they would give more reverence and respect to it It is this that brings those that Preach Christ to Preach him in those terms and under those Denominations that he is nigh them We do not doubt of Christs being born of a Virgin in the Land of Canaan and that he wrought Miracles and Preached many Godly Sermons and that he was Crucified Dead and Buried and Rose again from the Dead for these things are certainly true we would have him our Saviour in this Age we would have a nearer knowledge of him and a sense and feeling of the virtue of that Power by which he saved them that lived in former Ages He is not a Christ and a Saviour of one Age only but of all Ages to this Day from Adam to the last Man that shall live upon the Earth That Age and Generation that knoweth not Christ will not be saved by him if there be any Age wherein he is not known There is no other Name under Heaven by which you can be saved if you ask where is this Saviour Say not in thy Heart who shall Ascend into Heaven that is to bring down Christ from above or who shall Descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy Heart that is the Word of Faith which we Preach He is nigh thy Soul he is the Lord of Life and a Quickenning Spirit If I know that Quickening Spirit after this I know the Lord Christ when he comes to work in me by his Power changing my Heart and translating me from Death to Life then I know the true Christ God hath manifested in all Ages that it is the Duty of People to come to the knowledge of the Son of God for he hath sent forth his Spirit for to teach us and to lead us into all truth For when Christ was with his Disciples he told them that he would pray the Father and he should send the Spirit the Comforter and when he came he would be known by his Divine and Inward Teachings and Operations guiding and leading them into all Truth that was his work to them But what shall other Folks do He will be made known to others too When he comes He shall convince the World of Sin So that his work to his Disciples was to lead them into all Truth and his work to the Woâ—ld is to convince the World of Sin Who will deny but that there is a Spirit in our Age as well as in other Ages that will convince men of Sin Is this the Spirit of God that convinceth the World of Sin or is it the Spirit of the QUAKERS only When People come to consider really and truly how they may serve God aright they will find there is no serving God aright unless they come to Christ the Mediator that in and by him they may put up suppplications to God and through him they may expect at the hands of God Peace and comfort and there is no other way nor never will be The Jews they had another way they had an outward way of serving God this stood in divers Offerings Sacrifices Washings and Observations this was a way of worship of Gods own institution to that People but what came of it When the Apostle came to grasp it he said The commers thereunto were not made perfect What were the transgressors of it then They that would sin on and continue in sin and not bring a Goat or a Ram or other Oblation they that did observe it and came up to the point of the Law they did bring their Offering when they were convinced of their Sin If a man sinned he was to bring a Hee Goat and to bring it to the Door of the Tabernacle but when he sinned the conscience of sin the guilt of sin remained upon him For it was impossible saith the Apostle that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should take away the Sin For if the Blood of Bulls and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the Unclean Sanctifieth to the Purifying of the Flesh how much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit Offered himself without spot to God Purge your Consciences from Dead works to serve the Living God When there is no hope of attonement and reconciliation with God by all those offerings under the Law he tells you of one offering of the Son of God himself through the Eternal Spirit by which he became a a Propitiation for thus will it do If I believe that Christ offered an Holy Offering to the Father for my sins I believe he offered his Body and that through the Eternal Spirit that he might be a propitiation for sin and take away sin and have Power over Sin and Death and conquer Death and Darkness the Apostle drives the matter farther you must come to the inward Work of this outward Offering this Eternal Offering that was in due time Offered to God you must come to know the Operation of it by the sprinkling of the Heart from an evil Conscience so that there was to be an Applicatory Faith for the offering of that The way to a Saviour was not made by Man no more than the way of Salvation by Christ was found out by Man No more than the Application of the benefits is effected by man Where it pleaseth God to call a People by his Grace he calleth them to his Son not by this and the other Form No man cometh to me saith Christ except the Father which hath sent me draw him The first thing that a Man or Woman comes to be aware of is the secret sense and feeling of the Lords Divine Power upon the Heart to seek Christ Jesus As soon as they feel this and embrace it this will be a Token of the Love of God I hope all this Congregation will acknowledge that they have sometimes felt his drawings and that they have not embraced and closed with them so well as they ought When the People are aware of these drawings Inwardly to Holiness and Righteousness and are sensible that they should with care and intention close with them for the good of their Poor Souls and that it concerns them to be happy in the other World that World that is to come and therefore resolve to be led by these drawings of the Spirit of God these are not weeds that grow in the Field Naturally These are sparks of Divine Fire kindled in the Hearts of Men by God himself No Man comes unto God till God cometh to him and touches him and gives him sense and motion these are the motions and stirrings of Gods Holy Power in the hearts of many that are wicked and Abominable Yet the Lord doth not despise the work of his own hands but reacheth to such When the Lord meets with these that Despise not but highly Prize this wonderful Grace and Close with it and are Glad of it such a one
would find out something by which it might be done Others are willing enough to continue in Sin and Drunkeness Whoredom Lying and Hypocrisie these are a sort of Fools that make a mock of Sin and that swim in the stream of pleasure and what care they so long as they make a profession of Christianity But I am speaking of a People that are strugling under their corruptions that would mortifie Sin and serve God in Holiness and Righteousness and do Gods will on Earth as it is done in Heaven and do it not in form but would have power to do it And they try several ways to have it done it is not done many have been at this work till Gray Hairs are upon their Heads and it is not done Now God hath given Christ to make Reconciliation now how can we that have the Love of God extended to us But extend our Good-will to our Friends and signifie to them that all the travel and pains they are at and all the Prayers they make that all will do nothing till they have their Faith fixt upon Jesus that is able to save and deliver them and save to the uttermost all that come to God by him But here some will object and say It is true what you say But is it needful to preach such Doctrines to us for we all believe in Christ that is the only Mediator and Saviour We know that Christ Jesus is the only Mediator and that unless he Commend us to God we cannot be Accepted of him This is our General Doctrine therefore what need it be urged and pressed upon us that are come into the the Faith already Let me search into the matter it is of greater concernment than to search into a Bargain of Worldly things men would fain have others open and discover to them wherein they may be Cheated to prevent their being Imposed on in a wordly bargain I hope then they will hearken to know how and wherein they may be deceived by themselves and deceived by others in matters of Eternal concernment There are no Protestants but they reject any Mediator but Jesus Christ and believe that no Mediator can Reconcile them to God but Christ alone and they say he is the Object of their Faith I would ask them this Question Whether they believe in Christ at a distance or as present really present with them If their Faith be Historical and at a Distance that they believe in Christ as one born of the Virgin Mary and was Crucified and Dead before they were born and Arose again and Ascended into Heaven and is set at the right hand of God if the reason of my belief be I have heard of this Relation of Christ Or whether the reason be because by his Spirit he hath visited me in this Age The one is I believe because good men have told me so but the other is I believe because by this Spirit he hath promised to send to lead me into all truth he hath visited me Now whether I am aware of such a Spiritual visitation by this quickning Spirit which is the Lord from Heaven and not only the Lord in Heaven Whether I am aware of such a quickning Power and Vertue which I have received upon my Spirit that he is not only at the right hand of God on high in Heaven but that now he is come to knock at the door of my heart and hath raised in me a Life as opposite to sin as his was Now if I be aware of a secret touch of his quickning vertue upon my Soul whereby he hath begotten me into a Life opposite to sin so that if sin remains it remains as a Burthen and Oppression upon me so that I am a sufferer forasmuch as I am quickned and made sensible of a better life of a godly Life I would fain be at it and live in it but Iniquity Lust and Corruption lies in the way He that hath quickned me so far as to bring me to a sense of the Burthen of sin my Faith tells me he will take the Burthen off else my faith will do me no good if that Corruption still prevail upon me if my Faith tells me this it will tell the wickedest Man in the World as much But if my faith tells me I am a sinner and my sin consists of this and the other evil thing I do and am inclined to do it tells me again that he that hath quickned me and brought me to a sense of sin he can take the burthen off from me Here now is a true Faith that begins in Conviction and ends in true Conversion this is the word of Faith which was delivered to the Saints and which we are to Preach They said of Oâ—d that the word of Faith which they had to Preach was that which was nigh in their mouth that they might heaâ— it and do it I have something nigh that reproves me for sin if I be Obedient to it then Faith giveth me victory over that which is sinful for which the word reproveth me and as I see Faith gives me victory over any Corruption which I have been strugling under Here I am incouraged to fix my Faith upon him that hath thus quickned me So that this is the difference between Faith in Christ at a distance and Faith that quickneth me by Gods Spirit that Spirit which hath been so much slighted in our days by the highest Notionists in our Age they have supposed it to be a meer fiction some have mocked and derided and others have been discouraged to speak of the Spirit of Christ and his operations upon the Soul some have declared it both in the Press and Pulpit that they have had no experience of the touches of Gods Spirit upon their Souls But our experience hath brought us to another degree of knowledge We know and you may know if you please and that before you sleep that there is a way opened God hath made a way for his Spirit to reach the Spirits of men to signifie immediately to their Spirits without means herein thou dost wrong and herein thou mayest have life and seek after it Now the Spiritth at thus worketh is the Spirit of Christ the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son that Voice in Man that tells them they might believe and be saved When he comes saith Christ He will lead you into all truth How shall the World know this is he He shall convince them of sin If there be any convincement that ariseth in Man of this and the other sin it must be from the way the holy Spirit hath upon their Spirits he hath a way to speak to men and every one that is a Lover of their own Souls are bound to hearken unto that voice In the latter days saith the Lord When I shall raise a Prophet in the midst of you whosoever will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off All Commentators agree on this Text that that
is much strife and opposition in that way If I have a mind to speak a Vain word I am Limitted if I have a desire to wrong my Neighbour and cheat and defraud him I am Limitted I am not to do it that belongs to the Broad way if a Man will seek after the Lord and walk in the way of Holiness and Righteousness the end whereof is Peace he will find it is a Narrow way wherein he cannot enjoy his own will such a one must be a David who said I behaved my self as a weaned Child that is as one that is affraid to be Beaten But thou wilt be ready to say I am a Man and not a Child I am come now to be a Man a Man of Parts I have seen much and read much and would you have me become a Child What a great Man was David If you speak of a Man he was a Man of Dignity and Honour a Man of Valour and Experience yet when he speaks with respect to the frame of his mind before the Lord he saith he behaved himself as a weaned Child as one that feared to be beaten feared to commit an Offence He feared the Rod of his God upon him he feared Judgment would come upon him he feared something of Judgment upon his Conscience David was an Old Testament Man but he had regard to that which never waxeth old but is the same in all times new and old Alpha and Omega Christ Jesus was his leader before he was born of the Virgin Mary his Word was a Light to his Feet and a Lanthorn to his Paths David had Acquaintance with God who did lift up the Light of his Countenance upon him And when Christ himself came to Preach upon Earth he saith himself Every one that comes into the Kingdom of God must become a little Child He must become as a little Child in Simplicity and Subjection he must be under Government he must become like a little Child or he must in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven They must not think to enter into Christs Kingdom because they are Men Men of Parts Men of Courage Men of Understanding Learned Doctors that are Masters of Liberal Arts and Sciences These may help to make them Men but they must be Children all their Wit and Parts and Manhood Courage and Valour will do them no good for little Children Babes and Sucklings may understand more than they of Divine Misteries and have greater Communion and Entercourse between God and their souls than they so that whosoever enters into Christs Kingdom must become like little Children So that here is a way provided by Jesus Christ for Man to come again into the favour of God which is by Christ alone not by any thing that a Man can do Christ must be their leader and their Counsellour he alone can give them the true knowledg of God No Man can know the Father but the Son and him to whom the Son reveals him Men can never attain to the saving knowledg of God by study and by Disputation and reading Books and Commentators and Observators of matters of Religion Time would fail me to speak of the multitude of Books that have been written about the Knowledg of God You must come to Christ for Divine Knowledg Theology the Knowledg of God and Divine and Heavenly things is from Christ he shall have this Divine Knowledg be he never so simple that comes unto Chist for it he cannot have it any other way for God hath ordained this way saith God he shall have it of my Son who is the Reconciler the Mediatour between God and Man he shall be beholding to Christ for all All Mens own works and labours will not Justify and save them for God hath Committed the whole work of Salvation to Christ One would think it should be no great matter for Men to lay aside their own works and Duties and submit to Christ but I tell you it is very hard and I found it hard my self Men think by reading and Learning and hearing this and the other Mans Notions and Opinions they may be edified and proffited and come to the true knowledg of God but while they are waiting upon God in the way he hath appointed they may receive knowledg from Christ and be more certain and Infallible in what they do know than by consulting all the wise Men and learned Doctors in the World For no Man knows all at once and no Man knows all things neither it is not a thing necessary that a Man should know all things in relation to God for as he is in himself he is incomprehensible For no Man knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son shall Reveal him Yet that which he knows of God he may know it as certain and Infallible Suppose a Man know nothing of God but that he is the searcher of Hearts and the trier of the Reins There are many have read this and say they know it that yet doubt whether there be a God or no But when God comes within them and convinceth them of Sin and searcheth them and brings Judgment upon them for what they have done then they know Infallibly that God is the searcher of Hearts This is not Mans work this is the work of God if I find God doth approach my Spirit I know it is Gods work I have now got some knowledg of God how came I by it who gave it me No body but he that hath all Knowledg he that was with the Father from the beginning and was Glorified with the Father before the World began he gave me this Knowledg and how did he give it thee By this Spirit for he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into my Heart and that Spirit of Christ searches the Heart and tryes the Reins He tells me this is Evil that thou hast done this is that which God that made thee hath against thee this thou must forsake and this thou must Repent of here I have an Infallibility of what I know but I cannot get Rid of my Evil. Now if I can believe in that Power by which my Heart is search'd and trust in him that hath begun to deal with me then his work is not only to Reveal his Light to convince me but to put forth his Power to convert me so that by the Power of that truth by which my Heart is search'd I come to be converted and turned from my Sin and break off from it and when I am broken off from it I am sure and have a certainty that it is so that I am broken off from such a Sin and that my Heart is turned against it I am sure that now I hate it and detest it and that God hath turned my Inclination another way I am sure this is Gods work I can witness this Infallibly that something is now done in order to my Redemption But there is something yet Remaining to be done What
spake or wrote it It was not the Blood of Bulls or Goats nor the Blood of a Ram that could purge away Sin from their Consciences And after the Apostle had opened the Mystery of Divinity who had a Divine and Spiritual Skill in unfolding the Restoration of Mankind he declared plainly that when the Offering was made by Aaron for Sinners even then there remained still a Conscience of Sin for it was not possible that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should take away Sin so that their outward performances and their outward services they did but point out the Mediator they had a pointing finger as it were to the Real True and Everlasting Mediator Christ Jesus who is made a Mediator betwixt God and Man that by and through him man might be again Reconciled to God So that now in these Gospel days wherein God is opening the Mysteries of Life and Salvation to the intent and purpose that the Sons and Daughters of Men might be restored again unto their Primitive Enjoyment of the Favour of God Now in these days it is the Duty of all Christians and of all that are seeking the welfare of their Immortal Souls that they have their Eyes and their Hearts unto Jesus as unto one that is able to Reconcile them unto God To him it is committed to him Wisdom and Power is committed and to him Authority is committed that he should be an Everlasting High Priest and that all the Services and all the Worship and Religious performances that People offer up to God should be in his Name that so by him they might be Recommended to God For none will ever find Acceptance with the Father unless in all their performances they have an Eye unto him So that it comes plainly to pass according to that short and confident Assertion of the Author to the Hebrews That without Faith it is impossible to please God But it is possible to Offer Sacrifices without Faith and possible for People to perform Religious Services without Faith as woful Experience have taught us in our days That many have been exercised in a kind of a Religious Service and Worship that never in their Lives had Faith enough to believe the things that they pray for And they are without Faith For when People Pray to God to send his Holy Spirit into their Hearts that they may keep his Commandments to their Lives End they have not Faith to believe it And when they Pray Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven This is a Religious performance but I question whether it be done in Faith if not it is but an Increasing in Sin an Addition to Sin Where is the Man that is exercised in praying to God that believeth that ever such a thing is like to come to pass Go where you will in this or the other Nation and Inquire of People about their Faith they believe there is no possibility of Extirpating and Rooting out of Sin while they live upon the Earth therefore all their Prayers for it are vain and their Faith a vain Faith and it is high time in such a day as this when men are Faithless and Unbelieving to preach up the object of Faith the Lord Jesus Christ People are of divers Faiths and of divers Beliefs but we have found by experience that they do them no good they do not bring a thing to pass that of necessity must be brought to pass ere they can be Reconciled to God their Faith doth not cleanse the Heart nor extend so far as to believe that ere they shall be cleansed In all the Worship and Religion that they perform they come not to this Faith that they shall be made clean All that is done is but in sin and uncleanness they cannot bring a clean Sacrifice out of an unclean Vessel And our Lord Jesus Christ saith concerning this Subject An Evil Tree cannot bring forth Good Fruit. But there must be good Fruit brought forth how must we do it Make the Tree good and the Fruit will be good When that Mens vain janglings about Religion and Religious fancies must come to an end Then all that Religion will appear to be in vain and will not answer the end for which it is performed till men believe that it will make the Tree good and cleanse the Heart and Transform men by Renewing the Spirit of their Minds So that Religion it must begin within And it is not our changing our forms of Worship from one form to another and taking up this and the other Opinion that doth change our hearts Sad Experience doth teach us that men may carry over their old Lusts into a new Religion we can carry over our old Inclinations into our new Opinions For though the form of Worship be changed the Heart remaining unchanged and the Lusts unmortified their Religion is in vain let them be of what persuasion they will Now the remedy of this great Calamity that hath overspread all sorts of People for there is no sort of People but there are those among them that are under this great Calamity of holding the profession of Godliness with an Ungodly mind and the profession of Truth with a false and treacherous Spirit Now for the remedying of this there is but one way that all Mens Eyes be brought off from having their Eye unto their Performances and to the Doctrines and Tenents that they hold and do as the Apostle saith Fix their Eye upon Christ and look upon Jesus that is the first thing that must begin our Religion for Christ must be the Alpha of our Religion as well as the Omega of it If I begin not there let me begin where I will I begin wrong Let me begin at the most serious and sound Doctrines and at the most Apostolical Religion If Christ and his Apostles were here upon the Earth if I walked among them if I believed all they said and did I should begin wrong if I did not fix mine Eye upon Jesus Christ that is the taker away of sin and is the sanctifier of the Soul by his Spirit There must be the first beginning and there must be the conclusion he is the Author and the finisher of all true Faith There are Authors of other Faiths Men have different Faiths and their Creeds and Articles And they have exposed and imposed them too but this is the worst of it none of them are right let them be exposed and imposed with never so much force and violence none of these will cleanse the heart but that Faith which is delivered over by Christ Jâ—sus that hath the quality of cleansing and purifying that is the Faith when all is done that will do the work that is it that will save and sanctifie and do the business that all the World is about every one would have a Reconciler with God and Sin rooted out and be as God would have them be this is the publick profession of Christendom at least they
God's Spirit for there is a Seal upon them and none can open that Seal but The Lion of the Tribe of Judah he only is found worthy to unseal the Mystery and unseal the Divine Blessings that are with the Lord so that People must come to that retiredness of Spirit to that resignation of Soul that they are as a little Child waiting upon the Lord crying out unto the Lord that he will Prepare them That he will make rhem Hungry and then Feed them That he will raise a Thirst in them and then satisfie them with those Divine Springs of Life which through the Lord Iesus Christ are opened to every one that Believeth So far as your minds are stayed and setled waiting for the Lord you will feel in your selves an openness and readiness that if the Lord speaks you are ready to hear him ready to submit to his word ready to obey him that so there may be such an openness in the mind not to the words of any man but unto the word of God to receive that for where the words of men are received though never so excellent they convert not the Soul But the Word of the Lord is pure converting the Soul And this word is that which is able to Quicken those that are Dead in Sins and Trespasses and bring them to be made partakers of Life For it is not an encrease of knowledge that will do the turn but it is the increase of Life and Vertue the increase of Godliness and a Submitting of our Wills unto him that made us It is this that will do our turn this will bring Peace to the Soul and bring us into the Favour of God through our Lord Jesus Christ Now that all may feel that which Prepares the Heart for this resignation and quietness and subjection you must wait upon the Lord that ye may be made partakers of the blessings of of his Everlasting Gospel and of his Divine Presence This is that which is most profitable most advantagious And then the Lord will Open to you the Windows of Heaven and Rain down of those Blessings upon you whereby you will be comforted and refreshed far beyond all the Works that we can do for it is an inward Work that must be done upon the Soul to Convert People that have been Alienated and estranged from God and bring them to a Reconciled State through the Lord Jesus-Christ whereby they may partake of the Divine virtue which Sanctifies and justifies the Soul in the sight of God His Prayer after Sermon Most Glorious and Powerful Father thy Arm of Power is made bare in this our Day to bring Salvation to the Poor O Lord thou hast lifted up the Light of thy Countenance upon a People that have waited for thy Glory and thy Salvation a little Remnant whom the good of this World could not satisfie but O Lord in an acceptable time thou hast brought thy Salvation near and the Light and Brightness of thy everlasting Gospel thou hast commanded to shine into the Hearts and Souls of the Mourners and bowed down ones who are seeking the living God not among the outward Forms and ways of Men. But O Blessed Father of Life thou hast now brought us to the Day of thy Power and bowed our Wills and made us a willing People therein to serve thee and to do thy Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven and for that end O Lord thou hast put it into the Heart of thy People to wait upon thee in whom all our fresh Springs are that from thee we might receive the renewing of Power from Day to Day and in all the hours of our Temptations and Tryals our Eyes O Lord have been to thee and to thy Power and we acknowledge to the Glory of thy Power and Goodness that thou hast been a God nigh at hand when we have been seeking thee and trusting in thee so that we are a People sensible of thy Power and presence with us for that Eye which thou keepest open to thy Children It brings thy Glory to our view and shews it breaking forth over the Nations and we have great joy and satisfaction in beholding the Progress of thy Mighty Power in our Day how thou hast broken down and Confounded and art still breaking down and Confounding all the Dark imaginations and Devices of the Sons and Daughters of Men that have Conspired to hinder the breaking forth of the Glory of thy Son Christ Jesus O Powerful God of Life arise more and more in the greatness of thy Power and Love and make known thy Counsel and thy will among the inhabitants of the Earth and bow their minds O Lord and their Wills that none may dare to withstand thy appearance lest they be found fighters against God and destroyers of themselves O Powerfull Father for this end make bare thine Arm unto the Rulers and Governours of these Nations that they may know thy Counsels and bow to thy Heavenly Will and may promote thy Law of Righteousness in their own Hearts and the Hearts of others that by thy Power a Blessed Reformation may be wrought and iniquity have a stop put to it that it may not run down in a mighty Stream as it hath done in time past but that Truth and Righteousness and sound Judgment may be known in the Earth that they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness may have their Souls desires satisfied and so praise and thanksgivings shall arise from their Souls to thee O Powerful Father of Life preserve and keep thy Children whom thou hast gathered and Purged and Purified and to whom thou hast made known the way of Life and made them a willing People in the Day of thy Power to do thy will and to wait for the coming of that kingdom that thou hast promised to establish under Christ Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that it may grow and increase and be spread abroad upon the Earth and let every one desire to be the Subject thereof So Powerful Father of Life the Arm of thy Power and Invincible strength hath been Revealed that nothing hath been able to resist or stand against and prevail by which thou art planting Sion and building Jerusalem and establishing it By the same Power let thy Work be carryed on and many be brought in to be Subjâ—ct to Christ for the good of their Immortal Souls as thou hast multiplied thy Blessings among us so from Day to Day thou hast made us sensible of thy Love unto us owning us to be thy Children and peculiar People by thy presence in the midst of us when ever we meet in thy Name to wait upon thee that so living Father all thine both here and every where may be encou aged to attend upon thee and to be faithful to thy Power that wait for the opâ—ning of thy Counsels and the enlightning their understandings that they may be able to compâ—ehend with all Saints the height and depth
in your Sins whether I go you cannot come O Friends lay these things to your Hearts what have I to do but to tell you that the Love I have in my Soul to you all makes me desire in my Heart that you might be saved This is the Will of God that you might all be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth Blessed are they which know the Truth the Truth as it is in Jesus Truth in the inward parts hath a speaking Voice and if thou hearken to it it will tell thee that thy state is nought Canst thou believe the Truth when it tells thee so That thy state is nought and that thou art like to go to Eternal Destruction unless there be Repentance and Regeneration to prevent it Canst thou believe this Doctrine when it sounds in thy own Heart If thou canst not Believe it Unbelief will be thy Ruine The Spirit of Truth is come to convince the World of Sin because they believe not in Christ he tells them their Condition and they will not believe him The Spirit of Christ convinceth men of Sin and they believe him not The Spirit of Truth convinceth thee of thy Sin but thou believest him not Thou Lovest thy Pleasure and thy Profit and thine Honour then thou Lovest not God with all thine Heart and then thou art not a Christian but out of Covenant with God Art thou sensible that thy condition is bad were it not best to get it mended After we are convinced of our own sinful state Is it not our best course to seek to have it mended Who shall mend it Saith one I have done all I can to mend my Life and I cannot mend it I have concluded so in my younger years I have Fasted and Prayed and spent time in Hearing Reading and Meditation and did all in my own Power and all to mend my state but I could not mend it and as I grew up in years Sin and Corruption more prevailed and there was no help and I came so far as to believe there was no help and that if God did not help me I was undone to all Eternity I many times wisht that I had never been born I went to Ministers and Meetings and to all sorts of separate People and to all manner of Ordinance and to all manner of Means to mend this bad Heart of mine to see if I could get a Power that would give me Victory over my Corruption but my Arm was never so long as to reach thereunto it was far out of my Power and Reach Many have sought to get this Power of Reforming their Hearts and Lives to attain it by their own hands by their own endeavours but they could never do it they could never better their condition nor bring forth fruit worthy of amendment of Life I wish that every one was come to that pass that they knew not which way to turn them that they were come at last to their Wits end they will come to it sooner or later the sooner the better I have done all I can I can do no more I am at my Wits end and know not what to think concerning my Eternal State I know not what to judge of it I strive against my Lusts and Corruptions but for all that they prevail upon me Temptations come before me but I cannot conquer them O I am glad when People are come to that pass that they know not what to do but to despair of their own Arms of their own Strength and their own Wit and despair of all other help in the World I am glad of that But I am not Preaching up Despair of Gods Grace and Mercy but let me tell you when Men Despair of their own doings and of all outward means and helps then they are fit Objects for the mercy of God and not till then When the Lord looked and saw that there was none to Save and Deliver then his own Arm brought Salvation God will not save tâ—ll then God will not reveal his Power till Men have done with their own Power they will never Trust God while they think they can do something for themselves All the Forms of Religion of the several People of this Nation will do them little good without the Power What is the meaning of that Principle that have such Masses and Prayers and Performances What is the meaning of it let us search to the bottom They say we are Sinners when we Pray to God for his Blessing and for Salvation by Christ there is this at the bottom They think these Duties and Performances will be very helpful to their state helpful towards the knowledge of it to speak plain English these are their Gods If I speak of Prophane and Wicked People I would say their Lusts is their Gods But when I speak of Righteous People that are meer Formalists then I say their Duties as they call them are their Gods When they have done all they can do nothing for them then they have no Gods at all they are Godless And if God doth not help them they are undone to all Eternity When poor Creatures are Cast out as it were into the open Field to the loathing of their Persons not salted at all nor swadled at all but lying in the Guilt of their Blood When I passed by thee saith the Lord and saw thee polluted in thy own Blood I said unto thee when thou wast in thy Blood yea when thou wast in thy Blood I said unto thee Live When I passâ—d by thee and looked upon thee behold thy time was a time of Love and I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy Nakedness yea I sware unto thee and entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine What was it a time of Love when I was such an Obeject in my own Eyes that I thought I was the most miserable Creature in the World One that could not make a good Prayer nor Dispute for Religion nor Perform any Duty a Poor Creature Cast out into the open Field to the loathing of my Person Lost all that I Gained my Name was from among the Living my Days were passed over in Sorrow and I said there is nothing but Darkness and Death and Misery for me I used all means and tryed all things save only a living Trust in God a trust in God alone and that Flesh and Blood cannot do Flesh and Blood cannot know him therefore Flesh and Blood cannot trust in him Alas said I I cannot trust in the Lord I cannot cast my Soul and all my Concernments my Fame and Reputation in the World I cannot cast all upon the care of the Almighty I cannot know him nor trust in them how can I do it No body can do it They that know my Name saith the Lord they will put their trust in me never a truer word was spoken but how they should know God and trust in him I know not When thou comest once
to this pass to be at thy Wits end and not know which way to turn thee nor to whom to run for help or to ask Councel for thy Souls wellfare thou art come to the end of all and without hope then God reveals himself by his Son Jesus Christ Christ the Son of God is known by our coming to him but none can come unto Christ except the Father which hath sent him draw him When thou hast done with thy Gods and thrown away thy Idols to the Batts and Moles then thou wilt find the Lord and thou wilt cry out O that God would have mercy upon me and lift up the light of his Countenance upon me I am a poor miserabie Creature There are many that make such a Whining and Complaining that they take a pride in their very Complaints their Hypocrisie is so great I have known some that have prided themselves in wording their Condition and expressing their miserable case before the Lord but suppose thou canst not speak at all but feelest thy self miserable thou canst not express thy Condition At such a time as this God was drawing thy Soul to Christ Jesus the Mediator of it I have heard of a Mediator and that there is Balm in Gilead for me that there is a Physitian there that there is one Physitian even Jesus Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant thou hast sinned against him and grieved him yet he stands with open Arms for thee ready to receive thee and embrace thee where stands he He stands at the Door and Knocks it is a small matter one would think to let him in Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the Door and knock and if any man heâ—r my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Here is good News for a hungry Soul if any such be here Christ the Mediator stands at the Door and Knocks he will come in and Sup with thee if thou open to him then we shall meet with the Lords Supper This is the Lord we will wait for him he will bring his Bread with him The Bread of Life and the Wine of his Kingdom And the Lords Supper will be celebrated without cavilling and jangling Now because we do not pervert the Scripture I would have you â—hat understand Books read what Commentators say what those of this and former Ages say upon this Text whether they do not Consture and Deliver in their Opinions that this Knocking at the Door is Christs Calling the Soul by his Grace and this Door is the Door of the Heart and Christs Calling the Soul by his Grace and Spirit to let him in by Faith This is their Judgment and Sense and their Sense is mine and I believe the Genuin Sense of the Text that Christ would have People think he is near to them and that he would have People open their Hearts and Receive him by Faith for to be a Saviour to them No that saith Flesh and Blood I cannot bear I cannot consent to have him for my Saviour I will not let him in for he is like Micaiah to Ahab He never speaks good concerning me For if I have him for my Saviour I must part with my Lusts and Pleasures if there be any other Saviour I will try and not meddle with him He will spoil all our Mirth and good Society he will tell me of every Idle word that I shall speak I must give an Account thereof at the Day of Judgment What do you think that I can like such a Saviour That I can live with such a one as will call me to an Account for every word I speak and that if I speak one idle word Judgment will come upon me No I will try one and another rather than accept of him upon such terms I am one that am joyned to such a Church and enjoy such and such Ordinances and such Helps I am in Covenant with God and under the Seals of that Covenant I am Baptized and do partake of the Lords Supper which is another Seal of the Covenant I hope it will be well with me I will go something farther another saith we must have a Mediator I will go to the Virgin Mary and offer something to her and pray to her Saith another I will go to Saint James and Saint John and other Saints to Intercede with God for me They must have some Mediator This is the Twisting and Twining of the Sons and Daughters of Men to keep out Christ the Great Mediator who came into the World for this purpose to destroy the works of the Devil Alas I have nothing left but my bare Life and Living in the World I have nothing left me but some Liâ—tle desire I had to please God and that he will never Judge and Condemn me for but my false dealing and buying and selling with Deceit He will Judge this and Condemn it And my Discoursing of things without me all my Carnal Friendship and Love of the World and my vain Fashions all that is Corrupt and Defiled these he came on purpose to destroy He came to destroy boâ—h the Devil and his Works What can a man Live in the World and never joyn wiâ—h the Devil Never Sin at all Never do any thing that the Devil would have him do There is no Perfection in this World no living without Sin here then I am sure there is no Unity with Christ here and if there be no Unity with Christ then there is none with God the Father What will become of thee now What will all the pleaders for that opinion say now There is some thing stands betwen God and me and I shall never have Peace and what is that It is Sin I would have my Sin taken away else I had better never been born Canst thou remove Sin out of thy Heart I have tryed but I cannot do it I have heard of Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant He saith he came into the World and that for this purpose he was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil Now Sin in my Heart is the Devils work I will see if he will destroy that for me I will trust and rely upon him and see if his great Power can destroy it in me Here People come rightly to believe in him that God hath sent and trust in him and he will take them in and like a Chirurgion he will rip up their Hearts and lâ—t out their Corrruptions though there hath been never so much Rottenness and he will heal them and purifie them and pardon them though they have been never so wicked if they come to him when thy Sins are set in order before thee then thou cryest out O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Is it God that hath thought of me and waited to be Gracious and hath born my Sin long how wonderful is his patience towards me All these things
working in the Soul tend to beget a Love to God and fervent desires after being cleansed and purified from Sin and earnest Prayer to the Lord to make that Holy Fire to kindle that would burn it up The more the Soul trusteth in Christ the more doth this Heavenly Fire burn up our Lusts and then a Man feels a great change in his mind The things saith he that I delighted in are now grievous to me I hope I shall never be found in those things again my mind is now taken off them who took it off Didst thou not strive before to take it off I did but I could not do it There are many I believe in this Assembly before the Lord that are my witnesses in this matter that when they came to Christ the Mediator he changed their minds and he untyed the Devils fetters they were tyed to their Sins and Lusts but he hath unloosed them and set them at liberty and they now find such a change that they hate those things they loved and when they come to think of them they are ashamed they are ashamed of those things that they formerly took pleasure in What fruit saith the Apostle had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed So I say what pleasure have you in Sporting and Gaming and Drinking and Company-keeping What pleasure have you to think of your Wanton Discourses What pleasure in Pride and Vanity What pleasure in Wrath and Bitterness of mind And what pleasure in Malice and Envy What pleasure have you in those things whereof you are now ashamed So far as you are convinced you are ashamed to think of them I am ashamed to think that the Devil at such a time by such a Temptation should prevail over me I would to God you were all come to this to be ashamed that you might remember your past evil Ways and Actions with sorrow and shame There is a secret Joy in this Sure it is better to be ashamed than to continue in impudence God hath wrought this change at last and who shall have the Glory of it God shall have the glory of it for his own Works will praise him What men do many times they do for their own praise but when they are at their wits end and know not what to do they cast themselves upon their Maker to see if he will have mercy upon them if not they must Perish then for what he doth he gets the Glory and the Praise of it There are some here that are bound to praise God while they have a Day to live for what he hath done for them They could never have loved God with all their Hearts but they would have continued Strangers to God and the Devil would have led them Captive at his Will They would not have loved God with all their Hearts had not God first shed abroad his love upon their hearts and constrained them to love him it is he that hath first loved them and wrought in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Whatsoever we are we are by the Grace of God this Grace is magnified in them that believe and obey the Gospel My Friends we know there is so much Peace and Pleasure in the ways of God so much Soul-satisfaction in Walking with God and loving of him with all our Hearts That I should be glad that every one of you were of the same mind and had experience of it We Labour diligently for this purpose and we would set before you these two things First how we may come to know our miserable State by Nature What a blessed and happy Sâ—ate they are in that have been Converted and Changed that have been translated out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of God's Dear Son Consider your State by Nature is Evil we hope that many of you in hearing the Reports of the Gospel concerning the goodness of the Lord his great love in sending his Son into the World to seek and save you that were lost and that you may believe in him And we are perswaded that by the Foolishness of Preaching God will save some of you that you may be his Redeemed Ones and trust to no other Saviour for there is not any other Name under Heaven but the Name of Jesus by which you can be saved He only can take away the Sâ—ns of the World his Spirit searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins which he promised to send into the World when he was leaving it Now I dare Proclaim that Holy Spirit to be the Spirit of the God of Heaven that now sees what Resolution thou art of and what thou art now proposing to do whether to go on in Sin or to return to God This I can speak without Blasphemy it is God's Spirit that searcheth thy Heart and knoweth thy thoughts and purposes and convinceth thee of thy Sin God hath sent his Son Christ Jesus into the World to enlighten you that by his Light you might see him and that by his Grace you migh Receive him and that by his Grace you might be saved To him I commit you all and these words that we have spoken are in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit according as he hath wrought in us I must tell you we were never called of God to Study Sermons for you nor to Preach things that are made Ready to our hands but as the Lord our God hath wrought in us and as God hath been pleased to make known his mind to us and by his Spirit given us utterance So we speak and so we Preach You that are come to believe and receive the things of the Spirit you will Judge what I say I speak unto you that are Spiritual Judge ye what I say saith the Apostle so when I speak of Divine and Heavenly things you that are Spiritual Judge what I say and as you come to Judge and Determine in your selves that these things are true you will feel the Power of them in your own Spirits And we shall all be of the same mind and as we have One God we shall serve him in sincerity and Worship him with Reverence then his Name shall be Exalted in the midst of us and we shall Edifie one another in Love and we shall instruct one another and call upon one another Come let us go to the House of the God of Jacob He will Teach us and Preserve us in his way and do us good and keep us from all Evil. Turn your minds inward and consider that God is a God at hand ready to help you and he requires no more of you than of other People in former times to love the Lord with all your Hearts and to abstract and withdraw your minds from all other things that do come in Competition with him and be sure to have no Trust or Dependance but upon him Then see what God will do for you no Tongue can express nor Pen Write neither
hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive the things that God hath prepared for those that love him That Wisdom and Knowledge that Joy and Peace and Consolation that passeth all understanding He will reveal and Communicate by his Spirit to them that love him and trust in him and rely upon him and receive teaching from him he will feed them with Food in due season he will bring the former and the latter Rain and they shall be as Trees planted by the River of Water and bring forth Fruit in due season and their Leaf shall not Fade or wither This hath been Londons wonder and Englands wonder How comes it to pass that such a Peoples Leaf hath not Withered nor Faded as many have done Our Root was by a River If we had stood in our selves if our dependance and support had been upon Doctrines Tenets and Commandments of Men then our Leaf would have been upon the Ground as well as others but because we have been upon Our Root Christ Jesus that is always Green both in Summer and Winter therefore our Leaf hath not withered to the Praise of God and the Honour of his Name be it spoken He hath preserved us for we have no Power of ouâ— selves no more than others but we trust in God and have received Power from God to stand as witnesses for him We have trusted in the Lord and he hath stood by us and delivered us when we were compassed about with Dangers and Distresses If we continue to trust in him still he will bring us through all our Tryals and Troubles and he will be with us and never leave us nor forsake us if we take him for our God we shall never need any other We read that Senacherib King of Assyria sent Rabshekah to Jerusalem to Hâ—zâ—kiah with a great Army saying What Confidence is this wherein thou trustest and he spake also to the People and cryed with a loud Voice hear you the Words of the Great King of Assyria let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you neither let Hezâ—kiah make you trust in the Lord saying the Lord will deliver us Hezekiah he went and prayed to the Lord saying O Lord of Hosts God of Israel that dwellest between the Cherubims thou art the God the God alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth thou hast made Heaven and Earth incline thine Ear O Lord and hear open thine Eyes O Lord and See and hear all the words of Senacherib which hath sent to Reproach the living God c. And we Read that after he had presented his supplication before the Lord The Angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians one hundâ—ed fourscore and five thousand and when they aâ—ose eaâ—ly in the Morning behold they were all Dead Corps Thus you see what came of it aâ— last and thus it hath been in our Day they thâ—t trust in the Lord he will deliver them and they shall never be ashamed nor Confounded but as for all other Gods they that trust in them shall be confounded and covered with shame and they and their Gods will perish together And now my Friends I beseech you all to have respect to this great duty of putting your whole trust in the Lord who is the Living God and he will be always present with you and work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure he will support and preserve you in all your Tryals and sufferings that you may be Vessels of Honour to bear his Name in the Earth and to sound forth his Praise to the following Generations His Prayer after Sermon MOST Glorious infinite Powerful Father who hast Created us and given us Life and Breath and lengthened out our time to this Day and hast long waited to be Gracious to us and art still waiting upon the Sons and Daughters of Men holding forth the hand of thy love and offering thy Grace and tendering Salvation unto them and hast brought a Day of Visitation upon the Inhabitants of this City and Nation Glory Praise and Thanksgiving be to thee O Lord that by thy Power hast inclined the Hearts and Consciences of the Sons and Daughters of Men to submit to thee and bowed their Necks to the Blessed and easie Yoke of thy Son Jesus Christ that they may do thy will on Earth as it is done in Heaven They that are Traveling and distressed and Afflicted in their Souls because of their bondage do thou arise living Father and reveal and discover thy Power to them shew them the exceeding greatness of thy Power that they may trust therein and be safe make bare thine Arm for their Salvation Those that are slumbering in their Profession let them be awakened and bring to thine Heavenly Kingdom those that have passed through thy Refining Fire and whom thou hast Cleansed and Sanctified Powerful Father of Life carry on thy work among thy People every where gather them that are scattered and bring back to thy self those that are wandering and out of the way and seeking the living among the Dead Lord teach them and let them hear a Voice behind them and guide them to thy Holy Mountain that they may be brought to the path of Life and to the place which thou hast provided for thy little Flock to meet and Feed together Offering unanimosly the Sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving which thou hast ordained and appointed in thine House Blessed and Powerful Father all thy little ones be pleased to surround with thine Almighty Power and where ever they are let them feel thy preserving Hand delivering them from the Evil of the World We pray not that thou should'st take them out of the World but to preserve them from the Defilements and Pollutions of it That a Holy People may serve thee the Holy God and bear thy Holy Name upon their Hearts That that above all may be exalted and magnified and humble Thanksgivings and Praises may be given unto thee through Jesus Christ for all thy love thou hast manifested and for thy abounding mercies and renewed favours which we have received at thy hands to thee living Father through Christ Jesus thy well beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased be all Honour Praise and Dominion rendred by us and all thy People from henceforth and for Ever and Ever Amen Sermon IV. The Standard of Truth Preached at Grace-Church-Street May 29. 1692. THERE is an Universal Standard of Truth that God hath set up over all the Sons and Daughters of Men he hath given the Knowledge of it in and through Jesus Christ he hath dealt it out to them that they may be capable of joyning and adhering to the Truth and to be delivered from Eternal Condemnation This Standard and Measuring Rule is revealed and manifested in every Man and Woman by the Light that shines in their Hearts by which they are able to discern and to give a sound and true
a Voice behind thee saying this is the way walk in it There is a Voice that calls to People in our Days to look behind them for they are out of the way This Prophecy is fulfilled in our Days we cannot turn away from the good ways of God but we may hear a Voice behind us saying thou art sinning against God and breaking the Holy Law of God Now if People return it must be by the Cross I will not return to God saith one I have Pleasure Profit and Honour and whatsoever my Heart can desire in this evil way that I am walking in if I return I shall have nothing but shame and Reproach I shall be undone and ruined and I shall lose the Favour and Friendship of my Friends and Relations I cannot return to God but through a Daily Cross and self Denial What then It 's likelier to be the right way this bearing the Cross Christ tells us If any will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Me. This Voice of Christ calls me to repent and turn from Sin and giveth me a strong Argument that it is true that it is the same way that will bring me back to God by the Mediator It brings its own Evidence with it We need no Argument to prove that it is a right way It is a right way because it is the narrow way It is the right Gate because it is the strait Gate Every body can walk in the broad way with ease without any Cross When People are come thus far that they are convinced of their Duty when they are called to amend their Lives and Conversations to forsake their Sins and turn to the Lord This is the great Question now Have I Power to do this This Question hath stumbled a great many when they have some beginning thoughts of turning to the Lord and at last they have setled themselves in a belief that they cannot do it it is true and nothing truer that Men Convinced of their Sins have not Power to leave their Sins of themselves This is true but not all the Truth to Men that God convinceth of Sin He gives them Power to be made willing to forsake their Sins He hath given Power to all that are in Christ Jesus to believe and become the Sons of God then they have denied ungodliness and Worldly Lusts If they be the Sons of God and live Righteously Soberly and Godly in the World But what shall they do that are sensible they have not Power to forsake their Sin till God is pleased to give them Power Such have nothing to do but to wait upon the Lord for the giving of this Power and then I have a Duty Incumbent to me to Answer this Power The Apostle upon this subject tells us what People are to do for their own Conversion He ascribes the Power of Conversion to Christ Jesus The Prophets and Apostles they tell us there is something for Man to do that is if he hath not Power he is to be willing to receive it The Apostle hath a notable Expression to this purpose He puts them in mind how they used to do by the Devil when they were the Devils servants they did obey his Commands and yielded their Members servants to Unrighteousness How did they yeild They did it Heartily with pleasure and delight thus you did when you did not know the Power of God but now you are come to the knowledge of the Power of God Yield not your Members as Instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your Members as Instruments of Righteousness unto God Rom. 6.13 Let your Minds and wills and Affections be joyned to that Power which God Visited you with in Love to God give up your Members as Servants unto Righteousness Here is something for Man to do in the Day of Gods Visitation Thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power That they may come to that and experience that this shews that they are the People of God But they that are not a willing People are none of Gods People but Gods People are so And I pray God make you all so to be a People willing to be Gods People when he gives you Power and it will not be long before he gives you Power to forsake your Sins to forsake this and the other Foolish Proud and vain Action and fashion he hath made Christ Jesus to be Lord and King and he shall Reign over Death he hath made all things by Christ and he is become the Saviour of all Men but especially of them that believe so that I would have a special Salvation and thou wouldest have it too Christ hath made a way and opened a door for us to be saved that we might have an abundant entrance into his Everlasting Kingdom But I would have a special Salvation that will invest me with the Love of God in my Heart before I die It is to be had only through Christ therefore to him will I come to him must every one come and every Knee bow to his Name and every one must wait to his appearing in the Spirit When Christ appears Truth stirs Now if a Holy Divine Life is in thee it is He if a Principle of Truth stir in thee it is He The same Jesus only in a smaller Manifestation He that is Faithful in a little He will make him Ruler over much This is he that God hath ordained to be the Captain of our Salvation this is that which we Preach in his Name and testifie and declare to all People that there is no other Saviour No deliverance from Death and Hell but by and through him In him there is Reconciliation and that Peace which passeth all Understanding and Power over all those things which have Captivated us and made us disobey our great Lord and Maker Let us wait for the coming of Christ He is our King our Lord and Lawgiver and he will save us This was the cry of his People of Old for the glorious and great Salvation he hath given and the Work he hath wrought Let the Prayers and Supplications of all People that desire Salvation be put up more and more that he will visit the Earth and give Power from above and bring us into that New and Living Way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh to whom be Glory for Ever and Ever Amen His Prayer after Sermon BLessed and Eternal Father thou hast brought forth thy Glorious Name and revealed thy Powerful and mighty Arm Thou hast caused a Remnant to bow and Worship at thy appearance thou art wonderful O Lord thy Majesty is great and they that behold thy Glorious appearance will bow and with humble Reverence Worship before thee Thy Power is gone forth and hath reached the Hearts of thy People thou hast humbled them and subjected them to
thy Divine Almighty Power that they might appear in the Earth to the Praise and Glory of thy great Name And O Lord as thou hast begun a great Work in the Earth so thou hast committed this great Work to thy Servants and Children that bear thy Name among the Sons of Men that they should shew forth thy Righteousness among the Inhabitants of the Earth And our Souls have said many times who is fit and sufficient for these things All our sufficiency and Preparation is from thee do thou make bare thine Arm and Reveal and make known thy Power We have found thy Presence with us from day to day and thou hast upheld them that know thy Love O Glorious God of Life herein we have Encouragement to go on in the work that thou hast called us to Hereby we are enabled to Worship before thee and to offer up Living Praises to thy great Name for that Consolation that thou hast Ministred unto thy People And O living Father we have never waited upon on thee in Vain when ever we have met together in thy Name we have found thy Divine presence and the opening of the Treasures of thy Love of thy Wisdom and of thy Favour unto thy Children so that from day to day and even at this day thou remembrest thy People and givest them fresh occasions to draw nigh to thee and to receive their daily nourishment and strength from the Operation of thy Power O living God of Life gather up the Hearts of thy People more and more unto thy self and draw them into a nearness to thy self that their Understandings may be more opened to discern thy will and subject themselves to thy Wisdom that every thought that is exalted against thy Divine Power and living Voice in their own Consciences may be brought down That so all the Nations of the Earth may bow before thee that so thy truth may Reign and thy Power may be exalted and the Righteousness which thou hast revealed may shine out more and more in the brightness and glory of it and inlighten those that are afar off that they may be brought to seek after thee And O thou living God of life and power let those that are bowed down under the weight of Sin be supported and raised up And let those that are weary and heavy laden have rest to their Souls Powerful God of life keep thy People in the fresh and living sense of thy love and of thy Heavenly Vertue by which thou nourishest thy Children and satisfiest them from Day to Day not only when they are met together but when they are separated from one another let thy People be preserved from the World while they are in it and let thy Wisdom and Power give them Victory over it That thou mayest have the Glory of all thy Mercies and Blessings vouchsafed to them for thou alone art worthy who art God over all Blessed for Ever and Ever Amen Sermon VI. The Divine Monitor OR Light from Heaven Preached at Grace-Church-Street June 19. 1692. IT is a great Priviledge to the Sons and Daughters of Men that it hath pleased God Almighty to open a way how they may come to the true Knowledge of himself And O that there was a Heart in every one of us that could rightly prize this Priviledge as they ought to do for in the Knowledge of the true God consists our true Happiness and without this the mind of no Man or Woman can be be good there is nothing seasons the mind and Soul of Man and prepares and fits it for an everlasting well-being but the Divine Knowledge of the living God that made him And there is a Propensity in the Soul of Man even since the Fall to return again to God and to have that acquaintance and Communion with the Lord that Man had before he fell and they that have regard to that inward spark of Divine Love that they find in their own Souls towards God they will experience that the Lord is merciful and Gracious and Propitious to that which is of himself For though the Soul is lost and Man is lost through transgression and a great Alienation is happened between him and his Maker yet the Mercy of the Lord endureth for ever And his kindness and favour to lost Man is such that he stretcheth out his hand all the day long and presents and offers to the Children of Men a Friendship and Acquaintance and a Communion again with him and though by Sin and Transgression there is a rebellous Nature grown up in the Sons and Daughters of Men yet the Soul of Man is not wholly so there is something that strives and labours in a contrary way and persuades the Soul to turn again unto the Lord and to wait for the knowledge of God and whosoever hearkens with care and diligence to that Divine Monitor that is daily drawing and persuading People to seek after God they come to understand that the Lord is not so Angry with Mankind but his Love and Mercy and Good-will reaches towards all the Sons and Daughters of Men and the Bar that hinders their Communion with God and Peace with God it is not in the Lord but it is in themselves and therefore the remedy must be wrought in themselves This is evident to every Eye that there is something gotten into Mankind which the Holy God cannot own and can never have fellowship with That is another contrary Spirit hath wrought upon the Souls of People and hath seduced and drawn them out to that which is unholy and contrary to God and the terms of Gods Covenant with Mankind which is that he should forsake that which the contrary Spirit hath wrought Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts Why should he forsake his ways Because the Lord never led him to those ways He that made him never led him into them but the Devil the Enemy of Mankind seduced him into those ways therefore the Creatour cries out to him Let the wicked forsake his Ways and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts I cannot have union with him as long as he walks in his evil ways I cannot dwell in his mind so long as evil thoughts are in it so may the Lord complain of the works which the Devil hath wrought that Man is carryed away from God by his evil thoughts and the works of the Devil Why doth not God destroy those works when he is Almighty and able to do it Very true God is so but he hath offered to Mankind through the Son of his Love a way and means how Man may come to be purged and cleansed from the evil that the Devil hath wrought in him and how he may come to be reconciled to God God hath not chosen the way of Coertion and Force and to work altogether by irresistible Power that Man shall go to Heaven whether he will or no there was no force used for his going to Hell and Darkness but
Lord Jesus Christ to whom thou hast given a Name above every Name and let his kingdom and glory be exalted over all and shine forth in the midst of us Blessed Father of Life give wisdom to our Counsellers that they may Counsel for thee Make known thy will and send help from Heaven to all that stand in need thereof and that wait upon thee for it Give them thy Holy Spirit that they may be guided in thy way let thy Son Jesus Christ have the stearing and Governing of all things and let Glory be rendered to thy great aad worthy Name and keep us in the Love of God and in Union one with another let the stroak of thy Power remain upon the Hearts of all whose Hearts thou hast touched at this time let them be bowed down always in thy Holy Worship and remain in a belief of thy truth and cease to do evil and learn to do well and walk acceptably before thee that so Transgression may be finished and Sin and Iniquity may be put to an end and that Truth and Righteousness may be set up and shine among us and that our Souls may rejoyce in thee that we may magnifie and praise thy Power and Glorifie thy Name for thou art worthy of all Honour praise and glory and humble thanksgivings for the manifestation of thy love and Power All which we desire to offer thee through Jesus Christ who art God over all blessed for ever and ever Amen Sermon VII The Inward Preacher Or The Office of Conscience Preached at Grace-Church-Street June 21. 1692. My Friends MAny have been sent among you that from Living experience have declared their Testimony for the truth that you might all be brought to wait for the testimony of Truth in your selves This is that which will stand you in stead to know the testimony of truth in your own Hearts to be for you Therefore you are to wait especially at such times as these to hear the Voice of Truth in your own Souls For whatsoever the Preacher preacheth if the Truth in thine own Heart doth not speak Peace it is not well with thee Whatsoever testimonies are born of the Truth it self it is the Truth that must bear testimony of thee That unerring Word that gives to every one an Infallible evidence of their Peace with God or against that which hinders them You know our labour hath been to perswade all People to hearken unto the Truth in themselves and to make it their business and travel and endeavour that they might have unity with the Truth in their own Hearts that their Consciences may not condemn them For such as you in whom God hath raised his witness and hath exalted his Truth for a Judge You are not Ignorant nor covered over with darkness as many others are you do not remain in doubt but you know the Truth and have an Answer of Peace in well doing and a condemnation in evil doing not Administred to you only by Preachers without but by the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit of God in your own Hearts This is that standing Ministry which God hath raised which can never be put down again but as each one may put it down in themselves I grant that Men may put it down You have read and had it plainly witnessed to you even killing the just and Crucifying the Lord of Glory and of spiritual Sodom and Egypt These things you have read of and you that are turned to the Light know the meaning of those sayings by woful experience for when ever you have turned aside from a due subjection to rhe Grace of God by which we are convinced then there hath been a piercing and Crucifying the Son of God a fresh and a vexing and a grieving the Holy Spirit by which you should be Sealed to the Day of Redemption then there hath been Anguish and Tribulation upon your Souls And if this be minded it will plant a fear upon the Heart and make you affraid to do the like again but where this Tribulation and Anguish is neglected and put off there a custome of Sin takes away the sense of Sin As you know many have had more Judgment at sometime upon them for a vain word or a vain Thought than afterward they have come to have for the most abominable wicked Action How come this to pass Was Sin ever the better Or hath it changed its Nature No but they are further off from the sense of the evil of it this is the word of Truth to which you must stand or fall this is the Stone that whosoever falls upon it shall be broken and tendered But if they stay till the weight of Truth fall upon them it will grind them to Powder They that will have a life of liberty let the Truth say what it will I will have my liberty and use my Tongue as I list I will be wanton and proud and envious and malicious though I know these things to be nought and the witness in my Conscience testifies that these things are wicked and contrary to the will of God yet I will have them whosoever comes to this Mind the Stone is near falling upon them and they will be ground to Powder they are like the barren Earth which beareth Thorns and Briars and is rejected and is nigh unto Cursing whose end is to be burned Therefore Friends I entreat you to hearken to the Word of the Lord it is a holy Word an old Word many have professed it There are some Preachers that will cry Hearken to the Word of the Lord in such a Chapter and such a Verse My Testimony this Day is Hearken to the Word of the Lord but where shall we find it some will say I tell you it is written with the Finger of God in your own Consciences and is either for you or against you Let your Profession amongst Men be what it will this Minister of the Covenant hath no respect of Persons or regard to Profession he will not excuse this or that Man because he makes a greater Profession of his Name than others this rather is his Judgment and his Condemnation shall be more swift and sharp upon him that makes a Profession of Christs Name If Judgment begin at the House of God what shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel of God These that take upon them a strict Profession they do greater dishonour to God than those that cry out there is no Reformation there can be no Living without Sin these Profess what they do and they do as they Profess But when People come to Profess Holiness and Righteousness and Profess a Power also by which Righteousness is obtained but live not strictly according to their Profession these are they That cause the Name of God to be Blasphemed among the Heathen more than they that say there can be no living without Sin Now this Witness of God hath no respect to Profession but hath respect
to every Fable Several of them very applicable to the Present times by R. B. Price bound one shilling Divinity 26. THE Divine Banquet or Sacramental Devotions consisting of Morning and Evening Prayers Contemplations and Hymns for every day in the Week in order to a more Solemn Preparation for the worthy Receiving of the Holy Communion representing the several steps and degrees of the Sorrows and Sufferings of our blessed Saviour till he gave up the Ghost As 1. His Agony in the Garden 2. His being betrayed by Judas 3. His being falsly accused smitten buffetted and spit upon before Caiphas the High Priest 4. His condemnation scourging crowning with Thorns and being delivered to be crucified by Pontius Pilate 5. His bearing his Cross 6. His crucifixion 7. Our Saviour's Institution of the Blessed Sacrament Together with brief Resolutions to all those scruples and objections usually alledged for the omission of this important duty With eight curious Sculptures proper to the several parts with Graces Imprimatur Z. Isham R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. a Sacris Price 1 s. 27. A Guide to Eternal Glory Or brief Directions to all Christians how to attain Everlasting Salvation To which are added several other small Tracts As 1. Saving Faith discovered in three heavenly conferences between our Blessed Saviour and 1. A Publican 2. A Pharisee 3. A doubting Christian 2. The threefold state of a Christian 1. By Nature 2. By Grace 3. In Glory 3. The Scriptures concord compiled out of the words of Scripture by way of question and answer wherein there is the sum of the way to Salvation and spiritual things compared with spiritual 4. The Character of a true Christian 5. 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THE Young Mans Calling or the whole Duty of Youth in a serious and compassionate Address to all young persons to remember their Creator in the days of their Youth Together with Remarks upon the Lives of several excellent young Persons of both Sexes as well Ancient as Modern who have been famous for Virtue and Piety in their Generations With twelve curious Pictures Illustrating the several histories Price 1 s. 6 d. 30. THE Vanity of the Life of Man represented in the Seven several Stages thereof With Pictures and Poems exposing the Follies of every Age. Price Eight pence 31. MOunt Sion or a draught of that Church that shall stand for ever Together with a view of that World which shall be broken in pieces and consumed By William Dyer Author of Christs Famous Titles and a Believers Golden Chain Price One Shilling 32. DIstressed Sion Relieved or the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness A Poem Wherein are discovered the grand Causes of the Churches trouble and misery under the late dismal Dispensation With a compleat History of and Lamentation for those Renowned Worthies that fell in England by Popish rage and cruelty from the Year 1680. Humbly Dedicated to Their Present Majesties By Benjamin Keach Author of a Book called Sion in Distress or the Groans of the true Protestant Church Price one shilling 33. ANtichrist Stormed or the Church of Rome proved to be Mystery Babylon the Great Whore Rev. 17. by many and undeniable Arguments Answering all the Objections of the Papists and all others Together with the Judgment of many Antient and Modern Divines and most Eminent Writers concerning the rise and final ruin of the Beast and Babylon proving it will be in this present Age. With an Account of many strange Predictions relating to these present Times By Benjamin Keach Price One Shilling 34. THE Devout Souls Daily Exercise in Prayers Contemplations and Praises containing Devotions for Morning Noon and Night for every day in the week with Prayers before and after the Holy Communion And likewise for Persons of all conditions and upon all occasions With Graces and Thanksgivings before and after Meat By R. P. D. D. Price bound Six pence 35. SAcramental Meditations upon divers select places of Scripture wherein Believers are assisted in preparing their hearts and exciting their affections and graces when they drawâ—nigâ— to God in that most awful and solemn Ordinance of the Lord Supper By Jo. Flavel Minister of Christ in Devon Price one Shilling 36. JACOB Wrestling with GOD and prevailing Or a Treatise concerning â—he Necessity and Efficacy of Faith in Prayer Wherein divers weighty Questions and Cases or Conscience about praying in Faith are stated and resolved For the comforting and satisfying of weak and scrupulous Consciences The Conviction of formal Hypocrites awakening of all Saints both weak and strong great and small to this great Duty of Prayer By Tho. Taylor formerly at Edmunds Bury now Pastor to a Congregation in Cambridge Price one Shilling 37. SEveral Sermons or Declarations of Mr. Stephen Crisp late of Colchester in Essex 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 in Devonshire House London And now faithfully Transcribed and Published Together with his Prayer at the end of every Sermon Price bound one Shilling All Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside FINIS
Prophet was no other than Christ Jesus it was not John Baptist nor Paul nor Peter but Christ that was promised to be raised there was such an absolute Command went along with that Prophecy That all should hear him and it had a threatning at the end of it That all that will not hear him shall be cut off Are there not Whoremongers and Drunkards and Lyars that will not hear this Prophet They will not hear him because they love their Sins what becomes of them They are cut off from the enjoyment of the Love and Favour of God And when they did draw nigh to God in Prayer and other Religious exercises it was with them as it was with Cain Sin lies at the Door When they come into a storm at Sea or are Arrested with sickness and Death looks them in the face they would have Peace but there is Distress and Trouble in the Room of it what is the matter wast thou not baptized into the Christian Faith Did not the Minister tell thee That thou art a Child of God and an Inheriter of the Kingdom of Heaven Alas my Sin lies at my Door Oh that I had time to live a better Life What ails thy life Man My Life hath been a Life of Deceit Lust and Vanity Corruption and Hycrisie Did not thy Teacher teach thee that a believer hath no guilt upon him but that all his Sins are pardoned from the day he became a believer This Doctrine will not hold in a storm though it will do in fair Weather when men are swimming in their pleasures it will serve them but when they come to deal with their Maker no Faith will serve them but that which purifies the heart and that which makes a change from the Earthly Image to the Heavenly It were better for you and I and every one of us to take these things into consideration while we have health and strength and while some Sand as I may so speak is in our Glasses to consider what is my Faith What is the Object of it Have I a dependency upon my Duties and Alms and good Deeds They will fail me But if my dependency is upon Christ as a Saviour and a Sanctifyer and my Sanctification is carryed on gradually He that hath begun a good work in me will perfect it And if the reason of my going to Meetings and going into my Closet and bowing my self before the Lord is to keep close to him that carries on the Work of Sanctification he will work all my work in me and for me I cannot expect to live in this World but I shall meet with Temptations the Devil will Tempt me but my Saviour will be nigh me as nigh to me as the Devil can be If I Keep close to him he will keep close to me My Father saith Christ is greater than I and none is able to pluck you out of your Fathers hands I must expect to be tempted For the Adversary the Devil goes about like a Roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour Alas saith one though I have made some progress in the work of Sanctification yet for all that he may one day betray me Am I grown strong enough to resist his Temptations And wise enough to foresee all his Gâ—ns and Traps which he lays to insnare me But I know who can see them and defeat them I have my Faith fixed upon one that can bind the strong Man and cast him out The Life that I now live is not in my own Parts and by my own Understanding and Sence But the Life that I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God This is that Faith that gives me victory the Apostle had a battle for it I have fought the good fight and henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness and not for me only but for all them that love the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ And that come to have familiarity with Christ with his Spirit and Truth in their Hearts with his Grace and Word though these are several Expressions they all signifie one Immortal seed of Life by which men are United to God It is a Leaven there to Leaven them into the Divine Nature Whenever such a one his Tempted he resists not the Tempter in his own power but he waits to feel the arisings of that Life and Power and Vertue that was in Christ Jesus and is in him still he waits for that power that in the name of Christ he may say Get thee behind me Satan Being fortifyed by Christs Name and armed with his power What is it that a Christian cannot do What Valiant Noble and Wonderful things have they done that have been shielded with this Faith See the Eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews All the Repetitions of that Chapter from one end to the other in all of them the Apostle he ascribes all the Valiantness and Couragiousness of those noble Acts to the power of Faith they looked to Jesus before ever the Virgin Mary brought him forth of her body The Prophets did earnestly seek to know those things which the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signifie That there was to be a Prophet before ever the Virgin Mary was born So that Christ was always the Object of a true Believers faith tho' under the Law they had an high Priest and he was placed at the Altar and they had Offerings burnt upon it Yet they had an Eye unto Christ They had an undervaluing of all that their Sacrifices could do for them If thou wouldst have had burnt Offerings saith David I would have given them I would not have with-held them from thine Altar thou shouldest have had enough of them He was bold to say in respect of Acceptance and Reconciliation Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me for it is written in the Volume of the Book I come to do thy Will O God He had an Eye unto Jesus that was to come upon whom help was laid there was a Redeemer that should come from Sion and a Lawgiver from Jerusalem they had an Eye beyond Sacrifices unto Christ In all Ages the People of God they have had the Answer of their Souls which is Reconciliation and the Favour of God they that had this Answer never had it but by Christ No Man can be accepted with God can never have the desire of his Soul Answered in Peace and Reconciliation with God till his Faith be placed on Christ Jesus Neither can any man have Faith in Christ at a distance and thereby be Reconciled unto God but must know his Spirit I must have an experimental knowledge of his Power and Wisdom and this I cannot have without his Spirit Let me believe never so Orthodoxly except I have the Spirit of Christ it will do me no good it will be of no Advantage to me This is the Word that was in my heart as a well
wisher to the Souls of all Men As God hath done good to my Soul So I cannot but wish well to the Souls of others That as he hath found out a way for my Redemption and Salvation so likewise I wish the same for others that are bond-men and bond-women and under the Power of their Corruption Gods work hath been to destroy the Bondage and the Oppression and to destroy the Tyrant that Reigns over the Souls of his People God having made them for his Glory and the Devil hath Stolen them away that they do not that which pleaseth God But God's good pleasure is that all may be Saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth And God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish but have Everlasting Life And he is called The Lamb of God which takes away the Sins of the World He can take away Sin if my Sin do not obstruct my Faith and Confidence in him he will take it away and if he takes that away then he makes the Tree good Nothing hinders us from the injoyment of God but Sin and if Christ will take it away by the blood of his Cross no matter for all the Scorn Contempt Hardship Reproach and Persecution of this World no matter for he hath not deceived us but told us before hand If we will be followers of him and be led by him we must expect these things suffering Reproaches Persecutions Disdain Envy these things come not uncertainly upon us the World loves its own and cannot love them that are not of it but they that are now of the World may be brought to the terms of God and they may not be any longer of the World Christ Prayeth not that his Disciples may be taken out of the World but kept from the evil he prayed for them that did not believe So that Christ is a Mediator for all men and a Propitiation for all men and he is working by his Spirit for the Redemption of all men That to as many as believe in him to them he gives Power to become the Sons of God The sum of all is this that we have an opportunity put into our hands we cannot deny it you must all upon search confess that the Grace of God doth often work in your hearts against any Corruption against any Evil Let not this prize be put into our hands in vain as into the hands of fools If I knew that this and that was a sin I would leave it let us be of that mind and we shall soon know it Then say If I knew such a thing to be a sin If I could get a thousand pounds by it I would not do it why should'st thou love sin for profit or pleasure I am sure it is an ill bargain when it is done Whatsoever I am convinced of is a sin I will not it Resolve upon this and there the Grace of God will be at work we shall soon see that we must leave off sinning there is such a thing I must leave God hath set up a Judgment in my mind against it though it bring profit and pleasure away it must go here is a step a following step to follow Christ he that will deny himself will follow Christ My Redeemer shews me this to be an evil I will not do it but follow him and imitate him Here the Soul is led step by step even by Christ the Captain of our Salvation till it is gradually cleansed from sin and reconciled unto God and this can be done by no other means for Prayer and Alms will not do it All that can be done by us will not dot it none can do it but Christ alone that God hath laid help upon that you may all wait for the Divine Operation of his Grace in your hearts that is it which we Labour and Travel for as knowing that God hath wrought wonderfully by it for the Redemption of all those that love him more than they love their pleasures more than they love their sins it must be concluded that following of him and leaving Father and Mother Husband and Wife Children Brethren and Sisters all these things as they stand in competition with him and the Obedience of his Spirit all these must be looked upon as nothing to him Then above all things I must not displease him He can speak Peace and none can take it away and if he take it away none can give it If we follow Christ when this is done then all is done according to the Will of God then the blessing of God descends upon the whole Creation then every man will speak truth to his Neighbour and every man will govern his Family with discretion So God is Glorified and his name comes to be Exalted who is worthy to be Loved Adored and Exalted above all Blessings and Praises to him be Glory who is God over all Blessed for Ever and Ever Amen His Prayer after Sermon MOST Glorious God of Life and Power and of Everlasting Kindness a God of Long-suffering and Patience else we had not been here at this day Lord we are Monuments of thy Mercy thou hast spared us long and hast called unto us in a day when we turned away our Ear from thee thou hast stretched out thy hand all the day long and thou hast gathered a little Remnant of the lost Sheep of the house of Israel to partake of thy Pastures of Life and now all our Souls have been greatly refreshed and comforted since we come to understand and comprehend with the rest of thy Saints the Height and Length and Breadth and Depth of thy Love which in the Son of thy Love thou hast Revealed to us And blessed Father of Life our Souls do breath and cry unto thee on the behalf of Strangers which are Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel that are yet breathing and inquiring after thee And asking the way to Sion O Lord remember them and hear their cry and let their sighing and complaining enter into thine Ears that all they in whom thou hast begun to kindle up holy desires after thee may have them grow into a flame to burn up all their Enmity to thee that so they may be purified by thy judgments and receive of thy Heavenly Grace This is the way which thou hast used with thy Children thou hast commanded them to Worship thee in thy dwelling place thou hast taken them into thy house and fed them with thy finest Wheat refreshed them with thy Loving-kindness and filled them with thy Holy Spirit Dearest God of Love this is the design and purpose of our Meeting together that we may enjoy thy Presence and feel the operation of thy Word and have Communion with thee and thy Son Jesus Christ through thy Holy Spirit the way into Rest and Life is with thee thou canst open and none can shut Lord open the hearts of this People to receive of thy