Finisher of our Faith Some say that he is a good Man and others have said nay but he deceiveth the People This last Reproach hath been handed about or otherwise they would never have dissuaded People from coming to hear me So far it is true some do secretly wish that I was gone out of the Country yea many in this Island had rather I was gone out of the World By the way if their Spirits now are so impatient and restless that they cannot endure a single Troubler of Israel how then will they endure when their Souls fly out of their Bodies it is but a short Respite and Reprieve between if they should be with the whole Company of Prophets and Apostles who were so to their Age and Country what I am accused of now Neither they nor my self have troubled Israel but those Men only have troubled it who have forsaken the Commandments of the Lord. Some very few others in this Neighbourhood had rather perhaps that I stay longer among them for their Souls Good and Edification by their attending on my Ministry in this place But beloved of whom I hope Salvation to speak a short Word unto ye I have no greater Joy than to hear that my Children walk in Truth John 3. 4. For what is our Hope or Joy or Crown of Rejoycing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ for ye are our Glory and Joy 1 Thes 2. 19 20 This is my Hope my Comfort my Joy and my Crown that every one of you are not gainsaying and disobedient Despisers and non-hearers although far the greater Multitude of the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood are Ye might convince them in the mean while as ye will be Witness against the others at the last Day Furthermore then we beseech you Brethren and exbort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and please God even according to all the words of the Gospel without adding one Word or diminishing from it so ye would abound more and more The same Paul saith on this wise concerning another Minister of the Gospel Receive him for he also worketh the work of the Lord as I work So my dear and beloved Fellow-Christians I would have ye to know that whensoever I go from hence notwithstanding the contrary Reproaches of many People I do work the same Work of the Lord which I do here in this place Namely by the words of God's Grace and Truth which are committed to my Ministration to endeavour to convert Sinners and to make them a People prepared for the Lord. But there I do it more by writing and publishing the Copies thereof which is the more lasting and remaining Good Here it is by a living Voice and by Word of Mouth Again of this ye are not ignorant that in other Cities Towns and Villages there are the like Creatures of the same God as ye your selves are and alike Sheep of the one and everlasting Shepherd who hath us Ministers for his under-Shepherds and these Sheep are to be fed instructed and exhorted in the Words of Eternal Life So that ye may be contented and satisfied for they also are Children of the Stock of Abraham and Flesh of your Flesh and Bone of your Bone altho' one who was a Burning and Shining Light in his Generation and some of ye were willing to rejoyce in his Light for a season should be removed to another place for the much yet greater ends of the Gospel and for the yet more Universal and lasting Publishing and Propagation of the Eternal Truths of God For the Souls of such of ye as shall be saved will be saved nevertheless whither I go away or stay if ye remember and continue mindful of the things that have been spoken and particularly if ye obey and observe the very last Direction which I Intend to leave with ye As also in the latter Days when ye shall consider it more perfectly than I can now declare it unto ye then ye will glorifie God on my behalf and also be well pleased therewith and have good Will towards me in my making the better Choice as to obey the Call of God and prefer the greater things pertaining to his Kingdom before the less This common thing of good Will is a thing that the Ministers of the Gospel do very often want signified by that relative kind of Speech Glory to God on the highest on Earth Peace and good Will towards Men. But as to the Souls of them in this Town and Neighbourhood who shall perish they would still continue Despisers and Non-hearers Reproachers and Blasphemers stubborn and perverse be Blinded Rom. 11. 7. and Snared Isa 8. 14. at the Word of my Ministry and there would be a stumbling Block hindering them from coming to hear it altho' I should continue here all the remaining evil Days of my Pilgrimage which I intend not to do As Robert Bolton call'd for his six Children up when he lay upon his Death-bed and utter'd this his last Saying unto them Take heed that none of ye do meet me at the Judgment-seat of God in an un-regenerate Heart so in this my Farewel-Sermon I warn and testifie unto all the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood let those that hear carry out this Word to them that do not hear take heed that none of ye do meet me at the Judgment-Seat of God in an un-regenerate Heart nor yet in the Spirit of despisal and refusal to hear the Word of the Lord nor yet in the Spirit of Reproach Stubbornness and Perverseness nor yet in the Darkness of Ignorance which most People are now in And which shews for these are the Fruits and Effects thereof that your Hearts as yet are Un-regenerate Unsanctified and Unrenewed and your foolish Hearts are darkned Which perhaps altho' they are not in every part yet it is so in some part thereof for ye are not as yet turn'd unto the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Souls and with all your Mind without the Exception or Reserve of any Lust Humour or Will of your own And ye are not as yet given up to follow the Lamb who is the Way the Truth and the Life and consequently the Conducts and Leadings of Divine Truth whither soever it goes but such do turn unto the Lord with some of their Heart but not with their whole Heart This Word is proper and belongs unto those of the several Professions Sorts Sects and Names of Religion inhabiting among us as they are commonly called or distinguished by Church-People Presbyterians Quakers The name of it nor yet your listing your selves in either of the Parties nor yet your confining your selves only unto it will not save ye nor any of ye But it must be pure and undefiled Religion before God thro' his Gracious Acceptance thereof it must be by true Primitive and Universal Christianity the way wherein our Fathers
walked who now are at Peace thro' which as a Means ye are to hope that your Spirits may be saved in the Day of the Lord. Jesus A confirming all the Words of the Law and Gospel by your doing of them But whosoever shall do and teach them even the least Commandments the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5. 19. And it is thro' this thing even that mention'd in the foregoing Verse The setting your Hearts unto all the Words which Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles have testified unto Mankind unto this Day which ye shall command your Children to do all the Words of this Law And then it follows thro' this thing ye shall prolong your Days even so to a blessed Eternity in the Land even the new Heavens and the new Earth where Righteousness dwells whither and when ye go over the Jordan of this Life to possess it There is no other way or name given under Heaven whereby they must be saved than that of Christ Jesus and the Observance of all things whatsoever he hath commanded us Whatever Reproaches and false Sayings have been uttered against my Person or Ministry tho' here it may be expected I should take up such a kind or form of Speech Father forgive them for they know not what they do I pray God lay not this Sin to their Charge But since Christ and his Apostles spake after this manner so much Light and Grace so much Knowledge and Revelation have came into the World that People now may know what they do herein namely that themselves who reproach and speak falsly are as so many Instruments in the Hands of the Devil for to resist let and hinder to defeat spoil or render of less Effect the Ministry of such a Servant of the most High God who doth only Teach the way of Salvation So that if we should still pray and ejaculate after this manner it may seem to encourage others in a like course of sinning and Teaching Rebellion against the Lord for so did Shemaiah the Nehelamite in giving out as if Jeremiah his Prophet was mad as ye may read in Jer. 29. 26. 32. so that instead of my praying Father forgive them for they know not what they do I pray God lay not this Sin to their charge I shall here use and apply as to them other Words of Christ and his Apostle But I say unto you that every idle Word which there signifies false or reproachful Words as appears by the Verses immediately foregoing that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment Mat 12. 36. Who shall give an account to him that is ready to judge both the Quick and Dead 1 Pet. 4. 5. We are not allow'd to pray nor will God hear but according to Truth How then can I pray Father forgive them for they know not what they do when the Times of that Ignorance which God winked at are long since past But now in this Gospel-day more Grace and Knowledge have appeared unto the World So that either People do know or may know which is near one and the same thing what they do and whom they have Reproached and Blasphemed and against whom they have exalted their Voice even against the Holy One of Israel when with their Mouth they have reproached and spoken falsly of his Minister and Servant especially as he was in the Ministration of his Word and when their lying Lips did speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the Righteous Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good Report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these things Those things which ye have learn'd and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of Peace shall be with you Phil. 4. 8 9. Wherefore I take you to record this Day that I am pure from the Blood of all Men for I have not shunned to declare unto ye all the Counsel of God For as may be reason'd from Joshua 8. 35. there should not be a Word of all that God hath commanded in the Scriptures which his true Ministers should shun or refuse to declare and make known unto the People I am not he that is set over ye after the Law of a Carnal Commandment or according to the established manner of the Country But as God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healing Helps 1 Cor. 12. 28. so by the Gifts given and committed unto me I may come in for an Helper in the Work of the Ministry And by my constant Warning of the Inhabitants of this Town and Neighbourhood against all manner of Sin and Transgression and by laying open the Unreasonableness and Danger thereof I shall somewhat ease that Account which he is to give for the Souls more immediately and especially committed unto his Charge Notwithstanding all the Labours that are used in this Parish and the Parts adjacent to prevent it whosoever for all that shall perish at last yet I take you to record again that I am pure from the Blood of all Men because I have not refused to declare unto them all the Counsel of God that came into my Mind and which was against their Sin Iniquity Transgression Hypocrisie Disobedience and Ignorance all which and the like do drown Men in Destruction and Perdition And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance amongst all them which are sanctified I commend you especially to the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation and to its Teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World So that whosoever of you shall deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and shall live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this present World he or she and such only shall obtain and inherit Salvation in the next World I commend you also to the Teaching of the Spirit of God there is no Teaching like the Teaching of the Spirit and Lord evermore give us this Bread Lord evermore give us the Teaching of thy Spirit and there be sure to obey its Voice and to do always according to those Dictates of Duty and Motions of Good the Spirit shall from Time to Time suggest and put into your several Minds Remember to observe this Rule even to do and put in Practice all the Good that ye shall ever think of or what shall be in the Power of your Hands for to do But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is no Lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him And now little Children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have Confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming 1 John 2. 27 28. As ye and my self do constantly to our Lives end observe these last Rules and Directions here deliver'd however we shall be divided and separated one from another on this Earth in matter of Place But we Brethren being taken from you for a short time in Presence not in Heart 1 Thess 2. 17. for such of us as are obedient unto the Word in Heart and Affection we shall be together still for Godly Hearers will remember a Godly Teacher after he is removed from them as also he will remember such Hearers as were attendant on and obedient unto the Word of his Ministry in such a Place yet such of us as do these things If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them and blessed are those Servants whom when the Lord cometh he shall find so doing shall meet again at a blessed Resurrection Amen so be it saith my Soul Richard Stafford FINIS LONDON Printed in the Year 1698. and are to be Sold unto such who will receive the Truth in the Love thereof Advertisement THese are to give notice That I have several other Practical Sermons or Discourses of mine own composing lying by me in Manuscript which if they who have the Plenty or Competency of this Worlds Goods would according to their several Ability thus Consecrate some part of their Gain and Substance unto the Lord Micah 4 13. so as to be ready to Distribute and willing to Communicate towards the outward Labour and Charge of the Printing and Publishing of them it would be for the Glory of God in making known his Truth Isa 38. 19. and for the Edification and Benefit of his Church and People and consequently it would be a good Work in such Persons who shall be helpful and any ways assistant herein for which they would be rewarded by God in the Life that is to come Charge them that are rich in this World that they do Good that they be rich in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good Foundation against the Time to come that they may lay bold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6. 17 18 19. This is a Faithful Saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good Works these things are good and profitable unto Men Titus 3. 8.
my God why hast thou forsaken me Therein also thinking after the manner of Men that because he then came to feel Pain and Torment as if thereupon God who is all Blessedness had forsaken him And so in like manner David a Man after God's own Heart who spake forth the Words of our Text as it is written But they like Men have transgressed the Covenant so herein he spake like a Man For because of his Enemies which he mentions three times in this short Psalm of whom he complains ver 3 4. He prays for Deliverance from them ver 9. and for the utter Cutting off and Destruction of them ver 12. He also thought as if God had withdrawn his loving kindness and had none towards him for if he had he would not suffer him to have such Enemies But in this last David did err not knowing or rather not consisidering the Scriptures and the Power of God and the way and method of the Dispensation of his Kingdom towards us Men. God suffers them to have Enemies to hold his Servants in Warfare and Tryal David was not so much then destitute of the loving of kindness of God but he was destitute of the sense of the loving kindness of God which is evident from the very manner of expressing it Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the Morning Intimating thereby that there was such a thing as the loving kindness of God towards him but it was afar off and out of Hearing And therefore he Prays unto God to cause him to hear it and then it must be brought nearer and be sensible for Hearing is a Sense unto him Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning is a Relative kind of Speech which doth presuppose absence and want thereof inasmuch as a Man doth not pray for but rather give thanks for what he hath already But either David did not at all or at least not so much hear the loving kindness of God as he would desire for and therefore he puts up this Prayer unto God in this manner Why a sense and hearing of the loving kindness of God would be as so much Stay and Support as so much Armour and Defence against the Incursion and Assault of his Enemie He had some Apprehension of thus much from the following Words which he drops for in thee do I trust Which again presupposes some Fear he was in and some Danger he was subject unto as to both of which he did trust That the Invisible God would save deliver and preserve him from them Thus much may be surely gathered and reasoned That if God hath a loving kindness for any one he will never suffer him to utterly perish and tobe wholly miserable I do not say That God will not suffer him so much as to be struck but he will not suffer him to be destroyed that is not to be made by them eternally miserable His Enemies may possibly hunt and seek after him but they shall not totally overcome nor prevail against him for ever David doth here Pray like one who had the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and of Might the Spirit of Knowledge and of the fear of the Lord Isa xi 2. For he knew that if he had once the loving kindness of God he had all which could be desired and what was necessary for Safety and Deliverance from Men and Devils and therefore he fitly and properly Prays for that in the first Place Thy loving kindness in the Morning As Morning thoughts are commonly most fresh and lively so then he was most troubled and doubtful and his Heart did misgive him and meditate Terror lest he should miss thereof and not have it As the same David saith When I wake I am still with thee Psal cxxxix 8. And as the Spirit saith The Lords Mercies are new every morning great is thy faithfulness Lam. iii. 23. Because that every Morning God doth as it were give us a new Life so if when we wake Morning after Morning he wakeneth Morning by Morning our Heart is still with God and it is always and altogether with him and if we then can perceive and hear his loving Kindness O Good God! how sweetly and contendedly might we pass the remaining few and evil Days of our Pilgrimage here on Earth But chiefly therefore it is that we do not hear and perceive this loving kindness of God in the Morning yea God withholds and denies his loving kindness unto us because of what is intimated in the following part of the Verse we do not know the way wherein we should walk which sometimes is for want of Understanding thereof but more commonly for want of Will and Readiness to do the same And therefore both these Petitons are fitly and properly connected together and they follow and succeed one another Cause me to hear thy loving Kindness in the Morning for in thee do I trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my Soul unto thee For the sake of the latter part of this Verse it is that I have chosen this Text to discourse on unto ye at this time and I do intend to apply it as to my Preaching and your Hearing as it hath been used in this Place It is a seasonable Petition to put in and use in our Prayers that God would direct us in all Difficulties and when we are in a Strait and Doubt that He would cause us to choose the right way Then the Captains of the Forces and all the People said unto Jeremiah the Prophet Pray for us unto the Lord that the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we should walk and the thing that we may do Jer. 42. 3. Cause me to know the way whorein I should walk for I lift up my Soul unto thee We may lawfully yea we ought to pray what we have a Promise for and as to this Matter the Word of Promise speaks on this Wise What Man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Psal 25. 12 14. His secret is with the Righteous Prov. 3. 32. Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his Servants the Prophets Amos 3. 7. If in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Phil. 3. 15. And all thy Children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the Peace of thy Children Which last comes somewhat near unto and confirms the Doctrine of the Text which is this Then it is that God causes us to hear his loving Kindness when he also causes us to know the way wherein we should walk For here Isa 54. 13. is brought in as the effect of being taught of the Lord Great shall be the Peace of thy Children From whence it follows That we have great
Peace when we are taught of God and chiefly we have great Peace when we obey and do according to that Teaching of his And so we hear his loving Kindness when he causes us to know the way wherein we should walk From whence observe again That when our Spirits are dissatisfied restless and troublesome it is a certain sign either of some Guilt appearing forth in them or we are not conversant about and employed in what we ought Again on the other hand as we can prove our own Work and then find rejoycing in our selves and not in another Gal. 6. 4. This is a Sign and Evidence that it is a Good and Right Work The Apostle speaks in this manner unto some to whom he writes The God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing So the same God of Peace fills People with Peace in doing his Will which same Peace he denies them again as they neglect the doing of his Will I have experienced much of this last my self and by the Horrors and Accusings of mine own Conscience herein I can somewhat guess and apprehend before-hand what will be the pain of Loss at the great Day of Judgment The Sun rejoyceth as a strong Man to run a Race Psal 19. 5. So there is a Satisfaction in all the created Beings to move and act according to the Rule Law and Will of their Creator And again when they do not they are out of their Element and then there is Trouble Doubt and Disquiet As God asks the Question in reference to the false and idolatrous Worshippers among the Jews Should I receive Comfort in these Isa 57. 6. So it may be conceived and judged of before-hand as to our several Acts of Religion According as we find and receive Comfort in them so it is a foregoing Sign of God's Acceptance of them For as the Jewish Worshippers did hereby know that the Lord receiv'd a Burnt-Offering and a Meat-Offering at their Hands if the Fire did come down from Heaven and consume and Sacrifice and when he did shew us all these things Judges 13. 23. So even then it might be understood and also under the Gospel that God did Remember all our Offerings and accept our Burnt-Sacrifice and so what we did as pertaining to Religion and Worship if thereupon God did immediately give us the chief things of the lasting Mountains and the precious things of the lasting Hills Deut. 33. 15. that earnest and glimpse of future Glory I mean that Peace and Joy and Comfort in the Holy Ghost at the very same time and afterwards also wherein we were serving him This again is to be differenced from that fond Exultancy of Spirit and Complacency of Mind which the false and formal Worshipper may sometimes have in that in his own Imagination he hath done something for God and for his own Soul Like unto Micah who said Now know I that the Lord will do me Good seeing I have a Levite to my Priest Judges 17. 13. which yet was but a false Conceit of his own for as may be understood from Verse 5. he was an Idolater And let not such a one or any other false Worshipper think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord as to the future Recompence which he hath promised to such only who worship him in Spirit and in Truth But when we receive Comfort in our Holy Things and in our Religious Performances upon some true and assured Grounds out of God's Word This is an Evidence and Sign before-hand of our Salvation and that our Religion is a Religion to the saving of the Soul So again on the other Hand when we do not receive Comfort in our Religion but we perform it in a way of Drudgery and Task Here we may suspect our Course that as such People do not receive true Comfort in the Acts of their Religion so the great God unto whom it doth all relate and terminate doth not receive Comfort in them neither will they receive Benefit thereof hereafter Either such do not worship God in Spirit and in Truth or there is Sin and Iniquity in the Worshipper God heareth not Sinners If I regard Iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear me Or they do not turn unto him with their whole Heart It is only done out of Custom or as a Task that is set them which they do not mind after it is over Such will be of the number of those who shall say Lord Lord Mat. 7. 21. throughout their Life and yet shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Such do neither pray unto God for it neither doth God cause them to know the way wherein they should walk and so they neither hear his loving Kindness nor is any due and belonging unto them for this is the favour he beareth unto his People and is distinguished and peculiar to his Elect only There is a great Fear Jealousie and Doubt in the Heart of Man especially in those who prepare their Heart to seek know and please him whither we be in the way of God or not Besides the sure Word of Prophecy the certain Rule of Scripture if it be according to that and more especially by the Spirit which he hath given us We may very much conceive and judge thereof before-hand According to what Peace and Satisfaction of Mind we have if the other Signs here mention'd do also concur and agree then we are in God's way But if we are in Doubt Perplexity and Uncertainty of Soul then probably we are out of it Each Person knows his own Case and Condition herein better than all the Divines or Preachers of the World can instruct or put him in mind of To the Law and the Testimony and the Light that is in them and also within himself hereby he may know and assure his Heart before him viz. That he is in the way wherein he should be even the way which the Invinsible God his Creator would have him to be in and which leads up unto Heaven the Habitation of the most High Behold I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the Place which I have prepared Beware of him and obey his Voice Exod. 23. 20 21. This Angel is Conscience which also is to be ruled and guided by the written Word or that of himself which God hath implanted in Man or Woman By the Dictates and Motions whereof we may well guess whither we be in the way or not It is said The Angel before thee to keep thee in the way so Conscience is a Guide going before us and in our sight that is of the Eyes of our Vnderstanding being enlightned Which if we follow all along signified by those Words Beware of him and obey his Voice it will keep us in the way And when we are turn'd aside or out of it this will give Knowledge and Warning thereof yea and it will bring us in again if we Beware