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Show ~o' J668. ~ No c R o s s, No c R 0 W N. §. IV. Thou, like the Inn of Old, haft been full of other Gurfl,: Thy J1ffe8 1ons h:tve entertained other Lovers: There h:1s been n~ Room for tb~ Saviour in thy Soul. Wherefore Sal\'ation js not yet come tnto. thy Haufe, tho' it is come to thy Door, and thou haft heen _often pr<?ffe_rcd ~t, a_nd haft profeft it long. BU[ if he ~aUr, if h_e knoc/u fldl, rha_r ts, 1f llrs Ltgbt ye_r , fhines, if it reproves the~ lhll, rher~ lS Hopes thy :qay IS no_r over; and t~at Repentam;e is not yet h1d from thme Eyes; but hlS Love lS afr~r thee !bU, and His Holy 'lnvitation continues to fave t~ee. . . . Wherefore, 0 ChrijfendoJll! Believe, rtccrr;e, anJ apply. Hfln !'gbtly; th1s is of abfolute Neceffity, that thy Soul.m:ty hve for evet .~t.rh Hun . . He told • Johns. 22, the ] ettJs, If you believe 11f)tthlll I am lte, ye }hall. Dtt rn. your Srm; an_d 2~ wbirher I go, yr cannot come. And b~caufe they beltcved hm:t not, t~ey d1d not recei,re him, nor :my Benefit by him: Bu~ they that behev~d .lum, te, cci\'ed 11im. And as m.my at received Him, his own beloved D1fc1ple tells John 1, 12, 13 , us, To t!Jtm1gavr He Power to beco1ne tbr Sons of Go~, which are Born not of Blood, nor of tbe WiU of tbe Flrjh, nor of tbc rv,u of Man, but of God. That is, Who are not Children of God a{~cr tlu Fajhrom, Prifcnprz.ons~ and Traditions of )Urn, that caU tbemfdvrs fhs Church. and People (whiCh u not nJttr rhr Will of Flefh and ~lood, and the Invcntzon of Ctzrnal J~~trn, 1f11t1c~ quainied with rbe Regeneratran 11nJ Power of rl!e Holy Gbojlj bu~ of God,; That is, Jiccording to His Wi!!, and rbe Workmg and Sanflijicanon of Htr Spirit and Word Of Life in them. And fuch Were eve~ .well vers'~ ~n ~he Right Application of Clfrjft, for he wasmade to .rhem 1nde~ Pr~prtu!lr011, Reconciliation, Salvation, Higbteoufirejs, Redempnon and Juflifica/Jon. So r fay to thee unlefs thou bebevefi, That He th.u fl_ tm:fs at the Doer tJf thy ilettrt and knocks, and feu thy Sins in Order bi:fore thee, nnd caUs rhce to Repentance, be rhe SJviour of the World, t~Ciu ~ilt dJ~ in thy Sin.s, ttnd u11ere He is gone, th011 wtlt never come. For 1f th~u behe\'efi not m him, it is impofii.ble th:J.t he fhould do thee good, or effect: thy SJl\•ation: Chrifi works nor againfi Faith, but by it. 'Tis fa~d of old! H~ did not mnny Mark6: ~· mighty Works infCim~ Pla_ces, be~auft the P_cople behev~d notm_brm .. s~ that if thou truly believefi m htm, thme Ear w11l be attenuve ro h-is Vo1ce m thee, and the Door of thine Heart open to his Knocks. Thou wilt yield to the Difcoveries of his Ligtl.t, and the Teachings of his 9-race will be very dear to thee. §. V. It is the Nature of True Ft~ith ro beget an Holy Fear of offending God, a deep Reverence to his Precepts, and a mofl tender Re~ard to the Inward Teflimony Ci/ HiJ Spirit, as that, by which his Children, tn all Ages, have been fafely led to Glory. For as they that truly believe, recei\•e quift in alt his Tenders to the Soul, fo, as true it is, that thofe who receive him thus, with him, Rrceive Power to bccollJe rhe Sons of God: That is, an inward Force and Abil:iry to do whatever he requires: Strength to morcifie their Lufts, contronl their AffeEtions, refift Evil Motions, deny themfeh•es, and overcome the. ·world in its moil inricing Appearances. This is the Ljfe of •be 8/ejf.d CROSS of CHRIST, which is the SubjcEt of the followtng Difcourfe, and what thou, 0 Man, muft rake up, if thO'n imendefi: to be tbe Difciple of JEsu-s. Nor canfi thou be faid to receive Cbrijl, or to believe in him, w~ilfi: thou rejeae'ft His f!rofs. For. as receiving of C/Jrifl is t~e ~eans app?mted of G~d ro Salvatw~,. fa b7armg thy D11ily Crofs after h1m, lS the omy True Tefhmony of rece1vm~ h1m ; and therefore it is en- Mat. 16, 24, joy ned by him, as the great Token of Difc~lefhip, WboJocver will hi my Difciple, let him take 11p his Daily Crofs and, joUow rqe. This, Cbriflcndom is 17Jt~t thou bait fo much wanred1 and the \\':tnt of which has prov•d the only Caufe of rhY. Mifer:1ble Detlenfion frOm Pnre Chriflianity. To confider which well (as it is thy Duty) fa it is ofgreat Ufe to thy Reltor:ttion. . . For as rhe Knowledge of the Caufe of any Difl:emper, 'guides rhe'Ihyjician to make a right and fafe Judgment in the Application of his Medicine, fo iJ will much Enlighten thee in the Way ofthy Recovery, to know and weigh the Fi ft Caufe of this Spiritu,d Lopfe and Malady that hJS bef.a llen t!lreeo. VoL. I. No CRQSS, No CROWN. To .do which, a General View o_f thy PJim.it~ve E~Jte, and tQnfequemty·of I-66-S. · thetr Work, that firfi laboured m the Chu1han Vmeyard will be needtul. and if therein fornetbing be repeated, the Weight and Dignity' oi the Sub: ':iTh7ll je<l w1ll bear 1t Without rhe Need of an Apology. p · §. VI. The Work of Ap.of!ldhip, we are told by a Prime Labourer in it was, To turn Peop!t f.rom Darli.nefs ~o Ligbt, and from tlkl?o"iver Of Srun; ACts 26. 1!', unto God. "!hat ts, _mftead of fielding to the Temptations llrtd Motions of Satan, who t.s the Pnnce of DarknefS',. (or \Vkkedntfs, the one heing a Me-taphor ~o the other) ~y whofe ~ower ~heir Undedtandings were obfctired, ,, and thetr Souls held 1n the Service of Sm, they fhould turn their Minds ro ,f , r •· ··:t t~e Appe~ran~e of C!hri(l, the Light and Stroiour of the World; who. by His · ··,; .. 'I Ltghr,_ fhmes In thetr Souls, and thereby gives them a. Sight of their Sins · ·· LCI and dtfcovers every Te~ptation and Madan in them unr6 Evil, and re~ proves. them wh~n they gtve W~y thereunco; t~:lt fo they might become theCbddren ofLrgbt, and ~alk ''!the ~athof Rrgb!eo11fi1ejs. And for this ,· . ·" 1 Bleffed Work of Reformatton, did ChnU endue Hu .Apoj1Ju with His Spirit and Power, that fo Men might no,t longer fleep in a Securiry Of Stn and Jg~ n?rance of ~od, but aw~ke to R1ghteoufnefs, that the Lord Jefus migtit &tve them Ltfe: That ~s, that they might leave off Sinning, deny them'"' 1elves the Pleafure of W 1ckednefs, and by True Repent:tnce turo their Hearr.. ·} to.God, in Well·doing, in which is Peace. And truly, God fo bJeffect the •vL ·C ·',I ,Fauh~ul Labou~s of thefe poor Mechanicks, yet His Great Jt.mhajjddors ro ~anktnd, that m. a few Years many Thoufands (that had lived without God 1n the World, ~uh~l!t ~ Scnfe. or Fear of h~m, Lawkjly. very Strangers te the Work of his Sptrn In them Hearts, bemg captivated by Fle}hly LM/Js.) were inwarcify ilruck and quickned by the Word of Life, und rbade Se.nfffile o~ th~ Com.mq and Power of the Lord Jefus ChrHl, as J Judge and Law-giver tn thetr Souls, by wh~fe HD/y Light and Spirit, the hidden Things of D:uknefs were brought to L.tght and condemned,, and Pure Repentance trotr1 ~bofe dead Work~ begotten m thc!m, that they might ferve rhe LivinP Gad znNewnefs of Sptrit. So. that theuce-forward they li\red not to rh.emialvd neither were they carried away Of t.hofe formtr d.ivers Lufts; by which rhei h~d been fed_uced from the True Fear of G~d ; but the L rw oj 1 h~ Spi,it uf Rom. g, ~ Life, by ~ht~h they over~ame the LazfJ of Sm and Death, was rheir De!iaht.:, and thereto d1d they meditate Day and Night. Their Regard towards God was not taug~r by the J!re(epts oj .h.Ien any longer, but from the Know}edg~ I(a, 29, 13t they ha~ recetv~d, by Hu ovm Work and lmprej]im1s in rbe-ir SoMis. They h:td no~ qumed thelt-Old Mailers, the World, tiN Flcjh, and the Devil, and deli .. verd up themfelves to th!=. Holy Guidance of the Grace of Chrift rflat ta~ghr them To de.,y Ungodlintfs, tJnd the WorM's Lufls, attd to live S~beri ~tgbteou.jly, and qodly in !his prtfen! Life; tlhis is the CROSS of CHRI~ Tit. 2.tt. ti} 1ndeed; and _here~~ the ViEtory u gives to t!hem that rake it~ up: By this O'!f, they .~ed daily to the Old Lite they had li·ved; and by Holy Wa.ch'! Ul~efs_agaiofi:.the Secre[ .M?tions of Evil in their Hearts, they crufrn Sin m its Co~cepuons, y~a, 10 tts Temptations. So that they (as the Apoftle 1 Johns; 18~ ]obn advtf~ them) ~ept rhemfelves, That_tbf Eoil'Oneroucbed them not. F.or the Ltgbt, WhiCh SatJn cannot endure, and with Which Cbrift bad En!rghtned them, difcover'd. him in all his Approoches and Affa·ults upon the Min~. and. the Power they recei~ed through rheil' inward Obedience to tfie ~an!feftan~ns of that Ble./fld Light, _enabled tliem t'o refift and "anquiOt lum 1~ all hisSt:aragems. And thus 1t was, that where-once nothing ,~.ll'S examtned, nothi~S: went unexamined. Every THought muft come to Jud'g· ment, a~d the Rile an.d Te~denc.y of it be alf<><we11 appro\•ed, before rhey a11ow:d It any .Room m .thetr :M1n~s. There was rio Fear of enrerraining Enem1es for Fnends, whilfi thrs fl:ntt Guard was kept upon the very Wicket of the So!Jl. Now the old Heavens and Earth~ that is,. the. old E:mhly Converfation, and old Carnal, that is Jewil'h or Sh:td~wy Wor(hip pafs'd a-way apace, and every Day an Things became New. He wat no !IMre a ]cfo, R.om, 2, 28, that w.atone outmnrdly, no~ tbnt Cil"atmcifion that 1JJtU in 1bc Flcjh; but be 2 9• was the Jew, tbar was o,te IntMrd!y; snd that Cirtthllf;jiDif, wbr(h rttU oF the * 0 o Helll't6 |
