according to what the same Apostle elsewhere witnesseth of himself which is also applicable to other People who would have and enjoy the same good things For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good Fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me aâ⦠Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous judge shall give me at that day and not unto me only but unto aâ⦠them also that love his appearing The Crown of Righteousness will not be had by any one until he hath first fought the good fight and kept the Faith There is no departing in peace according to the word of God or according to the understanding desire of the Reasonable Creature without having first seen the Salvation of God The second true and assured ground of a contentment willingness and desire to dye is when the Lord God of truth hath Redeemed us Sanctifie them through thy truth Thy word is truth And so the same God that doth Sanctifie his People through his truth doth also Redeem them through his truth or by his word of truth When we are once throughly Redeemed and Sanctified by the truth of God then we may commit our Spirits into the hand of God For then these Spirits of ours are Redeemed and Sanctified from whatever Defilement and Corruption they had from the Body and from the things of this Earth Then the Spirit returns to God again the same as it was when he gave it The Temple of God is Holy which Temple ye are And so God expects that that Spirit which he Created Holy for so it was before it is defiled with the Body of Death should be kept and preserved Holy but chiefly it should be Sanctified that is made Holy just as it comes to be surrendred and given back unto God Every Like loves its Like and an Holy God loves an Holy Soul The Scripture expressly affirmeth it Without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord which implyes the contrary that with Holiness or when the Soul is endued or clothed with Holiness it shall then certainly see the Lord to its endless Comfort and Rejoycing The great and principal Business we have to do here on this Earth and as we are going off from it which we do continually as soon as we are Born is to dye to Sin I dye Daily saith the Apostle and to get Holiness ingrafted into the Soul As we are day after day approaching nearer and nearer unto the Grave here let us examin and prove our selves whether we are yet more Dead unto Sin and have Holiness yet more ingrafted into our Souls Whether as our desires grow more languid and unaffected as to Creature Comforts and to creature enjoyments by having had them over and over so often already So the same desires are more from Sin and Vanity and the more thirst after God And after the Enjoyment of him in his Kingdom so as to cry out from the real sense bent and inclination of our Souls As the Hart panteth after the Water Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God! When we can say in truth and seelingly within our self there is none upon Earth I desire besides thee And when in old Age we cannot tast what we Eat or what we Drink When the Keepers of the House shall tremble and those that look out of the Windows are Darkened when the Grashopper shall be a burthen and desire shall fail My Flesh and my Heart faileth if then God is the strength of our Heart and our Portion for ever For so the right Consequence is and Endeavours should be used accordingly That as our outward Man decays day by day so we should be more renewed in the inward Man As the day approaches continually nearer and nearer when we shall outwardly go off from this Earth the more we should be Redeemed from the Earth that is we should be Redeemed from the Evil and Defilement and Corruption of this Earth before we can upon Assured grounds commit our Spirit into the hand of God Besides this of being Redeemed from our vain conversation and from the Corruption of our Nature and of being without Guile and Fault before the Throne of God The chief and especial Redemption is that which was wrought and accomplished by Jesus Christ who in his Love and Pity hath Redeemed them and he bare them and he carried them all the days of old Isa 63. 9. Even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come Who bought us with a price and purchased us with his own Blood As God the Father Redeemed and brought up the Israelites out of the Land of Aegypt Whereby he was in a more especial manner their God for the Redeemer hath a right in the Redeemed Even so God by his Son Jesus Christ hath Redeemed Mankind from Spiritual Aegypt from the Slavery and Bondage of Sin and Satan and Death Christ hath Redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us And it was this Redemption wrought and accomplished by Jesus Christ who was of the seed and linage of David whom the Scripture therefore calls the Son of David which David speaks of by the Spirit and had respect unto when he said Into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of truth To pursue the very same Reasoning here as is in Acts 2 25 30. 32. For David speaketh concerning him Thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of truth For being a Prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him In fulfilling of which he is here fitly called the Lord God of truth That of the fruit of his loins according to the Flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne and to Redeem Mankind by him He seeing this before spake of the Redemption of Christ Thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of truth It being the usual stile of Prophecies to speak of that as already past which is to come Whereby is shewn forth the immutable truth of the Eternal God for what he hath decreed in his Eternal counsel and purpose it is as certain as if it was already past and fulfilled As Abraham saw his day and was glad so here David saw his day and was glad And truly well they might for saith the Apostle in the Persons of the Regenerate for we were by Nature Children of wrath as well as others So that Abraham and David were Children of wrath also And then both of them might well be glad to foresee by Faith this Jesus Christ who was to Redeem them from the wrath to come The word Redemption is a relative term and doth presuppose captivity thraldom or the being sold from all which Redemption doth lose and set free again And so this Jesus Christ travelled in the greatness of his strength and was mighty to save he led Captivity Captive that is he led even Sin
God the Lord belong the Issues from Death In saving us from Sin God doth save us from Death also inasmuch as Death is by reason of Sin And therefore Jesus Christ in whom was no sin he being the Holy one of God Therefore he should not see corruption and it was not possible that he should not be holden of Death as Peter doth truly averr it So that as God and Christ do save us from sin unto God do belong the Issues from Death for there is a flowing and rising and deliverance from that again As health is an holding together of Temporal Life so Holiness or freedom from sin is the Principle and beginning of Eternal Life It is an act of Salvation or saving to subdue And as to this also we have God speaking on this wise He will turn again he will have compression upon us he wiâ⦠subdue our iniquities Micah 7. 19. which indeed is the greatest instance of compassion that can be shewed unto us Men for unless God did subdue our Iniquities we must die perish and be miserable for ever Now to Subdue our Iniquities is to conquer and subdue the reigning Nature and Power of them so that they shall not involve us into the Death of Sin here nor yet into the Damnation of Hell hereafter Having thus Explained what Salvation is in order that we may the better understand those true and assured grounds of a willingness to dye when we have seen the Salvation of God wrought and accomplished upon and within our Souls Proceed we to speak ãâã the Nature of Redemption which is also another trâ⦠and assured Ground of committing our Spirit into thâ hand of God because thou hast Redeemed us O Lorâ God of Truth The signification of which Redemption may be Understood from what is written Forasmuâ⦠as ye know that ye were not Redeemed with Corruptibâ⦠things as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation receivâ⦠by tradition from your Fathers And as the same Apostâ⦠doth elsewhere phrase it By these you might be partâkers of the Divine Nature which none can be unâ⦠be is first Redeemed from the corrupt Nature aâ from the Body of Sin which we carry about us having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through lust So that to be Redeemed from Corruption and from Lust both which are very much in the World this âs Redemption Upon my Discoursing these things Examine your selves whoso shall hear or Read these Lines can ye thus find and witness Redemption in your own Souls That is do ye feel and Experience inwardly a Redemption in ye from that vain Conversation which is so much used and practised by other People and also a Redemption from Corruption and from Lust If it is so Indeed and in Truth then ye have purchased a good degree in the Faith and ye have made a considerable Advancement and Proficiency in the Christian-Life So that ye are in a readiness and willingness to Commit your Spirits into the hand of God because he hath Redeemed them And then in Psal 31. 5. He is called the Lord God of Truth Intimating thereby that he doth Redeem and Sanctifie them by his Truth There is another Scripture which doth clearly open the Nature of Redemption These were they which were ââ¦ot defiled with Women these were Redeemed observe that ââ¦rom among Men being the first Fruits unto God and to âhe Lamb. And in their Mouth was found no Guile for they were without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14. 4. 5. ât is here to be taken notice of how the Scripture in âhis and many other places doth in a wonderful manner Instruct People in these things of Holiness perâection and Innocency It is the Point or End which ââ¦ll Scripture doth drive at and lead unto But in this âlace to be Redeemed doth import to be Redeemed ââ¦om among Men and not to be defiled with Women That is not to be Tainted or Touched with the Temptation of either to be freed from Lust Concupicence and from the motions of Sins in our Members and to have in our Mouth no Guile found and to be without fault before the Throne of God Such are his Redeemed and Sanctified ones And the Ransomed of the Lord elsewhere called the Redeemed of the Lord Isa 51. 11. shall return and comâ to Zion with Songs and Everlasting joy upon their Headâ They shall obtain joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sighâing shall flee away Isa 35. 10. In truth none havâ such Reason to be joyful as these Redeemed of the Lord for nothing can possibly hurt them Not Meâ nor Devils nor yet Death it self which is the moâ⦠Melancholy thing and of doubtful Expectation as tâ other People for by Death they are received into God hand the place of Everlasting joy There is yet another Scripture which Explains thâ Nature of Redemption Who gave himself for us that ãâã might Redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto him self a peculiar People zealous of good Works Titus 2. 1 The Scripture is all along consonant and agreeable to ãâã self for this Redeeming from all Iniquity and Purifyiâ⦠answers exactly to that place aforementioned of beinâ without Guile and to have no fault A state of Innocenâ⦠is a state of Redemption for it is a state of Redeâption from Sin Guilt and whatever may hurt or maâ⦠the Soul miserable It is a Redeeming from Captivitâ Bondage and Thraldom from the Vassalage of Sââ¦tan and the Imprisonment of Hell which as we ãâã come Obnoxious unto only by reason of Sin Iniquiâ⦠and Transgression So as we are Redeemed from theâ⦠we are consequently Redeemed and saved from tâ⦠other also Besides these two Grounds of having seen the Salvâtion of God and his having Redeemed us there is anothâ⦠for our willingness and contentment to dye from whâ⦠is written I have Glorified thee on the Earth I haâ⦠finished the Work which thou gavest me to do And nâ⦠come I to thee John 17. 4. 13. Now seeing that whoâ⦠God did foreknow He did also Predestinate to be confââ¦med unto the Image of his Son that he might be tâ⦠first Born amongst many Brethren So that we mâ⦠assuredly Reason that every Servant of God may upâ⦠true grounds be willing to dye and to come unto Gâ⦠when he hath before Glorified him on the Earth aâ⦠finished the Work which God gave him to do Aâ⦠now come I to thee Words full of consolation and rejoycing Like as when a Servant is sent out to such a place about his Masters Business when he hath done it he returns to his Master with rejoycing and complacency of mind Even so God our Creator sent us Reasonable Creatures to do his Work and Business Wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers Business Luke 2. 49. Said Jesus Christ his beloved Son who herein left us an Example that we should follow his steps Now certainly it must be a Satisfaction to the Creature when he hath
done the Work and Will and Business of his Creatour according as it was expected from him and consequently the Creature can then return with more Comfortable Expectation unto him And now come I to thee We cannot better and more willingly surrender back our Spirits to the God who gave them then when they have faithfully performed that very same thing for which God sent these Spirits into these Bodies for to do And now O thou invisible Creator the invisible part of us which was by thee Created comes to thee From what hath been afore written it appears that there are three things especially which upon good and true grounds can make any one contented willing and desirous to Dye First When one hath seen the Salvation of God Secondly When the Lord God of truth hath Redeemed us Thirdly When one hath Glorified God on Earth and finisbed the Work which he gave us to do It was Revealed unto Simeon by the Holy Ghost that he should not see Death until he had seen the Lord's Christ And he came by the Spirit into the Temple and when his Parents brought in the Child Jesus to do for him after the Custom of the Law then took he him in his Arms and Blessed God and said mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation So that Simeon his seeing the Salvation of God was seeing Jesus Christ in the Flesh But since the fullness of time is over and past we cannot now see him in the Flesh here on Earth yet we may see him in his Grace and Revelation But chiefly to see Christ the Salvation of God the Power of God and the Wisdom of God is with the Eyes of our Understanding being enlightened and turned inwards to see Christ within us Little Children of whom I travail in Birth till Christ be formed in ye And so to have Christ formed in us this is to see the Salvation of God Now this is a work of time and succession as it is of forming the Infant in the Womb. To have or see Christ formed within us is the Business and Work of our whole Life here on Earth which the Preaching and Ministry of the word doth help unto And when once Christ is throughly formed within us and we see the Salvation of God then we may be well contented willing and Desirous to dye for this Reason For as when the Chick sees the Kite or Hawk which would devour it if she can run under the Hens wings then she is safe For as the Hen was at first Instrumental to give it Life and Being so it will still preserve it Even so by seeing the Lord 's Christ who is the Prince of Life and the Salvation of God the faithful Soul who is in Covenant with him runs and makes unto Christ who promises and performs it also He shall cover thee with his Feathers and under his Wings shalt thou trust Psal 91. 3. and gathereth his Children together even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings Here let Death and the Devil come and destroy that Soul if they can Christ is greater in power and might Forsamuch then as the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself took part of the same that he through Death might Destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil And destroy them who through fear of Death were all their life time Subject to Bondage If we are first saved from Sin and Guilt then wâ are also saved from the wrath to come And then wâ may be contented and willing to dye for therefore People are afraid to dye Because they are afraid to fall under the wrath of God Now if they are sure and safe from that then Death is without any sting at all which is Sin And then also we shall be safe saved and preserved from all the Evils Plagues and Punishmentâ of the World to come So that after all the Miseries and Irksomness of this present Life for as there is a satiety of all things so at length there is a satiety even of Life it self after all the toyl and wearisomness and labour thereof God our Creator will comfort us for this same toil and the times of Refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Blessed be his Name for it He doth here in this valley of Tears and place of Weeping afford us some good and Comfortable things yet seeing that he hath appointed our time on Earth as the days of an Hireling we may willingly and contentedly give up our Breath and commit our Spirits into his hand saying with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Because we shall have yet better and more Satisfactory things when we depart hence To be patient to Live and willing to Dye is the temper and disposition of Soul which I desire and would endeavour at And this my willingness to dye should not proceed out of a Melancholy temper Like Jonah in an Angry Mood who would have the Lord to take his Life from him For it was better for him to Dye than to Live only forsooth because he was displeased at the time that the Lord did not destroy Nineveh according to the word which he had Preached But this was only a pettish humour of his And so others at this day upon a sudden Affliction and Vexation are forthwith weary of the world and call to Death to come and ease them of the present Burthen Trouble Grief or Uneasiness But give me the mind that is willing to dye upon the same Reason as the Apostle was Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Phil. 1. 23. Then the best condition here on Earth when also it can truly be said To me to dye is gain For by Death I shall gain or get more Good more Satisfaction more Comfort more Happiness and Blessedness then ever I had on this Earth Then only Death is gain when to live is Christ when we lay out our selves and live only for Christ that is in his service and to get Christ formed within us then truly Death is gain But if on the other hand People live to themselves or for themselves as in the service of Mam mon and for Pleasure and they are wanton on the Earth the consequence thereof is they have nourished their heart as in the day of Slaughter or against the day of Slaughteâ to such to dye is not Gain but Loss for thereby they losâ their Pleasure they lose their Mammon and they receive nâ⦠good instead thereof but only Punishment and wrath Blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord. But 't is only those who live unto the Lord that is in his service and Obedience that Dye in the Lord. If we mean to gain by ouâ Death that is to get and obtain more good thereby thaâ we had here we must do somewhat for it whilst we are in Life
deserâ⦠Herein also the Plowman Artificer and day Labourâ⦠will give up unto God a better account of spending thâ⦠time and the days of their life then idle Gentry aâ⦠Rich People Who have lived in pleasure on the Earth aâ⦠have been wanton and have nourished their hearts as in ãâã day of slaughter Who sit down to eat and to drink and rise up to play Here again it is to be desired that peopâ⦠would willingly as out of duty and obedience to thâ⦠primitive Commandment and ordinance of God su ãâ¦ã mit themselves to labour and pains and not do it so muâ⦠out of necessity to get a livelihood and that they wou ãâ¦ã submit themselves to the same labour and pains in t ãâ¦ã immediate service of God and in doing good and ãâ¦ã all this purely for God's sake and not as an hireling ãâã hire or reward For God more approves of such se ãâ¦ã vice and obedience as we may gather from what written The Kings came and fought then fought the Kin ãâ¦ã of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo they ãâã no gain of mony Judges 5. 19. And from the example Nehemiah who saith Moreover from the time I was appoinâ⦠to be their Governour in the land of Judah that is twe ãâ¦ã years I and my Brethren have not eaten the bread of ãâã Governour but the former Governours that had been befoâ⦠me were chargeable unto the people and had taken of them Bre ãâ¦ã and Wine beside forty shekels of Silver yea even their servaâ⦠bare Rule over the People But so did not I because of ãâã fear of God Neh. 5. 14 15. These things are recorded to for ensamples and they are written for our admon ãâ¦ã tion yea and imitation also upon whom the ends ãâã the world are come The God of Israel said He thâ⦠Ruleth over Men must be just Ruling in the fear of G ãâ¦ã 2 Sam. 23. 3. Such should not be chargeable unto the peop ãâ¦ã For whereas the former Governours had been chargeabâ⦠unto the people Nehemiah would not because of the fear God But to return again from whence I have seemed to digâ⦠eâ⦠As bodily labour doth by use and exercise become mo ãâ¦ã Habitual and easy so in the service of and obedience to God it would be work and labour well bestowed to somewhat remove and take off that Irksomness and Wearisomness that is in the same which is done by beginning and then continuing in this good kind of life Hereby it comes to pass that when people in their unregenerate state say of the Worship and service of God Behold what a weariness is it Mal 1. 13. Saying when will the new Moon be gone that we may sell Corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth Wheat Amos 8. 5. They come âo be so changed and renewed and altered in their mind that they call the Sabbath a delight not doing their own ways nor find their own pleasure nor speak their own words but they delight themselves in the Lord and take delight in approaching unto God Which heretofore was unpleasant âo them and they were backward and hard to be brought unto it this is a change indeed Formerly they grudged at every hour of time which was not spent in pleasure and now they grudge at every hour which is not spent in the service of God and doing good to their immortal Souls All other things perish and nothing else remains ân a Man or avails any thing The Grass withereth the Flower fadeth but the word of our God shall stand for ever There must be work and labour and succession of time before the Soul comes to be thus Born again and renewed in the Spirit of her mind after that she hath been depraved by the Body and by our corrupt sinful and sinning Nature There must be a great deal of hard work and labour before we can put off and be delivered from this Body of Sin and Death which we carry continually about us O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Intimating thereby that no Mortal Creature could do it yet the grace of Jesus Christ could and also would do it for this purges out the old leaven and sinful and corrupt Nature until it becomes whole and healthful and than it will grow up to Blessed immortality There must be work and labour to lay aside every weight for can any weight be laid aside without some labour in no wise And the sin which doth so easily beset us and to resist unto Blood striving against sin T ãâ¦ã last requires the utmost labour and hardship To go ãâ¦ã farther and lay the Ax to the Root of the Tree thâ⦠must be work and labour to get rid off and free fr ãâ¦ã the motions of Sin and the inclinations to Evil wh ãâ¦ã are in our members For when we were in the flesh ãâ¦ã motions of sin which were by the law did work in our me ãâ¦ã ers to bring forth fruit unto Death This is the mis ãâ¦ã evous effect of those motions of sins in our members ãâ¦ã bring forth fruit unto Death It may be of edificati ãâ¦ã and benefit to narrowly consider the Nature of thâ which also will not be altogether going aside from ãâ¦ã intended matter for to get clear from those motions sins is one part of finishing that work which God ga ãâ¦ã us to do They are called the motions of sins So that they a ãâ¦ã not properly actual sins but the motions of sins that ãâ¦ã a motion or inclination unto sin like to the first sprin ãâ¦ã ing forth of a Bud or as in the breaking forth into a S ãâ¦ã or Sore The matter and root and cause thereof from within So here the Law of God is perfect convert ãâ¦ã the Soul and in order to that it would prevent the ve ãâ¦ã first rise and beginnings of sin or the motions of sins in ãâã members For it doth not only provide against the outwa ãâ¦ã breaking forth of actual transgression but also it wou ãâ¦ã suppress and stifle and hinder the motions of sins in o ãâ¦ã members If these little ones that is the motions ãâã sins in our members are dashed against the stones as hap ãâ¦ã py is he that doth so Then they can never grow inâ⦠Presumptuous sins or into the great transgression And ãâã if these motions of sins are suppressed and stifled whi ãâ¦ã they are but yet working in our members than it ãâã impossible that ever they should come forth into actuaâ⦠sins Truly this to do is very hard work and labouâ yet still there should be a pressing and endeavour afteâ⦠it This is the difference between the sins of the regenerate and unregenerate between the spot of thy Children and which is indeed Corrupting of themselves Deut 32. 5 Such as are the Children of God have only some little motions and inclinations to the same sins
which they suffer to go and proceed no farther not to bring forth fruit unto Death as they would if they were not hindred and restrained and if care was not taken against them For when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death But in unregenerate people these motions of sins do break forth into outward act and Lust in them goes forward and conceives and brings forth sin and sin in them is finished and bringeth forth Death and involves them into ruin of Body and destruction of Soul As for instance in the Regenerate it is concupiscence or a little inward Lust which they are sure to let go no farther but in the Unregenerate the same concupiscence issues forth into Lasciviousness Uncleanness Fornication and Adultery Even in the Regenerate concupiscence is sin this being one kind of those motions of sins the Apostle speaks of ãâã Rom. 7. And it is one on those secret faults which David Psal 19. 12. Prayes to be cleansed from and also one of âose Secret sins which God doth set in the light of his countenaâe and which he will bring into Judgement Do ye think ââ¦at the Scripture saith in vain the Spirit that dwelleth in ãâã lusteth to envy the Apostle speaks in behalf of himself and of the other Regenerate for in truth there are ââ¦en in them Lustings and tendencies to envy and hatred âhich in Unconverted people do break forth into actual ââ¦nvy and Hatred And so there is likewise in the Reânerate motions and inclinations lustings and tendââ¦cies to almost all manner of sin and evil to gluttoâ⦠and drunkenness a longing after the Fleshpots of Aegyâ⦠and a secret inward liking of them by the fleshly corââ¦pt Nature and by the old Man but still and along ââ¦ey prevent that they do not come forth into the seveââ¦l acts of Sin to which again way is given by sinners ââ¦d the Children of disobedience Nevertheless it is the will of God and accordingly âs word which is very pure doth direct it so That his âhildren and Servants should strive and sincerely enâeavour what they can Cursed is he that doth the work of ââ¦e Lord deceitfully Against all these motions of sins that are in our members and against these inclinations evil and against the inward lusting and tendency transgression The Commandment of God is not only this wise Cease to evil but extends farther Abstain frâ⦠all appearance of evil Which takes in all the occasioâ beginnings enticements and tendencies to evil ãâã as he which hath called you is Holy so be ye Holy all manner of conversation Now there being in God motions to sin nor inclinations to evil it being Im ãâ¦ã sible for God to lye or to commit sin or evil it follows certain consequence that we can never obey and ãâã fil this his Commandment of being Holy as he is Holy ãâã we get utterly rid off and clear from these motions sins and inclinations to evil and yet we should whatever we can that we may partake of his Holinesâ we would partake of his blessedness for without Holiâ⦠no Man shall see the Lord. Again it is Commanded Stand in aw and sin not ãâã the word of God doth not rest there as only to proâ⦠against the outward act of sin but it goes yet farâ⦠Mortifie therefore your members that are upon the Earth ãâã if the members are mortified upon the Earth then there no motions of sins in these members according to ãâã other Scriptures witness If Christ be in you than i ãâ¦ã Body dead because of sin or as to sin Now again ãâã certain that in a dead Body there are no motions of ãâã at all and it being the will of God that Christ ãâã be formed in us Little Children of whom I travail in ãâã till Christ be formed in you And except Christ be in yâ⦠are reprobates it follows therefore that we should be ãâã as to sin and then also we should have no motions sins in us in which sence also it is that the Apostle ãâã I dye daily That is he did dye daily unto sin He not only cease from the outward act of sin but also had less and less motion and inclination to sin unt ãâ¦ã length he had no motion nor inclination to it at which is like dying continually untill one is actu ãâ¦ã dead For as than life goes away and lessens by liâ⦠and little so in such not only the acts but the ha ãâ¦ã bit also yea the Life and Power of Sin goeth and âisheth away until it becomes none at all This is be diligent that is by still labouring and endeavour ãâ¦ã after it until we attain it That we may be found ââ¦m in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 14. God ãâã his people in Hosea 8. 5. How long will it be ere they ââ¦in to innocency Which though it be long and he exââ¦s much before they arrive unto it yet at length ââ¦e of his Peculiar people Redeemed from all iniquity after much labour and endeavour first had and used ââ¦rds it attain to that measure and degree of inââ¦ncy till they become Israelites indeed in whom is no ãâã and they arrive unto that state in this life for ââ¦ven must be begun here though it be perfected and âummated hereafter to which God shall add and annex âhe highest Heavens that in their mouth was found no ãâã for they are without fault before the Throne of God ãâã die unto sin and to be alive again unto God to âur after till we actually attain unto Holiness and ââ¦cency of Life is one main part of doing and fini ãâ¦ã that work which God sent us on this Earth to do subdue the Power and Acts yea the very motions inclinations to sin and to root out utterly as far possible the corrupt Nature For flesh and blood shall not âit the Kingdom of God neither shall in any wise enter âin any thing that defileth As aforesaid Heaven must âegun here in us if we will enter into Heaven here ãâ¦ã And in order to that this is our business and ãâã which God sent us on this Earth for to do By âing together with his grace to labour and endeavour âever we can that we may become meet to be par ãâ¦ã of the inheritance of the Saints in light His word therefore given to Build us up and give us an inheri ãâ¦ã amongst all them which are sanctified and to make ãâã a people prepared for the Lord. This work we are âo and finish By the help of the same word our âs are to become ready a people prepared for âord And while they went to buy the Bridegroom came they that were ready Observe that went in with him ãâã marriage and the door was shut We are to be ready and prepared against what time God shall call a summon us to appear before himself Like as the s ãâ¦ã of the Earth grow on till they become ripe and