and condition according to the Evidence that the Spirit of God bears to their Spirits and this I hope you will all say is a most certain Way For if we go to compare our selves one with another and say I am better than thee and that man is better than I here we are liable and subject to a great many Errours where there ought to be none But if we come to measure and determine our present state and condition by the Evidence of the Spirit of God bearing witness with our Spirits here we have a foundation to place an infallible and certain judgment upon And they that are obedient to the Gospel of Christ are capable of giving a sound judgment of their state because they are made partakers through Christ of that Grace and Light and Truth which they should be obedient to and they are brought into
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
the evil of their ways that so he may bring forth holiness and righteousness and redeem a people from under the Bondage of Sin and fit them for the Kingdom of his Father and to use the Apostles words present them before the Throne of God without spot and blameless he will purifie them and sprinkle them from an evil Conscience their bodies being washed with pure Water he will sanctifie the Creature his Word is nigh them and in their Hearts he begins a good Work in many and will carry it on in one and in another Here lies the chief Work it is the good hand of God must work all our works in us and for us according to the good pleasure of his will work in you a willingness to bear the Cross of Christ and to deny your selves he will operate for you for this purpose therefore you must commit your selves to him It is not our Preaching which will Convert Men to God but it is the word of God that is pure which Converts the Soul to God and that cleanseth and fits and prepares it for the Kingdom of Heaven Psalm 19.7 We must come to the word of God that will convince us reprove us strengthen encourage illuminate us and do in us and for us all that we stand in need of to him be all the praise that worketh all in you and prepares you to be a Peculiar People to himself To the word of his Grace I commit you all take heed of doing any thing contrary to it if you do that which would be your Comfort will be your Condemnation His Prayer after Sermon BLessed God and Father of Life thou art Glorious in Holiness Infinite in Power the Eternal God thy Dominion is an everlasting Dominion thy Kingdom is without end O Lord we bless and praise thy Glorious Name that thou hast made known thy self among the Sons and Daughters of Men thou bast revealed to us in thy word the manner of the coming of thy Kingdom among us in setting up Righteousness and Truth and throwing down iniquity Powerful God of Life subject the Minds and Hearts of all thy People to thy Divine power and pleasure and let the dread of thy self rest upon our Spirits that every one of us may fear to Sin against thee and to do despite to thy Spirit the Spirit of thy Grace that we may every one of us turn from our iniquities the evil of our hearts and ways that we may praise thee in the Land of of the Living and may become faithful witnesses of that Salvation which thou hast wrought for us and for all them that believe Powerful God of Life the Souls of thy People which thou hast gathered out of the World do praise and magnifie thy Name for what they have seen and for what thou hast wrought thou hast wonderfully appeared in thy love and brought Salvation near and gathered many into it it is become a Wall and a Bulwark to them that they are defended from the Evil One and from the evils of the world O dearest God of Life raise up poor and needy Souls out of the dust that they may serve thee and obey thee and do thy will and shew forth thy power and strength in their weakness and infirmity that they may trust in thee and rely upon thee in the time of their distress Blessed Father of life and power give grace to the humble and meek and teach them in thy way We have had experience O Lord of thy fulfilling thy promises thou art still fulfilling of them to all that truly wait upon thee thou hast begun a good work wilt thou carry it on to the praise and exaltation of thy great name Blessed Father reveal thy Power more and more in the Nations round about that they that long after the life of the living God may come and find thee and behold thy Divine appearance through the Son of thy Love in their own Spirits that so they may receive thy word and thy word may quicken them to stand up from the dead and live for it is the living the living O Lord that praise thee that honour thy Name that offer praise and glorifie thee O Blessed Father of Life carry on thy great work with power throughout all the Earth gather a remnant of thy seed that are scattered and bring them home into the Kingdom of thy dear Son that we may praise thee together and rejoyce in thy Name Dear Father thou hast saved this Nation the Land of our Nativity to this day by a wonderful power by thy powerful arm our Souls are deeply sensible of the stretching forth of thy Almighty hand in our preservation at this day so living Father if it be thy heavenly pleasure lengthen forth our Tranquility and the enjoyment of thy mercy and goodness to the Inhabitants thereof that they may learn to fear thee and turn to thee with their whole hearts and break off by true Repentance from all those sins that grieve thy Holy spirit that so living Father of life they may come to walk in Love and in Vnion with the heavenly Power and have Concord one with another and shew forth the Power of thy Grace manifested to them and magnifie thy love and power and give thee honour and renown for that great salvation that thou hast wrought for them that so thy great name may be exalted and thy will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven that the Souls of thy People may be refreshed with thy love and the joys of thy presence and the revelation of thy Heavenly power for this Living Praises and Christian Thanksgivings we offer up to thee in and through the Lord Jesus Christ for thou art worthy of all Praise and Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath-Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside History 1. ENglands Monarchs Or A Compendious Relation of the most remarkable Transactions from Julius Caesar to this present adorned with Poems and the Picture of every Monarch from K. Will. the Conqueror to K. Will. and Q. M. With a List of the Nobility and the number of the Lords and Commons in both Houses of Parliament Pr. one shilling 2. THE History of the House of Orange Or a Brief Relation of the Glorious Atchievements of his Majesties Renowned Predecessors and likewise of His own Heroick Actions till the late wonderful Revolution Together with the History of K. W. and Q. M. Being an impartial Account of the most Remarkable Passages from Their Majesties Happy Accession to the Throne to this time By R. B. Pr. 1 s. 3. THE History of the two late Kings Charles the II. and James the II. being an Impartial Account of the most remarkable Transactions and observable passages during their Reigns and the secret French and Popish Intrigues and Designs managed in those times Pr. one shilling 4. THE History of Oliver Cromwel being an Impartial Account of all