so you and I are these Trees 'till we have something good in our selves we cannot bring forth good Fruit. Therefore you must have respect to the Principle of Sanctification in your own hearts and turn you to what you may feel an experience of in your selves some Principle of Grace and Light in your hearts that can distinguish between good thoughts and evil thoughts Is this good for me to do I will go on in it with faith and courage but if it be evil I will not touch with it though there be profit and pleasure to allure and draw me to it I will not touch with it though I might gain the World by it Here is Christianity with Life and Soul in it we have been scandalized as if we Preached up Errour for Justification We say there is no Justification without Sanctification so you that know the Power live it and you that desire to know turn your minds to the Light and Grace of God and you will feel the Power that will oppose Sin in its Motion and it will never trouble you in its Action and Workings If I would not do ill to my Neighbour and I judge such a Motion when it is suggested it will never troâ—ble my Conscience because when the Devil moâ—â—d me to it I rejected it I would not follow him It is no Sin to be tempted for our Saviour that was perfectly Holy and free from all Sin was yet tempted he had motions in his mind but he withstood them and resisted the Devil in all his Temptations Christ was tempted that he might be able to succour us when we are tempted and he will do it for all those that wait for him Therefore Friends trust in the Name of the Lord and you shall feel the stirrings of that Power that Hath called you out of darkness into the Marvellous light of the Sun of Righteousness wherein you live and which will shine to his Immortal Glory and Praise and the Everlasting comfort of your Immoral Souls Sermon III. The Spirit of Christ the only True Guide Preached at Grace-Church-Street October 29. 1690. YOU that are met together in the name of the Lord and have your expectation from God and are really waiting to receive a blessing from his Bountiful hand you are they to whom the Lord will communicate the good things of his kingdom and instruct you in the Divine knowledge which the wisdom of this World cannot find out you shall have your portion in the blessings prepared for you and laid up in Christ for you to be handed forth to you from Day to Day for your support And hereby you have been preserved kept alive unto this Day You have received your Nourishment Divine and Spiritual Refreshment always in the presence of God when you have been out of his Presence you have met with troubles and darkness hath Gendered upon your Minds and Vailed and Clouded your Understandings that you have been sometimes in danger to lose your way until you have returned again unto the Great Shepherd and Overseer of your Souls by whom you have had Access unto God You that have had these experiences O! Let your Hearts and Souls be engaged to continue together in one Heart and one Mind serving the Lord and waiting upon him for something that may do you good that may strengthen you and confirm you in the present Truth For there are a great many that are convinced that do yet want establishment there are a great many that know the Truth yet cannot be brought to abide in it but are sometimes drawn out of it and then they meet with trouble in their minds and Distress and Anguish lays hold upon them and they do not enjoy that Tranquility and Peace and that Inward Joy which they believe others do enjoy â—t the same time and which they might have enjoyed if they had abode stedfast in the Truth Now what is it that will establish such a one but their waiting upon God to receive Power from him to resist the Temptations and the manifold Wiles and Snares of their Souls Enemy whereby they are daily in danger to be drawn away from God drawn out of the way You know Friends how the Lord brought us into this Exercise of waiting upon him by making us sensible that there was none could help us but him Teachers we have always had and Men that have spoken of God spoken of his Power and spoken of his Wisdom but how to dwell in that Power and stand established in it as at all times to resist the Power of the wicked one this is that which no man can help us to and upon this account it was that the Lords People were fain to cleave close to him and by Faith to have their dependance upon him and cry in their Souls Lord unless thou establish me I shall never be established The confirming power that stayes and settles their minds upon the Lord it comes from him it is handed to us through the Lord Jesus Christ whom we have believed in they that kept their Faith in him have had longings and breathings of Soul that they might receive some Divine blessing by him through him So that they that meet together in this mind they feel a settlement in the Truth as it is manifested and revealed in them and goes down into thâ— deep where Unity is known where they are of one mind and the Soul is made capable of putting forth strong Cries to God and Living Breathings Prayers to God that he will teach them how they shall profit how they shall grow how they shall serve him and honour him in their Day that he will reveal his Power in them to expel any Darkness or Vail that hath been gathered upon their minds that doth hinder them from beholding so much glory and excellency in the Truth and in the Ways of God as at sometime they have beheld And so these are Travellers that are Travelling with the Lord in Faith to receive a blessing at his hands Their minds are not left to this or that or the other man or to meer words or visible things but they feel the word of Truth answering the Truth in themselves and they receive comfort and benefit because they find a blessing to arise in them These words reach my Soul these administer help to me and I am comforted in them because I find those works working in me or wrought in me For Alas my Friends you know many of you some hear the word and the Declarations in the Word are but sounds unto them that have no experience of the work that is signified by the word so many such people do hear the lovely sound and they are affected many times to hear talk of the work of Regeneration and of the enjoyments of Gods people and how they are born up in all their Tryals by an inward and divine Power and how they are always kept alive to God and preserved in his
THE Second Volume OF Mr. Stephen Crisp's SERMONS THE acceptance which the First Volume of the Sermons of this Author has obtained from Persons of different Perswasions hath occasioned the Publishing a Second of which many seem very desirous I shall say no more of thew let the Works speak for themselves but will only add that the Writer is still willing to satisfie any Inquisitive Doubter none of whom he has hitherto met with that these as well as the former are the Genuine Declarations of Mr. Stephen Crisp without any addition or alteration he having used the utmost exactness in taking and Transcribing them and his care and acuracy therein has been acknowledged and confirmed by many Ear-Witnesses who have heard them from the mouth of the Preacher THE Second Volume OF THE Sermons OR DECLARATIONS OF Mr. Stephen Crisp Late of Colchester in Essex Deceased Exactly taken in Characters or Short-hand as they were Delivered by him at the Publick Meeting-Houses of the People called QUAKERS In Grace-Church-street and Devonshire-House London And now Faithfully Transcribed and Published With some of his Prayers after Sermon LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside 1693 Sermon I. Truths Testimony against the Power of Sin and Satan Preached in Grace-Church-Street June 13. 1688. My Friends GOD hath made you Witnesses of the great Work of this Day the Lord I say hath given you Eyes to see and Ears to hear and Hearts to understand the great Work of the Day he hath called you forth that you may be faithful Witnesses every one in your measure of that which he hath brought to pass in your sight for he hath revealed his Power the Eternal Power by which the World was made he hath revealed and manifested that power for the raising up of Life for the subjecting and bringing under death and the Power of it for a great while a Testimony that hath been born in the Nation hath been unto Death he that hath the Power of Death that is the Devil he hath had a great many to sound out his Power to declare the continuance of his Power how that Death must Reign and Darkness must continue and that the Kingdom of the Man of Sin will never be brought down But now in our Day Glory to God on high here is another sound come forth the Lord Jehovah hath uttered his voice and who can but Prophesie The word of Prophecy is given of God and many are raised up to publish it and to sound forth the Name of the Lord in the Expiration the Ruine and Destruction that is and shall be brought upon the Kingdom of Iniquity upon the Kingdom of the Man of Sin and to Prophesie and declare in the name of the Lord that Righteousness shall run down like a stream this is the Gospel the glad tidings that we receive from God and have ministred unto you that you might believe and that believing you might come to wait upon the Lord and behold the accomplishment of it For my Friends herein hath consisted all the labour and travel and exercise of the Servants of the Lord and for this cause have we suffered many things and gone through many Trials because we have stedfastly believed and therefore we have spoken it that the Lord will certainly by his Almighty Power lay waste destroy and bring to an end that Power that the Wicked one the Devil hath had upon the Minds and Spirits of the Sons and Daughters of Men and that he will set up and establish in the very same Soul a Law of Righteousness and a Law of Truth and will cause the Beauty of Holiness to shine forth through them where Iniquity hath Lodged where the wicked one hath Ruled Now you that have believed this Testimony you have received it as glad tidings unto you for you are weary of that old Service you are oppressed under the Power of that strange Prince there was a kind of Spirit and Power that had Ruled over you that neither gave you life nor breath nor had done any good thing and yet you were subject and many there were who through the grace of God that came to see that State and Condition of Sin and Iniquity was not a happy State and by a secret kindling of the Sparks of Gods Love in your Souls e'er you knew him there was a Cry raised to be delivered if it be possible If there be any Deliverance O why may not I be delivered If there be any Redemption why may not I be redeemed If there be a Power that can set me free from the Service of this Wicked one why may not I be set free Ah Friends remember the Days and Nights in which these Living Cries did run through you then you was poor indeed then you was humble and broken and the Lord beheld you in those days he saw your State and Condition he saw how helpless you were and did not he arise to help you Did not a Power spring forth in the Day of your humility in the day of tenderness by which you became able to make War against the Lusts of your own Hearts and did not you overcome and prevail in your War did not you make progress by the Power and by the Grace that first raised desires in you and as you made this progress and gained ground as I may say of your own Corruptions your Faith came to be strengthned and you were confirmed in the belief and in the obedience of the Truth and the more you trusted and relied upon him the more did he magnifie his Power in you he made known his ability and his strength in your weakness so that you did become Living Witnesses every one in your measure that there was such a Power and that that Power was able not only to save from a little or from a few but was able to save to the uttermost to save out of all that was polluted and defiled and to cleanse and purifie the Conscience from all dead Works and to enable you to serve the Living God Now the Lord having thus established you and confirmed you by his Power that you were sound in the Faith and firm in the believing of the Truth My Friends all the Labour and Travel and Doctrine and Exercises of the Preachers of the Gospel to those who were Converted and Confirmed became very acceptable So we preached and so you believed here was an Unity in our Faith here grew up a Fellowship a Communion in the Faith and the Lord became glorifiâ—d in the Assemblies both of them that preached and of them that heard because each one had a place in the Body and each one had a Saviour of the word of Life by which the Body was nourished Now my Friends that which lies particularly upon me to leave with you for my Testimony and I pray to God it may be placed in the hearts of all you that have believed that is that you may all wait
the first terms of Christianity and to reckon no man a Christian let him profess what he will saving such a one as doth know and witness that the long-suffering and patience and goodness of God doth lead him to Repentance and saving such a one as hath so much Faith towards God that for Love to God he will deny himself and take up his Cross and be a follower of Jesus in that way and Life he lived in It is high time for all of us to return again to the terms of Christianity that were set up by a higher Authority than ever Antichrist had and before Antichrist was revealed for though it is true that Antichrist hath obtained power on Earth to establish his sort of Christianity that is without the Cross and a sort of Religion whereby they indulge themselves in whatsoever pleaseth their Carnal Hearts and Corrupt Minds yet Antichrist hath not all Power he is not Almighty I hope Antichrist nor the Beast nor the Dragon nor the False Prophet nor the Whore they have not all Power on Earth though they have a great deal and by that Power they have establish'd Laws Decrees Canons and innumerable things about Religion and some cry this is the way you must walk in others cry the way to Heaven lies here and here you must travel if you will come thither Some cry this is the truth others say it is errour so that the World is divided Antichrists Government in the World is divided and when the House is divided against it self there is hopes that it will fall at last But there is one to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given and committed and his Christians are not divided among themselves but they are of one heart and of one mind and he that hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him can crush and bruise that power that others have Herod had some and Pilate had some but saith Christ your Power is limited this is your hour and the power of Darkness and thou hadst not had Power saith Christ to Pilate were it not given thee from above here is power given to the Dragon to the False Prophet and the Beast to speak great things but this Power of Antichrist is going away but Christ Jesus was sent into the World in his day to bring people back again to God and to the Primitive Religion and Obedience and to the first terms of Society and Communion and to a fellowship in Christ Jesus through the Holy Ghost Now if we had set up a way of Religion as other Folks have done which is contained in some Canons Articles Doctrines and such and such Observations and Commandments of Men and if Men will confess these Articles and observe these Canons they shall be of our Society then we had done like the rest of the fallen Christians but we have declared from the beginning that professing our Doctrine and the Principles of Religion doth not give any Man Fellowship and Communion with us but our Communion is in the Self-denying Life and a daily Cross in opposition to sensual Lust Vanity Pride and bitterness of Spirit Corruption Enmity and Wrath this hath brought us to a Holy Fellowship and Communion in the Holy Ghost and to live in Unity from one Head which is Christ Jesus so that there is not this Mans Church and the other Mans Church among the People of God Do you read in the Primitive times that Paul had his Church and Peter his Church and James his Church and Jude his Church Indeed they had their Meetings as we have now in many Cities and Countries among the Jews and Gentiles but these Holy Apostles that were the first Publishers of the Everlasting Gospel after their Great Lord and Master Christ Jesus they never did appropriate any Church to themselves that was not their business but our Work and Business saith the Apostle is to gather you to Christ and present you as a Chast Virgin to Christ our work is to turn you from Darkness to Light that you may walk in it and be the Children of it our work is to build you up as a Spiritual House to be presented to Christ the Mediatour This is Primitive Christianity that hath its Foundation in Holiness and Righteousness sincerity and truth not in Words and Terms and Articles and Canons and Decrees and other Observances this is not the Foundation of true Christianity nor will be again when the Devils Kingdom is destroyed which is a shaking for he in whom we believe hath power from his Father to break the Devils head Antichrist and the Dragons head Christ Jesus is signified by divers Names The second Adam Lord from Heaven the Way the Truth and the Life but he is the same Christ so Antichrist is expressed by several Terms and Names but he is the same Power of Darkness he hath made the Nations drunk and to stagger and destroy and devour one another This hath been done in the fallen state of Christians and the design which the Lord Christ hath in sending his Ministers and Workmen to labour among you is to restore Men to the first Christianity and to bring Men to God that Religion is not made up of Doctrines Articles Canons and Decrees of Men but it hath the word of God for its Foundation he that hath an ear to hear let him hear there is some Spirit and Power and visible work in a true Christian which the false Christian never had The false Christians have taken the Name and the Profession of Christ and their Fruits have been dishonourable to him they might as well make profession of Antichrist and Satan they have a form of Godliness they have some of the Word but they deny the Power What is their Religion and outward Profession when they want the internal Life and the motions of the Holy Spirit if they bring forth the Cursed Fruits of the flesh enmity wrath Lust and Corruption which belongs to the fallen Nature and the unregenerate state The Apostle takes notice of this deceit and hypocrisie in Religion which was growing up before he died Men having 〈◊〉 form of Godliness and denying the Power thereof from such turn away If there be any Brethren that walk disorderly have no Company or Fellowship with them if you would have the holy Name of Jesus free from scandal This hath been the design of all the Faithful Ministers of Christ to keep their Holy Profession of the Name of Christ free from reproach that the holiness of Gods ways might be seen in the holy Lives of the Professors of them Till men come to know this and take up their Daily Cross and exercise Self-Denyal their Christianity is good for nothing I would not have you trust in it neither in Articles Tenents or Observations but see how with your Lives you answer your Profession Christ was Holy Harmless Undefiled Separate from Sinners And why should not Christians be so too How can Christians
that Worship and Religion and the performance of those things that are pleasing to God They that are come thus to Worship they do not only know what the Lord requires of them and when he requires it of them but they are given up into the hands of God they Pray Preach Exhort and Live according to the will of God It is hard for People in a Carnal state to believe this but you that are Believers that are come to know the gift of God in your selves and the necessity of being ruled by him you will believe us for none else will believe us let us Preach to as many People and Nations as we will none will receive us as true Ministers but those that have the truth in their own hearts if there be any that despiseth the Grace of God in his own heart he hates that which chides and reproves him if there be such a Man he will hate me because I am a Minister and a Witness of the Grace of God and of that truth in the inward parts which is the ground and foundation that a Man hath of acceptance with God A Wicked Carnal Wretch will say I hate such a one I hate the Light that which checks me and witnesseth against me thou art such a one as bearest witness against me therefore I hate thee It is very true it cannot be otherwise now our desire and labour is that Men may come to the love of the truth in themselves You know there are a great many other Ministers whose Labour is to perswade People to believe what they say to lay down a Doctrine and prove it by Scripture and Reason and set it home upon their Minds by such testimony as the Scripture affords and hereupon they prevail upon the minds and judgments of People to believe what they lay down It is easie to lay down a Position and prove it and convince People that it must be according to Scripture but when a Person is convinced of a Principle of Truth he is not Regenerate thereby and come to God therefore though he cannot deny the Doctrine of Truth in words yet he can deny it in works and doth not rightly come to love it If People would believe what we say and observe what Arguments we bring for proving a Position they may be convinced of the Doctrine of Truth and come to a profession of it and yet be strangers to it till they come to love it in themselves if it were not for this we would leave Preaching if God had not given a measure and manifestation of the Spirit to every Man to profit withall you have it in your selves we are but as Monitors to you to put you in mind of it you have so much business in the World that you have not had leisure to take notice of it A Man may have a Rich Jewel and be Poor notwithstanding till he come to know the value of it A Man hath a Rich and Precious Jewel a Pearl bestowed upon him that would make him Rich in Faith and Love to God and qualifie him for the Kingdom of God and make him an Heir of it but he knows not nor understands the value of it and esteems it not therefore God hath raised up Ministers to put you in mind of it that you may be happy for ever and live in Blessedness to all Eternity whoever hath an ear to hear let him hear and when they hear what we say let them take the benefit of it to their own Souls We bring not truth to you but God hath bestowed it upon you you will be Rich indeed if you do as a Man that bought a Field where the Precious Pearl was and digged till he found it Come to the foundation upon which you should build all your hopes of happiness and depend not upon your own Works or Religious Performances for acceptance with God for there is no acceptance with God but only through Christ we are only accepted of God through him those that will become Christians indeed and worship God as he hath ordained and appointed himself to be worshipped they must come to the Principle of Light and Grace in their own hearts which they have in and through Christ and then they will find acceptance with God Sermon V. The Divine Life of Christ Jesus Preached in Grace-Church-Street March 16. 1691. THE Blessed Life of Christ is not of this World and it ought to be your care in all your Religious Assemblies that you be gathered into the inward feeling sense of this Divine Life that you may feel your Fellowship and Communion in that Life of Christ that is not of this World And may all of you lay hold upon it for this is the Nourishment and the Heavenly Bread with which the Children of the Kingdom are fed and nourished from day to day there are many that feed upon words that are not the Children of the Kingdom of God but the begotten of God are come to know the vertue of the Divine Life of Christ Jesus their feeding and their nourishment is by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God and they grow up to Life Eternal by that Divine and Heavenly Gift that God the Father hath bestowed upon them through his Son Jesus Christ and they enjoy the Communion of Saints through this Divine Head of the Church that Communicates of his Life and Vertue through every Member by which they are Sanctified and every day more and more prepared for that Living and Eternal Inheritance prepared for the Children of God And where there are a People that are thus gathered into the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ they are able to draw nigh to God they feel the Power of Enterance because their Sin is removed that did formerly lie at the door and the way is opened and consecrated for them to draw nigh and partake of the Table of the Lord by which they grow stronger and stronger in his Might and Power and are thereby enabled to perform the whole will of God and that Divine Worship and Religious Service which God requireth at their hands in their day For it is very certain and we have found it by experience the words of our Lord to his Disciples of old without me saith he ye can do nothing For though People may meet together and may pretend and set up a Form of Worship and of Religion in their own will yet it all amounts to nothing with respect to acceptance with the Lord there is no return in their Souls no addition of Life nor encrease and growth of Life they are not nearer the Kingdom than when they first believed but many times further off by leaning upon a formality and not really entering into the work of God nor travelling out of Death into Life for there must be Path and a travelling in it the Soul must have an exercise through the Power and Life of Jesus for the overcoming of Death that did separate
fit and prepare us for the everlasting Kingdom of God they that do wait upon God shall see this work wrought inwardly in them they know more by Faith than they can see by Sense I know and am certain that the Power the Devil hath in the World shall be broken down and Righteousness shall be exalted and justice and equity shall prevail in the Nations I shall not perhaps live to see it but I may see it by Faith I may see enough for my generation and they that live in the next generation shall see it also for the Church of God is the same from one generation to another Now unto us it is given to see the things that in former generations were Prophesied of God having saith the Apostle Provided some better thing for us â—hat they without us should no be made perfect The Church of God from one Generaâ—ion to another have their measure and deâ—ree of service and bear their proper Testiâ—ony and leave the rest to succeding Geneâ—ations it concerns us in our Generation to â—ee a change made inwardly in our Souls and â—he Kingdom of Christ set up within us and â—he Kingdom of Satan brought down in our â—elves This doth not concern my Son or Grandson only but it concerns me and when they grow up to mature Age in their â—ime it will concern them therefore that which is most profitable to us is that we have such a station and stand in such a place â—n our time where we may see the work of God carried on I have considered many a time that there are many brave Men and Women in this Age that might have been eminent Witnesses of God in the World and born their Testimony to his truth but their Faith hath been weak and ineffectual they have discovered their unbelieving hearts and have joyned with the common herd of the World because they thought such great things could never be done that the Kingdom of Satan could never be pulled down and destroyed and the Kingdom of Christ set up within us But I would hope better things of you things that accompany Salvation and that he that hath begun a good work in you will carry it on to perfection that Living Praises and joyful Thanksgivings may be rendered to him who alone is worthy who is God over all blessed for ever to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Sermon VII The undefiled Way to Eternal Rest Preached at Devonshire-House July the 29th 1691. My Friends THE Lord will be with all his People that are undefiled in the Way â—hat are Spiritual Travellers walking in â—hat undefiled Way that leads to an â—ndefiled Rest There are some that by â—his Way are enter'd into Rest that Rest â—hich God hath prepared for them We â—annot apply to our selves that promise that 〈◊〉 made to us of entring into Rest unless we â—e real and true Travellers in the Way that â—ads to it for if we do We deceive our â—wn Souls Therefore you that have had a Sight and Vision of the Way Everlasting that leadâ— unto a Holy Rest you are Engag'd Peoplâ— to make straight steps therein and to have iâ— your daily Care and make it your continual Business to look that your Goings and Foot-steps are of the same nature and kinâ— that the Rest is that you desire to enter into For it is an undefiled Rest that we all are or ought to be Travelling after thereforâ— every one of us must be undefiled in the Way and every Foot-step must be of the same kinâ— and nature and separate from all that whicâ— defileth it and polluteth it that so it maâ— have a tendency to the bringing of the Soâ— nearer to its Rest This Holy Rest many Travellers have aâ—tained by this Holy Travel and many aâ— still in hope to attain it But now they that are full of hope of â—taining this Rest but their Foot-steps aâ— Goings are not of the same nature and kind they are not holy and pure they are not uâ— defiled These have not their Faces truâ— Sion-ward though the Face of their Profâ—sion may stand that way but the Loâ— looks at the Heart of every one and 〈◊〉 knows which way the Heart stands thâ— who have their Hearts truly turned to tâ— Lord they have the mark of Holiness 〈◊〉 their Eye and the mark of purity and righteousness in all their Undertakings because they know there is no attaining to that Divine Rest but by a Holy Way and Travel therefore their trust and reliance is alone on the Lord that is to keep them in all their Way for if they be never so clearly convinced that Holiness and Righteousness is their Duty and is the way whereby they may attain to the Kingdom of God though they are never so fully convinc'd of it yet there lies an impossibility of any walking therein without the Divine Assistance of the Grace of God for though they have been convinc'd by the appearance of his Grace and have had a light that openeth to them a sight of these things it is not this Sight and Vision that will enable them To run the Race that is set before them For the manifold impurities and hindrances which are in our Way between our coming out of Egypts Land the Bondage of Corruption and our entring into the Kingdom of God are too mighty and too great for any Man with his knowledge and strength to overcome The Children of Israel might as well have gone through the Red Sea without the help of God as the Christian Traveller can go through the many difficulties and the many impediments that he is to meet with in his Way without the assistance of God's holy Spirit My Friends It hath been a Labour and Travel at this time upon my Mind that all whom God hath so signally Blessed with the Knowledge of the Truth that you may see your Way and most clearly know and understand that your Way leads to Life Eternal that all and every one of you in your particular Meetings are to have a dependance upon that which can help you in your Way For I have seen too many that have had a wrong dependance after they were rightly Convinc'd and after they have had a true knowledge of their Way wherein they should walk they have too much trusted to openings and sights which they have receiv'd they have thought their Mountain so sure and that their Feet have been past sliding that there hath grown up a state of presumption that they have thought they should never turn aside and have not had due regard to the renewing of the divine Power of God in their Souls that God's Children always musâ— have They have as I may so say forgotten what our Lord said Without mâ— ye can do nothing they have passed a Sentence upon that Doctrine in their minds and they have thought they could do something that they could withstand Temptation that they could do some Work for God and Service
Christ God hath given unto you For if a man prize and esteem the Truth never so much and suffer never so much for it and Love the Minister never so much if he keep not a Familiar Converse with the Truth notwithstanding all his Profession of Love to the Truths of the Gospel and the Preachers of it he will Reproach it Though he Profess and say I love thee I love thee though he hath suffered much in the way yet if he love not the Truth in his own Heart and desire not to feel the excellency and the vertue of it that man will certainly dishonour the Truth and grieve the Holy Spirit of God We warn you to take heed to your Way and to your Feet in your Christian walk that you may come to have an Abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God Pray to God that the work of Regeneration may be wrought upon you that you may be born into another seed and partake of the Divine Nature Then though the Devil assault you he cannot overcome you he will find nothing in you whereby to betray you into his hands when that change iâ— wrought and when God hath made an alteration and hath brought you out of the Love of the World and the Love of Earthly things And set your Affections on things above where Christ sits at the Right Hand of God Now you can say here comes a Temptation with this instrument and the other instrument and the Devil layes things before me that he would have me to do but I have no inclination to it I have no mind to be sucking at the Worlds breasts but my mind is set upon this that I may reach acquaintance with God Who will be a present help unto me and tread Satan under my Feet There is need of your continual care and vigilancy and that you Watch and Pray that you may not enter into Temptation It is not so easie a thing for a Man or Woman while they are in this World to do any thing without Sin but God hath called you to a Holy Profession which is that you should do all you can do to do every thing you do without Sin For whether you Eat or Drink or whatsoever you do you should do all to the glory of God Here is your Profession but where is the Life of it It is only The Children of God that are led by the Spirit of God This Spirit we would have in you and we would have all you That have received Christ Jesus the Lord to walk in him as you have received him Then you shall be kept undefiled in the Way and delivered from Temptation To this end you must be still waiting upon the Lord that you may have acquaintance with him from Day to Day you are in the World but you should not be of the World The Prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ to his Heavenly Father for his Disciples was not that he should Take them out of the World but keep them from the Evil. Merchants Tradesmen and Shop-keepers have always something to do in the World but they should Pray earnestly that they may Be kept from the Evil of the World There is nothing can be done in the World but there is evil in it which we shall be overcome by if we do not keep our watch In the Government of a Family there are occasions and provocations given men to be Passionate and Furious many occasions are offered to Men and Women but we should not be transported and overcome Our Profession obliges us that when a Child or a Servant gives a provocation we are not to behave our selves unseemly and unbecoming our Holy Profession for it is not in their Power nor in the Devils Power neither to kindle your Wrath and Anger into a Flame If you be upon your watch and wait upon the Lord he will give you Wisdom and Strength to stand against all Temptations whatsoever and To order your Conversation according to the will of God and as becomes the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ In Merchandize and Buying and Selling there are Snares and there is evil we may run into but here is our comfort and joy there is no coertion we cannot be forced to Sin the Devil can only lay a temptation before me if thou wilt tell a lye equivocate dissemble here is an advantage for thee but the Devil with all his subtilty power and allurements cannot say thou shalt run into this Sin and be overcome by this Tempation for though of our selves we can do nothing yet in the name and strength of our Lord Jesus Christ we can do all things we can do that which is just and stand over the Temptation and trample upon it and not be overcome of evil but overcome evil with good When we have bought and sold we may look back upon what we have done with pure Minds and clean Consciences in the sight of God and we may come off Victors and more than Conquerors over Temptations through Christ that hath loved us The more a Christian keeps himself unspotted and the more watchful he is in his walking he may go on from day to day and see the snares of the Devil that lies in this Vanity and the other Vanity and Temptation and escape it I would I could say of some of you that when the Devil laid a snare before you you did not run into it when you saw it I have known some that have had understanding enough that they need not to be told where the snare of the Devil lies yet so it hath been the Devil and their own hearts lusts have agrâ—ed together and they have run into the Snare This is from the Old Confederacy that Men have with Gods Enemy you are my Friends saith Christ if ye do whatsoever I command you if you are the Friends of Christ you will be his Subjects and yield Obedience to him When he shews them a Snare they will keep out of it this is the proof of a true Christian that he will be true in a time of Trial and will trust in that Divine Power that keeps him out of the Snare One thing more I would say that Divine Fellowship that you have with Christ Jâ—sus it consists in holiness of Life and Conversation and the exercise of a good Conscience towards God and towards Men. It is in vain to tell me that you will walk in Unity with the Truth unless you have Unity with the Truth in your own hearts you cannot deceive the Lord nor long deceive his People neither Here is the Fellowship that you are to live in all your days to live in Fellowship with the People of God and Communion of Saints can the Saints have Communion in any thing but Holiness and Holiness is a Blessed Sacred thing it becomes the House of God for ever they that are Saints are sanctified and made holy and he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one
of God and the Divine assistance vouchsafed unto me In my Flesh dwells nothing that is good But if you take me as one that hath Faith in Christ the Mediatour this Faith embraceth the tender of the Love of God in the Redeemer And when I have this Faith there dwels a good thing in me and from this good thing that dwels in me there flows forth good words and good actions then you come to be acquainted with a Power greater than your own and if you will trust in it you will be able to withstand Temptations And when you are Tempted to any Sin you will not be only able to withstand the Temptation but to overcome it too and to be more than Conquerors in your Spiritual Warfare This relying upon and trusting in the Power of God is that which we call Faith and this Faith is the Operation of God To speak in plain words God will operate upon thy mind and make thee know that this is his Power his Light and Truth and Grace by which he would save thee And after God hath wrought and operated upon thee in this manner it is thy Duty then to believe in it to put thy Trust and Confidence in it to be delivered But though Faith be offered unto me yet it is not forced upon me God hath offered Faith to all all men but he doth not force it upon all men All have an opportunity offered to them if they will but joyn with it they may have Faith wrought in them and be fitted and prepared for the Kingdom of God There are many that are convinced of the Truth of the Doctrine that we Preach to them but they do not get into the Power of Truth they will hear us Preach of the Power of Truth and will hear what this man saith and what the other man saith and this will serve their turn that they may talk of Religion and make a Profession But they do not seek after that Power that should enable them To work out their own Salvation These persons grow in knowledge but they do not grow in Grace they will embrace Truth as far as Doctrines and Words will go they have Professed it and they have suffered Reproach for it and yet they have not received the Truth in the Love of it they cannot reach to the Power of it they glory in their knowledge and their understanding but they come not to that which sanctifies them they are not able to resist the Devil and to stand against his Temptations when a Temptation comes they joyn with it but they cannot withstand it They come to the knowledge of Truth in Words but they come not to the knowledge of the Power of it in ther Hearts and Minds so as to make them prepared vessels for Gods Honour God is more dishonoured by them than by those that never Professed his Name They fall into the Temptation of the Devil and never discern the Operation of Gods Power in their own Hearts 2. There is another Errour as great as this there are a great many that when the Lords Power hath wrought in their Hearts and they have Truth opened to them in the Power of it yet they have not believed in it they have not had Faith wrought in their Hearts they have not trusted in nor relyed upon the Power so they are weak and feeble they have little Faith which is next to none at all If they have never so much knowledge how easily can the Devil tempt them to Sin if they have not true Faith This is the Victory saith the Apostle that overcomes the World even your Faith This is not my Victory that I see the Subtilty and Wiles of Satan and know much but that which is my Victory is my Faith My trust is in the Power of God and my relyance upon him who is God mightier than all the strength of Men and Devils that God who knows my Heart If I be faithful to him and rely upon him by Faith I shall resist the Devil and withstand his Temptations I might get Victory over them This Power you may have by the Gospel but then you must be true to the Power of it in your selves for I do distinguish between the Gospel as it is a Doctrine and Word Preached and an Invisible Divine Power working upon Men by the Preaching of the Gospel you will all hear the Gospel Preach'd though you be never so proud and huffy and you will say it is true but you can never come to the saving knowledge of the Gospel it self till you find it working inwardly upon your selves We do not pretend to any power of opening Mens hearts as God opened the heart of Lidia but when People come to wait upon God with a serious and religious Mind you will find the Power of the Word working effectually upon you and so the Gospel will become the Power of God to your Salvation This is and shall be my Prayer for all Religious Assemblies that the Lord will be pleased to teach them by his invisible word and beget living desires in them towards himself and bring them to an esteem of Holiness and Righteousness that they may adorn the Gospel of Christ by living Gospel Lives for want of this what dishonour have Men brought to God and what reproach upon the Gospel O that People would come to hear the word Preached with desires to profit by it and say Lord do me some good this day give me a powerful refreshing Visitation at this time give me some living experience of thy Almighty Power working upon my heart that I may not be led by this Mans Word and that Mans Opinion for if they mistake I shall be mistaken but if I build my Faith upon what God in his word reveals to me I shall infallibly know what I am to Believe and Practice and I shall receive from God some good thing and shall know what is the good and acceptable will of God I shall find that there is Power in the Gospel for building me up in my most Holy Faith and that it is Mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds of Sin and Satan and I shall see the Salvation of God brought near to me When the Gospel becomes the Power of God and worketh upon the Hearts of Men by the operation of the Divine Power they may distinguish between that Faith that is built upon the Declarations of Men and that which is wrought by the Revelation and discovery of the mind of God in their own Souls this is that which we may bottom upon and have an Anchor sure and stedfast in our own Souls when we depend upon Christ the Rock of Ages both of this Age and all other Ages my Faith must be placed upon him and when I hear the word of a Man I must have an eye to God that will reveal his power in my heart this will make me believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive that