and Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ it is not the true Doctrin of the Gospel of Christ to preach Pardon of Sin and Justification through the Obedience that any Man or Woman can perform to or by the Light within the Spirit of God within or any inward Principle without Faith in the Man Christ Jesus It is by Faith in him that we witness Peace with God Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 It is not in my Heart to go into Niceties to answer that Question that hath more of Nicity than of Necessity in it Whether we are justified by Faith or by Faith and Works viz. by such Works as accompany Faith and go along with Faith and that flow from Faith as the effects of it We cannot be justified whatever any may â—irm without Faith in Christ crucified and â—hoever preach that we may be justified by â—y Works that we can perform any obediâ—nce to Christ within or without without â—ith in Christ crucified they preach another â—ospel and pervert the Gospel of Christ â—al 1.8 But though we or an Angel from â—eaven saith the Apostle preach any other â—ospel unto you than that which we have preachâ—â— unto you let him be accursed Now they preach another Gospel that preach â—ustification and Remission of Sins by our own â—orks and Obedience without Faith in Christ crucified The Apostle James saith â—deed Jam. 2.21 Was not Abraham our â—ather justified when he offered Isaac his Son â—pon the Altar Seest thou how Faith wrought â—ith his Works and by Works was Faith â—ade perfect And the Scripture was fulfilâ—â—d which saith Abraham believed God â—â—d it was imputeâ— to him for Righteousness â—â—d he was called the Friend of God And it is â—id concerning Rahab Was not Rahab the â—arlot justified by Works when she had receiâ—ed the Messengers and had sent them out anoâ—her way Josh 2.15 She let them down by a â—ord through the Window and she said unto â—hem Get ye to the Mountains lest the Pursuâ—rs meet you And the Spyes said unto her â—ehold when we come into the Land thou shalt â—ind this Line of Scarlet-Thred in the Window â—ich thou didst let us down by c. The â—carlet-Thred did typify and represent and shadow out the Blood of Christ by which shâ— should be saved she hid the Spyes and thâ— was a good Work her Faith that saved heâ— was as the Scarlet-Thred dipt and dyed iâ— the Blood of Christ which cleanseth from alâ— Sin So these Works were not without Faith but did accompany it and were the real Fruiâ— of it I have told you that the Object of Faitâ— is God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son both in his inward and outward coming anâ— appearance and as he is yet to come again and appear without us at the end of thâ— World at the great day of Judgment and also the holy Spirit Now to open to you briefly one Scripture John 1.12 But as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name The Exposition that some have given of this is the receiving of Christ inwardly that is so far good But that dotâ—â—ot comprehend the whole sense and meaning of the Words To receive him and believe on him is not only to receive his Light and Power and Spirit in our Hearts but to receive him as he died for us and shed his precious Blood for us and became both a Priest and Sacrifice for us and offered himself through the Eternal Spirit without spot to God We must believe thâ— worth and value of that Sacrifice to expiatâ— our Sins and to make attonement for us â— so that by Christ's Sacrifice and offering oâ— himself the justice of God haâ—h satisfactioâ— made to it as fully as if we our selves had sufâ—â—red and made full satisfaction So that to â—â—ceive Christ is not to receive him only in â—â—s inward Appearance but in his priestly Ofâ—â—ce as he died upon the Cross and shed his â—recious Blood for us I have said it divers times and it is in my Heart to say it again That Christ offered the Gift of his Manhood upon the Altar of his Godhead that sanctified it and made it so â—ighly valuable and acceptable How will â—ou prove this some might say This may â—ell be proved out of the holy Scripture Heb. 13.14 For if the Blood of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling â—he Vnclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the â—lesh how much more shall the Blood of Christ â—ho through the Eternal Spirit offered himself â—â—thout spot to God purge your Consciences â—im dead Works â—o serve the living God The â—â—â—rnal Spirit 〈◊〉 the eternal Power and Godâ—ead is the Altar tâ—â—â— is greater than the Gift â—â—d the Altar which sanctifieth the Gift and â—hich was that that gave value and merit to â—s precious Blood and to what his Body and â—oul suffered here I say is the Gift upon â—â—e Altar and the Altar sanctifieth the Gift 〈◊〉 Christ had been Man only then his Death â—â—d Sufferings and his precious Blood had â—t been of that great worth and value to exâ—â—te our Sin and make Attonement for us â—â—d reconcile us to God God hath had reâ—â—d to this in all Ages God looks favourable â—on us only through Christ our great Mediator and High-priest Christ's Blood is of meritorious Efficacy in all Ages since it was shed and before it was shed And as Christ is the Object of our Faith so is the Doctrin of Christ in all the parts of it in a secondary sense but more especially as it respects the Promises of Salvation and his Commandments these two the Promises of Christ and the Commands of Christ if we believe his Promises we believe his Precepts and obey them We are pardoned and sanctified and justified freely and all boasting is excluded If we believe in Christ we believe in his Person and we believe his Doctrin his Promises and all that is written That through the comfort of the Scriptures we might have Hope I will by a Similitude express and represent to you of what great use the Promises are unto us as I have found by experience blessed be God that the great and precious Promises of our Lord Jesus Christ and hiâ— sweet Invitations and Calls that are recorded in the holy Scripture are a mighty help to us in laying hold upon Christ We cannot take hold of a Man so well when he is naked as when he is clothed It is not so easy foâ— us to lay hold on Christ naked as when he iâ— preached in the Gospel and as when he iâ— clothed as it were with the precious Promâ—ses It is very hard for us to lay hold oâ— Christ and embrace him and come to him without a Promise The Apostle Peter holâ—ing forth this great Mystery tells us 2 Pet. 1. â— Whereby are given to
in Christendom is not the true Faith Why Because they have not these Fruits Love is a Fruit of the Spirit where is Love amongst them Where Love is there will not be Backbiting Heartburnings Jealousies Surmises and uncharitable judging one another No where Love is these things will not be but Love Joy and Peace Peace with God and Peace with one another and nothing but Peace and good will even towards all Then our Swords will be beaten into Plowshears and our Spears into Pruning-hooks and Men will learn War no more That there is so much strife and contention in Christendom it is because true Lov◠is wanting among Men and true Faith is also wanting But there are a Remnant that have tru◠Faith that worketh by Love but this noble Faith and Love and the rest of the Fruits o◠the Spirit are greatly wanting amongst the generality of the Professors of Christianity I◠is by Faith that we come to be ingrafted into Christ the true Vine and abide in him and bring forth much Fruit. It is by unbelief that Men are severed from Christ and not abiding in him they are cast forth as Branches that are withered and then cast into the Fire and burned O great is the hurt of unbelief and great is the benefit of true Faith He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit Eph. 4.10 11. saith the Apostle Christ when he Ascended upon high he led Captivity Captive and gave Gifts unto Men. He that first descended into the lower parts of the Earth is the same that ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastours and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come into the unity of the Faith and the knowledg of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ that we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every Wind of Doctrine by the sleight of Men and cunning craftyness whereby they lie 〈◊〉 wait to deceiave Hence observe the manner of the Speech and Phrase used by the Holy Ghost all these are for edifying the Body of Christ till we come unto the unity of the Faith and knowledg of the Son of God to a perfect Man All Believers make up one perfect Man where Christ is the Head and Believers are the Members Let thy progress be never so great thou canst not come to equality with Christ he hath the fulness of the God-head dwelling in him Bodily we can come only to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ now the greatest and higest measure is but a measure Consider what is Written Rom. 11.24 The Jews that were natural branches were cut off from Christ the good Olive Tree through unbelief What was their unbelief They did not believe in Christ Jesus the Son of Man they did not believe in him that was born of a Virgin to be the Prophet that God promised to his People they did not believe the Man Christ Jesus to be the true Messiah that God had promised to send to put an end to the Types and Figures and shadows of the Law and to their new Moons and solemn Feasts and to Circumcision and to the Passover and to put an end to the offering up of outward Sacrifices and the shedding of the Blood of the Sacrifices that so their Sins might be forgiven them for without shedding of Blood there is no Remission It was not the Blood of Beasts that wer◠offered in Sacrifice could take away Sin Why Because these were only Representations and Symbols to help the People's weakness and to present Christ to their Eyes and suited to their weak State which is compared to the state of a Child This was the Reason they received not Christ outwardly and the Unbelief of the Jews was great in that because they did not receive Christ into their Hearts in his Spiritual Appearance but they received him neither inwardly nor outwardly Whosoever reject Christ outwardly they reject him inwardly and whosoever receive Christ inwardly and sincerely they also receive him outwardly to be the great Sacrifice for their Sins they own his priestly Office for the Remission of Sins through the Blood of the Covenant they do admire the wonderful Design and Contrivance of the Wisdom of God in the great Work of Man's Redemption they adore and admire the Mercy and Love of God his Power and Justice Holiness Wisdom Goodness Faithfulness and Truth in that glorious Contrivance that he should send his Dear Son to die for the Sins of Men and take our Nature and Sin upon him and be made a Curse for us and take the Curse from us and to be made Sin for us who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him He was wounded for our Transgressions bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed Isa 53.5 Who his own self bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree that we being dead to Sin should live unto Righteousness He was made Sin for us saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. How was Christ made Sin for us Sin that is a Sin-offering He became an Offering for Sin They that are Branches in the true Vine and grafted into Christ receive heavenly Sap and Moisture from him We must believe that Christ died for our Sins we must believe that he was made a Curse for us and that he shed his Blood for the Remission of our Sins We must believe this weighty Testimony This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation That Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to die for Sinners and to shed his Blood for Sinners as well as inwardly to appear in the Hearts of Sinners A Work that was a most necessary Work for the Redeeming Renewing Sanctifying and Cleansing of us from all Sins So my Friends true Faith in Christ receives him with all his Benefits receives him both in his outward and bodily Appearance as manifest in the Flesh and also in his Spiritual Appearance and coming into our Hearts and by true Faith in him we come to be ingrafted into him and receive Sap and Moisture and heavenly Influence from him who is the true generous and Noble Vine Our blessed Lord here holds forth a wonderful Mystery in these few Words I am th◠true Vine and my Father is the Husbandman every Branch in me that beareth not Fruit he taketh away and every Branch that beareth Fruit he purgeth
heavenly Seed that as tâ— Corn that grows in a good Soil it must tenderly cherished So thou must cherish Goâ— Plant in thine own Heart that there may an increase and growth God hath set an hâ—â—venly Seed and Plant in thy Heart it is â—â—ry precious and worthy of thy care and mâ— tender Love and dearest affections in orâ— to its growth and springing up that it may sâ—fe and secured from what soever may be â—â—rtful and pernicious to it I would have you to consider a Diâ—â—nction concerning this Seed as it is formâ—â—g and as it is formed as Corn that â—ows while it is but young and tender in the â—ade it is but forming when it is in the Blosâ—â—m and in the green Ear it is yet but â—â—rming but when it comes to its substance 〈◊〉 be solid Corn and Grain then it is formed â—ow when a Seed or Plant is forming as it is generally known to such as underâ—â—and any thing of Husbandry as VVheat â—hen it is Green in the Field is in danger â—f Blasting but after it comes to be formed â—nd is well ripened in the Ear it 's past the â—anger of Blasting or Mildew or spoilâ—ng Now to apply this Spiritually and inwardâ—y There is a season and a time when this â—eavenly Seed or Plant of God's own planâ—ng is in danger so to speak of Blasting as â—o us and there is a time when it is grown â—trong and vigorous when the danger of Blasting is over I hope there are some here â—rrived at that blessed state and condition that God's Corn and Heavenly Seed in them is â—ome to ripeness and maturity yet there are â—egrees of ripeness to be further attained that we may overcome all Hinderances and Enemies of our growth and increasing with the â—ncrease of God that we may have that sweet â—nd blessed promise fulfilled to us Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar the Temple of my God O Friends Let us all wait for it and lâ—â— us be strong in the Lord and in the Poweâ— of his might while we are warring and fighâ—ing with our Souls Enemy VVe have â— holy war and we have VVeapons but theâ— are spiritual Weapons not Carnal Lâ—â— us make War against our Spiritual Enemie that we may overcome and be made Pillars iâ— the House of God and go no more out Heâ—â— is security we shall go no more out but be a God's ripe Corn gathered into the Barn nâ— danger then when any are arrived at this happy state there is no doubt that any sucâ— will indulge themselves in Lazinefs and takâ— any sinful liberty or Latitude to themselves but have a holy and awful fear and dread and a holy care and concern upon them to serve the Lord with all readiness and chearfâ—lness do the will of God The more that any come to a holy and safe and secure state and condition the more will their Hearts be filled with diligence and fear and love and temperance and humility Now as concerning the state of the Galatians I told you That Paul had laboured among rhem with success but other Teachers came among them by whom they received hurt and suffered loss and detriment so that they needed a New Visitation and building up that all might not be destroyed thaâ— Paul had been building up in them they had suffered that loss and damage that they needed Paul's Ministry to bring them to an Establishment in the truth that they might stand in searching and shaking times Sometimes in Harvest there may arise such tempestuous Winds as may shake the Corn So such shaking and searching times may come as to try and terrify God's People and shake God's Corn before it be gathered into the Lord's Barn It is good to be preparing for such things and making ready and to be earnest with the Lord to prepare us that if shaking Winds shall come we may be preserved stedfast and unmovable and abounding in the Work of the Lord that our labour may not be in vain in the Lord. If it shall be so that many shall be shaken such times may come let us prepare and make ready that we may not be surprized but preserved in shaking times and those that shall be preserved unshaken when the Winds of Mens Doctrins shall blow upon them let them bless and praise the Lord. The Apostle tells us Eph. 4.10 11 12. That our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the knowledg of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrin by the slight of Men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive There is nothing but the Lord's Power is able to preserve us if we trust in the Lord and depend upon him he will preserve us and be unto us as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land We shall be preserved if we keep in the living exercise of Faith if we do not live in the daily exercise of Faith we shall be as Corn on the House top shaken and bring forth no good Fruit in season Let us live in the Exercise of faith and depend on God for the assistance of his Spirit and them we shall be preserved in shaking times Now to speak a little further concerning this great and weighty Matter it is commonly said that in Regeneration there is an infusing of certain Habits of Faith Repentance and Love into the Soul but this is not the manner of their Doctrin who are called Quakers nor of my Doctrin nor agreeable to the holy Scriptures to say That Habits of Grace are infused into the Soul The Scripture calls it The Life of God which is better and more than Habits There is a Principle of divine Life communicated to the Soul in Regeneration a measure of the divine Nature which is indeed fitly called The Life of God that actuates and enlivens the Soul and is united to it as the Soul doth animate and act in the Body to which it is united the which union of the divine Life with the Soul is by the Souls Faith and Love to God and Christ This is that which I have had experience of and I have not lost it whatsoever some have said I feel a Principle of divine Life acting in my Soul as my Soul acts in my Body this is Christ formed within us How doth the Soul put forth such noble and vigorous Actings and rule and actuate the Body The Body must be organized have its due Organs prepared that the Soul may act in us and exert its