that perish go on blindly aâ⦠ignorantly for twenty forty or sixty years yea througâout all their life long in this deceit of being Worshiââ¦pers of God and yet not doing his will of hearing ãâã word and not obeying it nor yet doing thereafter wheâ⦠as the Blessedness is to them that hear the word of God aâ⦠keep it Saith David by the Spirit if I regard iniquiâ⦠in my heart the Lord will not hear me Now iniquiâ⦠signifies the thing that is not equal But too many outwaâ⦠Worshippers do not only regard iniquity in their heaâ⦠but also practice it with their hand Nevertheless liâ⦠the Adulterous Woman Who eateth and wipeth her mouâ⦠and saith I have done no wickedness they will not ceaââ¦nor desist to offer up their many and customary Prayââ¦s unto God as aforetime and as if they had never ââ¦one any such thing Such may be found amongst the âumber of those of whom it is written Not every one ââ¦at saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingââ¦m of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which ãâã in Heaven Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord âave we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out âevils And then will I profess unto them I never knew ãâã depart from me ye that work iniquity All will not be ââ¦ved that go to Church or Meetings and then where shall ââ¦e ungodly and sinner appear for of four sorts of hearers ãâã the word there is but one that bringeth forth fruit ââ¦to everlasting life Herein also God is glorified when ââ¦ey bring forth fruit but he is not glorified when they ãâã not bring forth fruit or when instead of Bringing ââ¦rth grapes they bring forth wild grapes âo ye think that the Papists do glorifie God by their Mass ãâã Idolatrous Worship or by their ignorant mumbling ââ¦er their Beads when it is the revealed will of God that âeople should pray with the Spirit and with the underââ¦nding also 1 Cor 14. 15. That whole Chapter is aââ¦inst praying in an unknown Tongue God is a ââ¦irit and they that worship him must worship him in Spiââ¦t and in truth This is opposite unto and shuts out all ââ¦eir pompous outside Worship and carnal ordinances ââ¦ter the institutions and Commandments of Men. For ââ¦eir Worship stands in divers Washings and Bowings ââ¦d carnal ordinances imposed on them who would wilââ¦gly always remain in their corruption and errour ââ¦d never let Reformation come among them although â⦠Blessed be God many have reformed from their ââ¦ays Again May it be thought that the Mahometans by going ââ¦nstantly to their mosque and by their making a great ââ¦y and howling in their Prayers unto the God of Heaââ¦n although they are never so earnest in Prayer as they ââ¦em to be in tone and voice and also by their Waââ¦ings before Prayer as the manner of them is whereâ⦠common reason would shew them that the inward ââ¦urifying and cleansing of the heart of the Worshippers is more required by God and more pleasing and acceptable in his sight then the outward washing of theâ⦠Bodies with water And so with all their other rites anâ ceremonies customs and manners do they glorifie God â⦠when all the mean while they know not nor believâ⦠on Jesus Christ by whom there is access unto the Fatheâ he being the alone mediator between God and Man And so we may run over and conceive in our minâ⦠as to all the Religions Superstitions and ways of Woâship used in the World together with that manifoâ⦠Errour and Absurdity that is joyn'd therewith Do thoâ⦠Worshippers glorifie God It would be hard to say soâ⦠For the Father seeketh such to worship him as worship him ãâã Spirit and in Truth And seeing that so much Errour aâ⦠Folly Ignorance and Vanity is crept in and interminâled with the several Worships of the World especialâ⦠among those of the Roman-Church and that vast multâtude of others who do not at all name the name of Chrâ⦠it may be thought as to them that in God's Sight and ãâã to his Acceptation He that Sacrificeth a Lamb is as if ââ¦âut off a Dogs neck He that offereth an Oblation as if he ââ¦fer'd Swines blood He that burneth Incense as if he blessâ⦠an Idol Which last is the highest degree of provokiâ⦠God that can be So that such Worshippers do rathâ⦠displease than please God they do rather dishonour thâ⦠glorifie him They make God more angry and furthâ⦠off then bring him near or reconcile him unto the Wââ¦shippers But to come home and nearer to our selves even ãâã us who are called Protestants of the pure Reform'd Churâ⦠who come yet nearer to the Pattern shew'd to us in ãâã Gospel than they aforementioned Altho' our Worship ãâã in some measure Spiritual and True Yet here agaiâ⦠a right Faith and a wrong Conversation a good Naâ⦠but evil Doings will not save any of us Nor yet is Gâ⦠glorified by the work done or only in the outward coââ¦ing to the Places of Worship for if People do therein drââ¦near to God with their Lips but their Hearts are far frâ⦠him if they bring only their Bodies to the place but theâ⦠in their Souls do mind other Objects besides the Invisibâ⦠âod then as the Body without the Spirit is dead so such may be âore truly called carcaâe Worship than Spiritual Worââ¦ip for it is the Worship of a dead Body only or of a âarcase without the Spirit Acting or being concern'd thereâ⦠Saith God Now let them put away their Whoredom ând the Carcases of their Kings from me and I will dwell in âhe midst of them for ever Ezek. 43. 9 Lip labour in Prayâr or Worship is properly Whordom for it takes away âhe heart from God the right beloved and places it ân another wrong beloved and so it is a carkase of Worâhip for the reason aforeassigned Both which God requires âo be put away before he will dwell in the midst of us Having abundantly and at large discoursed by what kind of Worship God is not glorified it will easily âppear by what Worship he is indeed glorified For if ââ¦e is not glorified by meer outside Worship as indeed he âs not it follows that he is glorified by such Worship as is spiritual which denotes inward Worship for if it is performed by the Spirit it must be inward because the Spirit is within and true God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him and consequently he is glorified thereby so that to Worship God in Spirit and in truth is a part of our glorifying God here on Earth Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Pal 50. 23. Seeing that they who order their conversation aright will have the Salvation of God shewn unto them it follows hence also that
THE Great Useful and Blessed DUTY OF A Contentment Willingness and Desire TO DIE Set forth upon true and assured Grounds in several Discourses on these following Scriptures Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Luke 2. 29 30. Into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of truth Psal 31. 5. I have glorified thee on the Earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do John 17. 4. By RICHARD STAFFORD A Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ Recommended as more proper and Beneficial to be given at Funerals than Gloves or Rings LONDON Printed and are to be sold by the Book-sellers of London and Westminster 1700. Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy Word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Luke 2. 29 30. FRom these Words I shall treat through God's Assistance and according to the Knowledge given me O continue thy loving kindness to them that know thee and thy Righteousness to the upright in heart of our contentment and willingness to Die or depart from off this Earth Why Is there any need to perswade or exhort People to a Willingness and Desire to surrender back their Spirits unto the God who gave them This seems to be but what is Natural and Reasonable Yet still there is a reluctancy and backwardness in our Spirits to do this because the Spirit is conscious of having offended God and is afraid to meet with him Angry or as a God that âaketh Vengeance And therefore until this same God is perfectly Reconciled unto and at Peace with her and he is sensible and assured thereof the Soul must needs be affraid and backward to come and appear before him A diversity is to be observed when it is written Into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth The Psalmist doth not here say Thou hast Created me O Lord God of Truth Though indeed this is true yet that is not altogether so satisfying ãâã Reason for him to willingly commit his Spirit into God's Hand as the consideration of his having Redeemed him is Because that by Nature we are the Children of Wrath as well as others and we are shapen in Iniquity and in Sin doth our Mother conceive us So that until this same Sin and Iniquity which is the Object of God's Hatred Displeasure and Punishment be done away and we are Redeemed from it for by his Redeeming us we are in a state of Reconcilation again as this is God's Act also as well as of Creating us we are not meet and consequently there cannot be a Willingness upon good and true Grounds to give up our Spirits unto God or to say with old Simeon in the Text Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace Even this old Simeon though he had already lived long on this Earth yet he would not have been so contented and desirous to have departed out of it unless he was to depart in Peace Not to depart generally as most People do in doubt fear and trouble but to depart in Peace If we could have our choice and it were so in our power as to be Immortal here and never to Die as for my part I should desire and pray unto God either to depart in Peace or not to depart at all Foâ⦠as it is said of the Son of Perdition It would have been good for him if he had never been Born so it may be here affirmed of those who do not depart in Peace It would be good for them not to depart or not to dye at all Not but that some may go off disturbedly and yet go off safely The Soul may be sometimes in a state of Peace and yet not be sensible thereof Who feareth thâ Lord and obeyeth the voice of his Servant and yet walketh in darkness and have no light Isa 50. 10. But when one hath true and assured Grounds of Departing in Peace as Simeon here had there one may pray and appeal to God for him to let our Soul depart from the Body What were those true and assured Grounds which Simeon had of departing in Peace They are contained in the following Verse For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation From hence it appears that the true and assured Groundâ for which any one is willing and contented to Dye is Because he hath seen the Salvation of God or for the committing our Spirit into the Hand of God is Because he hath Redeemed us Now to see the Salvation of God or for God to Redeem us do amount to near one and the same thing As it is written The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation in the Margent there it is with outward shew Neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for beâold the Kingdom of God is within you So here it may be reasoned and supposed The Salvation of God is not outward nor yet cometh with Observation but the Salvation of God is within us It is wrought and accomplished within us And thou shalt call his Name Jeâus for he shall save his People from their Sins Mat. 1. 21. Who is a Prince and a Saviour and the Author of Eâernal Salvation to all that obey him and the Salvation of God As to all this Christ is no otherwise a Saviour âr doth save us or is the Salvation of God than as he âoth save us from our Sins and turn us from our âaiquities For this is laying the Ax to the Root of ââ¦e Tree and digging to the very Ground-work and âoundation because that only by reason of Sin we beââ¦me liable and obnoxious to Death Misery and Punishment So that by certain and necessary Consequence ãâã we are saved from Sin then also we are saved from âeath Misery and Punishment Hence again appears that this is the Salvation of God to save us from our Sins ând to save us from the Guilt and Corruption of our âature from whence these same Sins do proceed forth and so in those many places of Scripture where Salvation belongeth unto our God and is ascribed unto him ãâã he is called the God of Salvation there it is meant of ââ¦ving us from our Sins Where he saves from our Eââ¦mies Sin is the greatest Enemy for 't is Sin in such a ââ¦an or Woman which only makes him or her to be our ânemy Thou hast led captivity captive Psal 68. 18. that ãâã God hath led Sin and Corruption which doth inâlve the Children of Men in Captivity Captive by ãâã having received gifts for Men. And then it follows âlessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with Benefits and ââ¦imating thereby that to be saved from our Sins or to ââ¦d that Captive which before held us in Captivity is ãâã greatest Benefit And then it follows Even the God of our Salvation Selah He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto
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
fit their Masters use So it is accordingly expected ãâã us that we work together with his Grace and Sp ãâ¦ã which would work in us mightily if we do not rebel ãâã vex his Holy Spirit that we may become meet re ãâ¦ã prepared fit and ripe for God the great proprietou ãâ¦ã our Souls who gathereth them up to himself He b ãâ¦ã the Father of Spirits and accordingly the faithful speak Into thine hand I commit my Spirit That they ãâã become also when our Bodies drop into the grave shock of Corn in its season That when it is slipt ãâã dislodged from the Body it may be such as himself spe ãâ¦ã of Behold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth ãâã 42. 1. Or which is to the same benefit or significat ãâ¦ã for the Lord Jesus who is the Son of God to say ãâã ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for from the foundation of the World What comfortable w ãâ¦ã are here We would unless we be such fools as not to k ãâ¦ã the worth thereof give Thousands of Rams and ten T ãâ¦ã sand Rivers of oyl yea all we have in the world for assurance thereof But though Rich people have the vantage as to this world they have none as to the wâ⦠to come for the corruptible things of Gold and Sâ⦠We were not Redeemed by these but by the precious Blood of Lamb of God will not purchase Heaven nor yet pr ãâ¦ã the favour of God Which is to be had by no ãâã way then that of Obedience and Holiness Obey my ãâã and live An Holy God loves an Holy Soul For thâ⦠fore it was that God speaks this of Jesus Christ Behold Servant whom I uphold Mine elect in whom my Soul del ãâ¦ã eth Because he than knew from the beginning ãâã his Son Jesus Christ would finish the work that God ãâã him to do as Christ makes the return thereof thâ⦠had finished it Wherefore when he cometh into world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me In burnt offerings and Sâ⦠fices for Sin thou hast had no pleasure than said I Lo ãâã In the volume of the Book it is written of me Tâ⦠will O God From which and many other places of ââ¦pture it may be truly Reasoned that God hath not much pleasure in outward acts of Worship neiââ¦r doth he so much insist upon and require them I ãâã not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt offerings have been continually before me as in the doing his will ââ¦is is the chief thing which God requires of Man Hath ãâã Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and Sacri ãâ¦ã as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is ãâ¦ã r than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams âow this is true Christianity to imitate Christ For as was the first Born amongst many Brethren so he ââ¦self saith I have given you an example that you should ãâã I have done Seeing therefore that Christ did all which ãâã his Father sent him about and finished his work ãâã did his will So we ought also severally as we his Creatures but more especially as we profess our ââ¦es to be the Servants of God For his Servants shall âe him Do all which he sends us about on this Earth ãâã finish his Work and do his Will all the days of our ãâã For 't is not sufficient to be good or godly for a seaâ⦠but the promise is To them who by patient continu ãâ¦ã in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immorta ãâ¦ã Eternal Life that towards the end of this present ãâã we may also make the like comfortable return unto ãâã I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do ãâã the other Blessed consequent may be also And now ãâã I to thee âo him that shall hear or Read these lines the word âexhortation saith Go thou and do likewise Be upon ãâã and finishing the work which God gave thee on ãâã Earth for to do and finish For if this should be ââ¦ected Wo unto us for the day goeth away for the shadows âhe Evening are stretched out Thou nor yet I know ãâã little sand there is the Glass of our life as yet to ãâã out A great deal of our life is past and the day Immortality is at hand The night is far spent let us âefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the âour of light I say again Be upon the finishing part your work endeavour to have them polished and compleat The Church of Sardis was admonished Be watâ⦠ful and strengthen the things which remain that are reâ⦠to dye for I have not found thy works perfect before Gâ⦠Now this finding fault doth instruct us on the other haâ⦠that we should have our works perfect before God which we do endeavour with all our Heart and with all our Sâ⦠and all our might God himself will perfect and add uâ it untill it become acceptable in his sight Being confidâ⦠of this very thing that whatever good work he hath beguâ⦠any of you he will perform it untill the day of the Lord ââ¦s And again it is written Lord thou wilt ordain ãâã for us For thou also hast wrought all our works in us ãâã der which word peace the things that belong to our pe ãâ¦ã are comprehended and included even future Salva ãâ¦ã and Glory Who are kept by the power of God thr ãâ¦ã faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last tiâ⦠Receiving the end of your faith even the Salvation of ãâã Souls I do hereby exhort the people of this my Gener ãâ¦ã on and Country to be upon the finishing part of yâ⦠work which God hath given you severally on the E ãâ¦ã for to do For so an entrance shall be ministred unto abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ Wherefore I will not be negligent to you always in Remembrance of these things though ye ãâã them and be established in the present truth Yea I think it ãâã as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting yoâ Remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my ââ¦bernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ who is the word of Gâ⦠hath shewed me Moreover I will endeavour for which saâ⦠reason I desire that this profitable Book of a contentâ⦠and willingness to dye may be Printed and Published ãâã you may be able after my decease to have these things always remembrance And seeing that it is but a very little while fore that I shall certainly depart of from the Stage of ãâã Earth I commend you to God and to the word of his grâ⦠which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritanâ⦠mong all them which are Sanctified I commend you also the teaching of the Spirit Lord evermore give us this Brâ⦠Lord evermore give us the teaching of thy
âs and is afar off in the Habitation of his Holiness yet we are to seek after and apprehend him by saiâ⦠The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Mâ⦠to see if there were any that did understand and seek G ãâ¦ã He doth Command and require it that we should obey Commandments and serve and please him all one as if did now see him with open face as we do our Goveâ⦠ours Fathers and Masters after the Flesh That the seâ⦠and fear of him that is invisible should be always biding upon our Spirits The desire of our Soul is to ãâã and to the Remembrance of thy name Have Faith in Goâ⦠which same Faith should overcome the World in all ãâã Temptations Terrours and Allurements We shou ãâ¦ã prefer God above the Creature in all things Althouâ⦠God is out of sight his works are not yet he shouâ⦠be always in our mind When we are in company aâ⦠in the herd of our fellow Creatures We are than ãâã our shame be it spoken most apt to forget God ãâã Creator But even in the midst of them his Excelleâ should make us afraid Yea an Holy reverential fear aâ⦠dread of his invisible Majesty should overshadow us aâ⦠remain always sensible upon our Souls And as it is Râ⦠corded that At the going down of the Sun an horrour of a ãâã sleep fell upon Abraham Even so towards the going dowâ⦠of the Sun of our life A great horrour and dread of the ãâ¦ã visible God should be yet more upon us as we come near in time when we shall actually appear before hiâ This is to bring down God and Christ from above thâ⦠he may be nigh unto us For so he is when we have ãâã sence and fear of God always remaining upon our hearâ⦠that it shall prevail against and overcome all Temptatâ⦠ons arising either from Men or from the things of thâ⦠World That as Joseph did withstand the Temptation of his wanton Mistress with this consideration How ãâã I do this great wickedness and sin against God So whâ⦠thou art Tempted to Gluttony or Drunkenness or ãâã the sin that doth most easily beset thee here Reason wiâ⦠thine own Soul How can I do this wickedness and sin â⦠gainst God And let this thought actually restrain thâ from the Sin It signifies or avails but little to think aright unleâ⦠we also do accordingly for Grace and Knowledge dâ⦠increase the guilt and render yet more inexcusable if they are not effectual preservatives and remedies against sin For as it is sin in its Power and Reigning which doth hurt So likewise it must be Grace in its Power and Reigning which will do good and save us Wishes and Wouldings only towards good will never âring any one to Heaven unless they come forth into act accordingly Indeed we should be excellent Christiaâs if we would so speak and act accordingly as we think âesolve and purpose If we would continually from time âo time turn our purposes into performances and our âood thoughts into sutable Actions If ye know these things âappy are ye if ye do them which implyes on the other and that such are miserable who approve the things that ââ¦e excellent and do not follow after and practice them The finishing of the work which God gave us on this Earth for to do is by his grace and by our working toâather with his grace to render our selves fit for Heaven ând to be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the âaints in light To be as good and Godlike as ever we ââ¦an to be alvvays a growing in Grace and Knowledge âo be making further Proficiency and Attainments in ââ¦e Christian-Life to go forvvard and from Strength to âtrength tovvards Zion And vvhen any are rendred ât for Heaven and meet to be partakers of the inheriâance of the Saints in light there he is to keep and preâerve himself so Keeping your selves in the love of God ââ¦ude 21. And also in a Readiness and in a state of Watching and Waiting against that God shall call âr and summon âe by Death Be ye therefore ready for ãâã a day and an hour that ye look not the Son of Man comââ¦h And so people should first endeavour to get themâelves in a preparation for Death and Judgment and ââ¦hen they have got in a preperation for Death and âudgment then they are to keep and preserve themselves âherein and to be ready and prepared for it yet more ând more But some may be apt to say Hovv shall vve be ready ând prepare our selves for Death and Judgment I ansâver in general by a constant course of Righteousness and Holiness throughout the days of our Life vvhich Ri ãâ¦ã teousness must not be in part only but a Righteoâ⦠ness in all things It must be by answering unto ãâã complying with all the requirings of God in thy ãâã and conscience to do and obey according to all the thoughts of Good and duty which God at any time ãâã into thy heart and to abstain from all those motiâ⦠to sins and from all appearance of evil which thou any time preceivest within thee This again must done universally conscientiously and constantly unâ⦠you come up to that state of Holiness and Innocenâ⦠whereof Paul witnesseth I know nothing by my ãâã yet I am not hereby justified I Press towards the mark of Prize of the High calling of God in Christ Jesus And where Read any where in Scripture of the higher attainm ãâ¦ã t s in Christanity or the description of such as are deed the Saints and Servants of the Lord God there us examine and prove our selves whither they do deed belong to us Are our selves such as is there ãâ¦ã scribed As we Read those many Precious Promises ãâã are scattered up and down in the Bible do they ãâã long unto us Have we an interest and share in theâ⦠which we have according as we obey the several ãâ¦ã cepts and keep the sayings which are contained theâ in Order my steps in thy word that no iniquity mâ have dominion over me When we once find our whâ⦠Life and Conversation ordered according to the woâ⦠of God's Lips than we have finished the work whiâ⦠he gave us on this Earth to do God knows all things and when he sees that the ãâ¦ã veral reasonable Creatures inhabiting on this Earth ha ãâ¦ã finished the Work which he gave them to do thereoâ than he takes them off again from the Earth That ãâã according to his own Divine method Such as are ãâã Death to Death and such as are for Captivity to Captivity and such as area for the Sword to the Sword Jer. 43. 1â Which is not only true as to what kind of Death eaâ⦠one shall glorify God by but also as to the succeedinâ and after state such as God knows and sees to ãâã meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints iâ ãâ¦ã ht As from that hour that Disciple