A Sermon and Prayer Delivered by WILLIAM SAVERY, On the Evening of the 11th of 7th Month, 1797; No Place Given.)
Five Sermons and a Prayer, Delivered at the Meetings of the Society of Friends in England, by William Savery. Taken in Short Hand by Job Sibley. Newtown, PA: Printed by William C. Coale, 1804.
This is The Quaker Homiletic Online Anthology, Section 2: The 18th Century.
I humbly hope it is right and meet at this time, to remind you of a passage that
closely engages my mind: it is what our blessed Lord and Saviour said to those
Jews that believed in his name: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
(John 8:31-32.)
I do not possess a hesitating mind at this moment, to declare as my belief, that
there are here a large number present, who are in the same circumstances as
these Jews were of old, who, through the revelation of God's mercy in their
souls, have believed on his Son Jesus Christ. And Oh! are there any among us
that are looking for salvation, by or through any other name, or any other power,
but by and through the name and power of Jesus? Methinks I hea r thy soul say
with gladness, he is the way, the truth, and the life; and that there is no other
name given under heaven, whereby men can be saved, but by the name and
power of Jesus. (Acts 4:12.) I sincerely wish you all joy, not only in believing,
but also in obeying the manifestation of that divine word, which, in all
generations, has been as a light to the feet, and as a lamp to the path, (Psalm
119:105) of the truly wise and chosen of God, who now make up a part of that
holy, living army, gathered out of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, who
are now surrounding his throne and offering incense to him. You that have
believed on him, are highly favoured indeed, and are longing to be sealed: you
have beheld the inestimable privilege that his true disciples enjoy; he has caused
you to long after this -- for the increase and the desire after the perfect blessing.
And there is a neccessity for you and for me to remember, that it is only in him
and by him that we stand. Many have begun well, and done well for a time: they
have manifested great love for the saints, they have rejoiced in the truth for a
season; but when tribulation, and persecution, and and suffering, for the name
and testimony of Jesus came, they have returned again to the world. Many of
these people would be willing to obtain an everlasting crown without filling up
their measure of suffering with Christ; and these, not having continued in his
word, have turned aside and rejected their first love, their Master, Lord, and
King, as being a hard master.
We may remember reading of many that kept following him for a season, who,
when he spoke of what was to be accomplished, immediately they heard these
things they followed him no more. But I believe, there are many of you, that can
adopt the language of those that remained following our Lord and master, when
he turned round to them of old, and said, in a complacent manner: "Will ye also
go away?" They replied "To whom shall we go, Lord; for thou hast the words of
eternal life." (John 6:67.)
Well, my fellow-travellers, both young and aged; you that have early believed in
Christ, and long to be his disciples indeed; you who are continuing in the world,
be strong, hold fast the profession of your faith, without weariness, nothing
doubting. Sufficient is the power of him who taught us the way to glory,
immortality, and eternal life, that through him you may come, from one degree
to another, to know the truth as it is indeed in Jesus -- to know and enjoy that
glorious and blessed love, which the children of God, who are faithful to him,
are always privileged to enjoy. And a blessed liberty it is, to those who have
enlisted under the banner of Jesus Christ; who came into the world to open the
prison door, and let every captive go free; who proclaims the day of liberty to the
captive, and the opening of the prison door to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1;
see also Luke 4:18, Luke 7:22.)
We have, many of us, occasion to remember the days of heavy bondage, under,
the most unfeeling tasks-master -- the days of ignorance, the days of darkness,
the days of spiritual death, in which the Lord visited our souls when we were
afar off -- when we did not seek him; for the declaration is fully accomplished, "I
was found by them that sought me not." (Isaiah 65:1; see also Romans 10:20.)
So it has been with many of us, when we were treading out of the Lord's ways,
and wandering in the broad ways of sin and iniquity; the Lord has been
mercifully pleased to meet us in our own way. He has arrested us suddenly,
when some of us were pursuing, with all eagerness, those pleasures, those
enjoyments, which lead the soul from God, and finally will conduct it down to
the chambers of death.
Well; it is a great mercy to be thus arrested, and to have our eyes to see and
behold where we are; for where the Lord, in infinite mercy, does condescend to
enlighten the understanding. It then may be said, blessed are your eyes, for they
see; blessed are your ears, for they hear; and blessed are your hearts, for they
understand. (Matthew 13:16.)
Well, friends, the language of our blessed Redeemer lies on my mind, may you
be enabled to lean on his divine assistance. "What I say to you, I say to all:
Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." (Matthew 21:46.) There is no
such thing as pursuing the Christian path, without this daily exercise; but while
we maintain watching and prayer, there is no danger to be feared, from man or
the power of man, nor will the unrighteous be able to draw such aside: he has
chosen them. "But I have chosen you." (John 15:16, 19; 1 Thessalonians 2:13;
see also 2 Chronicals 29:11.) It is of God's mercy. He has chosen you and
ordained you, that you should go forth and remain active. We ought to
experience a going forward in our journey -- bringing forth fruit, then should we
have the enriching reward of living by the fruit. I am persuaded, my friends,
there are some not far from me now, whom the Lord keeps continually in his
work, and he designs to manifest greater things to them yet. He has delivered a
number of you from the power of darkness, though not of the same name as I am
of, as to profession of religion. I am convinced, and know, that the day of Christ
advances; and if you continue in righteousness, you will witness it to become
brighter and brighter. You may have seen the first glimmering of the morning
light, but the Lord does not design to leave you here, but to lead you as a
shepherd leads his flock, gently along. He led his followers in the beginning, as
they were able to bear: he said to them: "I have many things to tell you, but ye
are not able to bear them now." (John 16:12.) For such is the mercy and
goodness of God, that he feeds his children as a shepherd does his flock, with
food convenient for them. Perhaps the immediate transition from unutterable
darkness and death, to a state of full meridian light of the gospel of Jesus Christ
to the soul, would be almost too great for human nature to bear with; and,
therefore, he condescends to lead us step by step. There is the state of children in
Christ - there is the state of young men, the state of strong men; and there is
another state, which the Lord grant we may all finally attain, through his mercy,
and that is, being made pillars in the Lord's house, to go out no more at all. Oh
that all of us may be found clothed with his righteousnesss, having the shield of
faith, and the helmet of salvation; that all the fiery darts that may be hurled
against us, may neither hurt nor wound. (Ephesians 6:10-20.) Oh! my friends, let
us so run, that we may obtain the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. (See 1
Corinthians 9:24.) Do not let us be double-minded. My mind seems very much
indeed drawn with sympathy, towards the children of our heavenly Father, and I
wish for their preservation, both on the right hand and on the left; that we may,
with a true heart, follow on to know the Lord Jesus. Do not let us be looking too
much to outward things, and wanting, as it were, mountains to be removed;
remember how the prince of darkness assailed even your Lord and Master, when
he said to him: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread." Remember what the Lord said to him: "It is written, that thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God; but him thou shalt worship, and him only shalt thou
serve." (Matthew 4:1-10, Luke 4:1-13.)
I believe, you have no need to dispute of being called of God, and also of being
the chosen of him, if ye abide in that work which is necessary for all saints to do
in their day and place. Our Lord says: "I am the vine, and ye are the branches;
and as the branch cannot have root except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye,
except ye abide in me." (John 15:5.) Well,what is this abiding in Christ? Why I
believe, my friends, it is this. There are some who have found him in sincerity --
they have found him, of whom both the law and the prophets have written -- they
have found him in reality, to their souls' delight - they have known the promise
fulfilled in these gospel days, which the Lord declared should come to pass: "In
these days I will work a work in them, and dwell in them; and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God."(40) They have known the Lord and nothing
else. There is no other power can raise the dead to life; and I believe it is as great
a miracle to raise those that are dead in trespasses and sin to newness of life, and
to bring them into the enjoyment of that life which is hid with Christ in God, as
to raise the natural body from the grave. So that if we are in the least convinced
of this, we see that miracles are not ceased; for every soul that has been truly
converted to God -- every soul that has been dead in trespasses and sin, and has
had it made known to him by the mighty power of God, that he is really so
indeed, and has been livingly converted, he is a standing miracle of the power of
God.
For no man can, by human reason, nor by any conclusion of his own, prescribe
rules to attain this heavenly blessing: we may sit down as long as we will, and
take certain rules and modes to walk by, and wherein we ought to avoid the
snares and temptations which may annoy our passing along; but we shall most
assuredly find that, without the revealed power of God for our help, all these
resolutions will be nothing more than characters written in the sand, that a strong
and powerful wind of temptation will carry away, and we shall, of course, go
with the stream.
Oh! my friends, let us continue in that word which called us to life, whose power
will continue the enjoyment which the apostle speaks of: "And though we have
this treasure in our earthen vessels, that the sufficiency of the power is of God,
and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7.) That will, my Christian friends, ever keep a
Christian traveller humble. It strips every one of all self righteousness; for we
have only Christ our righteousness, and we have no righteousness but that which
we receive: we have no proprietary in it at all. We must wait for it, and the Lord
must grant it us in his own way and time. And the true Christian spirit, is a
humble, waiting spirit, with an eye single to the glory of God. For, if thine eye be
single to God, thy whole body shall be full of light; but, if thine be evil, then thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If thou art not looking to the author and
finisher of faith, but some other way: if thy thoughts are scattered here and there,
and looking outward for any thing to relieve thee, then, instead of attaining light,
thou gettest darker and darker. And if those that were once light, become dark,
Oh! how great is this darkness; and the Lord suffers them to dwell in this
darkness, and the last state of these men is worse than the first. This I am bold to
say, as my belief. So that the church of Christ has never had greater enemies
than those, who, having tasted much of the Lord's mercy, and being in some
degree enlightened; yet they in the end have proved unfaithful, and turned their
backs upon him, like Judas. I wish, with all my heart, you, my dearly beloved in
the Lord, both male and female, may hold on your way. Stand ye fast in the
glorious liberty wherewith Christ has made you free; let no man draw you back
again to the yoke of bondage; keep your place, and keep fast where the Lord has
brought you. He will lead you more and more into the glorious manifestation of
his power. Why, this has been the way in all generations. We need not be over
busy, or over anxious about it, if we abide in the truth; ever looking to him,
saying in our hearts, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in
heaven." (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2.) If we can truly come to this state, with all
the powers of the soul, then I can say the soul's redemption is half done already;
the work is half gone through, which our souls long for. Notwithstanding, I
believe there is no perfection here; and the highest state of men and angels, is
that of coming to God in humble resignation; and he has said, "Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37.) Oh! let us continually watch and
pray. My dearly beloved brethren and sisters, I longed to see the countenances of
you once more, before I left this favoured city; I longed to see many of you that I
now see, that we might take counsel together -- that we might go up to the house
of the Lord together -- that we might renew our covenants, and that it might be
an evening never to be forgotten, nor ever to be repented of, either in time or to
the endless ages of eternity. Then will it be an anointing from the Lord, to you
and to me, if we keep on; and, having the shield of faith, and the helmet of
salvation, (Ephesians 6:11-20) we shall show forth what the Lord has done. My
dear friends, I feel a loving invitation towards such of you as have not been
favoured to come to a resolution to serve the true and living God, with all your
time, talents, and substance. I want some of these to draw nigh, and partake of
the Lord's mercy; who is in this day, in a marvellous manner, stretching forth his
arm, to encircle thousands, and tens of thousands, within the glorious fold,
where he feeds his flock, where he causes them to lie down, and where none are
able to make them afraid.
Oh! my Friends, the Lord's power is revealed through many infirmities: there is
not one jot or tittle of it, I believe, will fail, or not be accomplished, which has
been spoken by his prophets. Many of the prophecies are clearly and literally
accomplished already; and the Lord is graciously, in the present day, investing
his power with his servants, for the fulfilling his prophecies. Even the Ethiopian
is stretching forth his hand to God and his Christ; they are drawing nigh, and the
coming in of the nations appears to be hastening. I do not wish, by any means, to
soar in flights of imagination; but I think I have been with many pious Christians
who really are convinced it is so.
Oh that we may, when we are favoured with the spirit of prayer and supplication,
at the throne of grace, pray to go forward, that we may experience that glorious
and blessed day. Our days are passing on; a few more years over many of our
heads, and our sun must set -- the curtain of the evening Will be drawn between
us and all visible things. A day of prosperity is hastening on, a thousand times
more glorious than the enjoyment of all temporal blessings. A day is coming,
when it will be said, time is no more; and then all these things which perish with
the using, will be nothing more than a clod of earth, all the enjoyments of this
earth having passed away. But if you are found at the throne of grace, the Lord
Jesus Christ will give you a crown of glory, forever incorruptible, that will never
fade away, and where there will be no room for sorrow. And I am persuaded,
that a true Christian, passing from a state of mortality to a state of immortality,
may be a little compared to passing out of a dark into a glorious, dignified
mansion: it is a light inconceivable, and glory inexpressible. He brings them
here, in this state, to know that, if they keep the commandments which have
been given to them, having been favoured to put on Christ, that he will receive
them in his Father's mansions, where he is gone before them. There is no doubt
of it. To these, death has no terror; the sting of death having been drawn.
My beloved friends, let us, with one accord, draw nigh, and receive the cup of
blessing from the hand of our merciful God, and take it with thanksgiving; let us
unite, with one accord, with one heart, and one mind, in saying to him, "Lord,
here am I: do with me what seemeth good in thy sight, only suffer me to be a
disciple of thine." It is this, indeed, will draw down the blessing, to you -- it
would make you disciples indeed; and you would know the truth, and the truth
would make you free. It would bring you into that glorious liberty which the
sons of God enjoy, through his divine favour: it would set you free from the yoke
of bondage, which many of you are brought into; for, indeed, the whole creation
are under these yokes of bondage. Christ is the appointed Saviour and Deliverer.
Come, my brethren and sisters, enlist yourselves, in your various situations and
capacities, with one accord, under the all conquering captain of our salvation;
who will lead you forth conquering and to conquer; who is saying at this time,
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out; and none shall be able to
pluck them out of my hands."
The Prayer
Oh Lord God of mercy, thou art one common Lord of all thy people, and thy
children cannot do less than adore and magnify thine unutterable love: thou, who
art stretching forth thine arm all the day long, to bring back all that have strayed
from under thine holy protection and defence, and who are wandering in bye-ways and crooked paths, which, if continued in, will finally end in unalterable
separation from the glory of thy presence. Oh Lord, there are those in this
assembly, and thou seest them, who feel they are unworthy of thy gracious
dealings, and they approach thee with blushing of face only. Oh Heavenly
Father, confiding in thy gracious promises, we are emboldened to draw nigh, and
intercede for a blessing upon the present evening; that those whom, in the riches
of thy mercy, thou hast been pleased to bring as from a distant country, from a
land of darkness and of death, to behold the glory of the gospel of thy dear Son,
our Redeemer; that those, Oh Heavenly Father, may think of renewing the
covenant which they have made, to follow thee wheresoever thou art pleased to
lead them. Oh Holy Father, thou knowest that none are able to keep their
covenant with thee, but as thou art pleased to assist them by the same power
which at first enabled them to make covenant with thee. Continue, Oh Lord, we
pray thee, to be our protector and defence on every side. Suffer not one of those
who have believed on thy name, to halt in their minds, or to turn aside after less
and inferior things; and thus to forfeit that glorious and incorruptible crown,
which thou hast laid up in store for those that continue following on to know
thee, whom to know is eternal life. Oh Holy Father, enlighten them day by day,
enlarge their hearts, that they may know more and more of the glorious mystery
of thy kingdom; pour forth, we pray thee, thy loving and abundant kindness, that
they may more and more, with holy confidence, be enabled to go on their way
rejoicing in the Lord. Oh Father, we pray thee, be with us in the hour of
temptation: suffer us not to fall: let thine arm be around us. Oh glorious Lord, be
near unto us, that, through thy great and good Spirit, we may, after having done
all, stand fast in the glorious liberty, for which, through thy dear Son, thou art
preparing us. (Ephesians 6:10-20.) We commend our cause to thee, knowing that
thou art able, and hast given a promise, to keep thine own wheresoever they are;
whether assembled, or separated from each other. Blessed Father, as thou art
pleased to call thy servants to labour in thy vineyard, we humbly pray thee, be
mouth and wisdom, strength and utterance, to all, from season to season, of
every name in thy professing church; that so they may preach thy word with the
demonstration of thy Spirit, and with power; that many that are afar off, being
baptized under the renewed influence of thine Holy Spirit overshadowing the
assembly of thy dear people, may be brought in unity with all the ransomed race;
that, casting down every high thought, and every lofty imagination, their souls
may exult in living accents of praise, glory, and honour, to thee, the Lord God
and the Lamb, who livest and reignest for ever and evermore. Amen.