James Renwick

“ Now, why will ye be so ill to yourselves, as to debar yourselves? For he doth not do it; ye may as well, and as rationally say, that ye are not a body, as to say, he debars you. His invitation is to every one. Now, assent to this, and then, before you except yourself out thereof, you must first not have a being, neither of soul nor body. We say, for you to think that he excepts you, it is all one as to deny yourself to be the children of Adam. ”

“ Fifthly, Safe. He takes all his quarrels upon him, your head will ay be above the water. Sixthly, It is the only state of perfection, which is in him, and derived to us. Seventhly, Then all the promises are yours. Eightly, It is a sure state, in this life ye have strength against temptations; 'My grace is sufficient for you. Ninthly, in death assurance. They that sleep in Christ, perish not. Tenthly, in in the day of judgment, boldness: O come away, the chambers are every way pleasant, and every way safe, come away, the indignation shall not over take you. ”

“ The Lord sends forth, first, a man clothed in linen, with a writer’s inknorn by his side, to let a mark upon the foreheads of them that sigh and cry, for all the abominations that be done in the earth, and commands his men, with the slaughtering weapon in their hands, to go after, aud smite, and not to spare nor pity, but to slay utterly, old and young, both maids and little children and women ”

“ Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. And also, when he threatens most sadly, he fails not to make large promises to the faithful, and to give them ample invitations to come to him, for their pleasure and for their safety. When the Lord is coming out of his place, to sit in judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth, and to give out sentence upon them, according to their doings, and to punish them for their iniquities; he calls his own people to himself, when they are to be hid and preserved. ”

“ No, no, he must either have it all on his back, or else he will have none of it, therefore take heed to yourselves. Secondly, You must close with full Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King; as a Prophet to teach you his will; he must be your schoolmaster; as Priest, through whose sacrifice only, the Father must accept you, and who continually makes intercession at his right hand for you; and as King, to sway a sceptre in your souls to rule you according to his own law, and to cast down, and to cast out every thing exalting itself against his kingdom within you. ”

“ Fourthly, They walk fruitfully, they go about doing good; O sad! not only the unfruitful walking of this generation, but even the stumbling that they are. Fifthly, They walk justly, not wronging any: These are they who live righteously, who walk so as Christ walked: O! how few righteous livers are amongst you, and these only are his people, righteous persons, righteous livers, and it is these whom the Lord hath chambers for.
Now Sixthly, We proceed to the rules how to apply these evidence. First, Though you find them not all, yet if ye find one or more of them really, then comfort yourselves. ”

“ Quit the putting the sword in God’s enemies’ hands, and come: ye who have given bonds to the adversary, break your ‘covenant with hell and death,’ and come; break your sworn allegiance to the devil, and come, and swear a new allegiance to Jesus Christ, and ye shall never rue it: ye who compear before their courts, and pay them fines, whereby, both ye acknowledge them robbers of God, and call your duty your sin, quit these courses and come ye, who go to the curates, leave these perjured blind guides and come; ye who go to the indulged, leave these traitors to God. ”

“ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. He opens up precious and rich ware, and says to his buyers and merchants, the commodity is good, come away, we shall not cast out about the price; if ye have hearts to receive, I have a heart to give: Come away then, hearty good-fellows, we will never stand upon it; for 'tis not with him as with the men of the world, for they count them the best good-fellows, who give most and freeliest ”

“ If it could be determined how great a length hypocrites may come, we think it would first here. O what shall we say of it! do what they will, and come as great a length as they can, they never come unto Christ, who are not fully denied, to 'themselves, and positively only rest upon Jesus Christ, for justification and sanctification. True faith hath two voices. First, It calls and cries, O sinner, lean not to myself, rest not there. Secondly, O sinner, rest on Jesus Christ and lean unto himself. ”

“ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.’ There is that which ye must only rest on, and no where else, at upon the compleat and inherent righteousness of Jesus Christ ”

“ Think upon what David says, Psalm xvii. 14, 'From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portions in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.'—'None knoweth love or hatred by all that is before him,' Ecl. ”

“ Is it not this, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? ”

“ Where a scribe answered our Lord and said, ‘To love the Lord with all the heart and with all the understanding, and with all their soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ To whom our Lord replies, 34, verse, 'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.’ ⁠Ninthly, These come not unto Jesus Christ, who have common gifts, and rest there. ”

“ All hypocritical convictions only put them the further away from the Physician, so it is with judgment, which should put folk to their duties, they are thereby put from it. When the Lord furnishes his glittering sword of justice, then it is to drive his own children into his own hand, Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers. ”

“ Secondly, A sense of this, that there is nothing in you, or that ye can do, that will help you, it is beyond all created power to recover you, and so, not all seeking to establish a self-righteousness, it is, ‘Come unto me ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.’ Thirdly, A right sight of the all-sufficiency that is in Jesus Christ, and his excellency drawing the heart out after him, as all the desire of the soul, and so closing with him. Therefore, ye who remain senseless of your lost condition, have a care; ye are not yet in these chambers. ”

“ We are not so far out as ye trow; the invitation is to his people, to enter into their chambers, and to all who will come and become his people, to enter into their chambers, and so this is a free market. We must invite all to come, ye who are enemies, lay down your arms against him, and come; ye who are upholding his enemies, and complying with them in their sinful courses and abominations, by paying them cess and locality, and by furnishing them meat and drink, which is more than a bidding them God speed, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of John, forbids, 2d Epistle of John, verse 10. ”

“ There are many of you that are suffering this day materially for Christ; materially, we say, and not formally; for hypocrites never win to sincerity in their doings and sufferings, nor to do them as to God; and yet ye will get hell to suffer in throughout all eternity; yea, a man when his credit is straitly engaged, he may give his life for the cause, and yet get hell for his reward. ”

“ Remember this, ye who turn not to make up all Christian duties with you; ye think it enough ye babble over two or three words at night and at morn to yourselves, though you set not up the worship of God in your families, and if you do that, ye think that enough though you neither put to your hand to act with the Lord, nor sympathize with his afflicted people, nor embody yourselves in society with them, to cry for all the abominations of the land. ”

“ Secondly, If ye be come unto Christ, then ye will find this in you, a right and high esteem of the Lord’s mercy, he and his salvation will be only precious in your eyes, ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,’ Psal. ”