in this put it close and home to your own Consciences Consider it well before ye answer it 'T is likely by this time ye may have learn'd to say that there is no other Happiness comparable to this and that 't is the enjoyment of God which makes Heaven to be Heaven and it may be your Understandings are in some measure convinced of the Truth of what ye say or else I am sure a great deal of pains has been taken with you to little purpose But for all that I must tell you the Question is not yet half answered the main Point is yet behind the great work of Regeneration lies principally in the WILL. Search therefore a little further ye may chance to find that your Hearts are more deceitful in this matter than ye thought of examin narrowly how they stand affected Right Notions are far more common in the World as dark as it is than answerable Affections and Tendencies of Soul are Come then let us go a little deeper into the Case Ye say ye believe there is no Happiness to be compared with the enjoyment of God But do ye feel what ye say Are your Hearts moving towards this Happiness Lord I have heard and believe that thou hast purposed to make thy People blessed in the enjoyment of thy self 't is this that my panting Soul breaths after I plainly feel that nothing else will content me grant me this and I have all I can have no greater I desire no other Blessedness Lord may I but know thee better and love thee more even as much as my Nature is capable of and enjoy the everlasting Sense of thy Love in a state of perfect Holiness and Purity I have then enough I desire no more whatever else goes under the name of Happiness in the World is but an empty Notion thou O Lord are my Portion my All. If these or such like Requests be really expressive of the inward deep habitual workings of your Souls ye may then boldly conclude that God will not frustrate nor disappoint such Desires as these which his holy Spirit hath kindled in you Those who thus esteem and long for the Heavenly Felicity shall have it Hold on therefore to the end he is faithful that hath promised If it be thus with you I tell you ye are safe But on the other Hand if when ye hear mention made of such a Happiness ye do upon deep and impartial search find no sutableness in the Temper and Tendencies of your Souls no Desires after it but â—ather a secret recoiling and drawing back from it if I say the case be so with you methinks I need not tell you ye are not like to be happy in that to which your Hearts are so disaffected Is not this plain enough How shall I make it plainer The Lord help you to understand and consider it I know carnal Minds are very stupid and blockish as to the apprehension of such things as these Let me try a-little further if I can drive it into you Suppose God should say to you as once he did to Solomon 1 Kings 3.5 Ask what I shall give thee What shall I do for thee to make thee happy Ask freely speak thy Mind let me hear what thou wouldest chuse for thy self Why here I say if thou canst form to thy self any other notion of Happiness that thou wouldst rather chuse than that whereof we have been speaking viz. which consists in the enjoyment of God I tell thee thou art in a woful case Acts 8.22.23 Repent therefore of this thy Wickednâ—ss and pray God if perhaps the thought of thy Heart may be forgiven thee For I perceive that thou art in the Gall of Bitterness and in the Bond of Iniquity Suppose thou mightst enjoy perfect bodily Health and fulness of worldly Prosperity and Ease and this for ever If I say thou couldst be content with this for thy Portion to deal plainly with thee thou are a graceless wicked Wretch Quest 2. What feeling Apprehensions have ye concerning the woful Corruption of human Nature especially in respect of its Aversion from God and Enmiâ—y against him Were you ever made deepâ—y sensible of this and throughly humbled for it so â—s to â—ament and bewail it before the Lord If not ye may concâ—ude your â—eâ—ves to be yet under the power of it and therefore Strangers to this great work of Grace which we are searching after Quare vitia sua nemo confit tur quia etiam nunc in illis est Somnium narrare vigelantis est vitia suae confiteri sanitatis indicium est Sence But if indeed the eâ—se be better with you and the bent of your hearts be turned towards God through Christ having first â—een made sensible of your sinâ—ul and unhappy estrangedness from hâ—m by Nature Yet ye cannot but know that there are still some Remainders of your old Distemper Do ye not feel them Is it possible they should escape your observation Can ye feel them and not groan â—itterly under them â—nd long to be delivered from them that ye may be perfectly reconciled unto him who is infinite amiable Goodness it self Are ye not sensibly â—ffected even the best of you to find that your Apprehensions concerning God are yet so dâ—rk and confused And that the workings of your Hearts towards him are so dull and languid so slow and heavy aâ—ter all that he has done to draw you by his loving Kâ—noness Can ye think of your unkind disingenuouâ— Caâ—riage to so good a God and not be asham'd and â—lâ—shâ—â—â—r Doth it not make you even a Burden to your selves Can ye â—orbear crying out in the anguâ—sh of your Souâ—s â—nd pleading earnestly with God on this account Lord if it be so why am I thus Must I still be complaining and yet get no nearer thee O my God how long how long Canst thou behold this Soul that â—ssued from thee the Father of Spirits Lord canst â—hou see it lie groveling in the Dust and looking towâ—rds thee for help and wilt thou not pitty it Where are thy wonted Compassions and the sounding of thy Bâ—weâ—s Surely they are not restrained Must mâ—ne Eâ—es still fail with looking upwards O Lord I must not I dâ—re not I cannot entertain hard Thoughts of thee no no 't is I that have so often grieved thy Holy Spirit and therefore have no more of his help vouchafed me I tell you Sirs the holiest Persons are most sensible of the weight of indwelling Corrupâ—ion they strive they pray they watch and war against it the nearer they are to God the more sensible of their yet remaining distance from him Nor is there any thing for which they more loath themselves than for the Remnants of their Aversion from him Quest 3. How stand ye affected to the Lord Jesus Christ as he is the Way to the Father the principal Means to bring us to the Knowledg and Love of God to Reconciliation and Communion with him and to
Praeparatio Evangelica OR A Plain and Practical DISCOURSE CONCERNING The SOUL'S Preparation FOR A Blessed Eternity Being the Substance of several SERMONS Preach'd at LEEDS By TIMOTHY MANLOVE Minister of the Gospel Heb. 12.14 Follow Peace with all Men and HOLINESS without which no Man shall see the LORD 1 Joh. 4.16 God is LOVE and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation LONDON Printed for Nevill Simmons Bookseller in Sheffield Yorkshire And sold by George Coniers at the Ring in Little Britain 1698. To the Diligent and Serious READER CVstom obligeth me to say something by way of Preface and the weight of the Subject before us is such as requires the utmost Diligence to press the serious Consideration of it upon all to whom it is presented That the Soul of Man is in its own Nature fitted for Immortality being capable of subsisting and acting in a state of separation from the Body and therefore designed thereto is a Truth commonly acknowledged amongst Christians yea and amongst Pagans too as I have proved at large in a former Treatise Now if this be a Truth 't is certainly a very important one how little soever considered by the unthinking World Must we live for ever Surely it highly concerns us to examinâ— whither we are going what State wâ— are like to enter upon when the uncertain Term of our present Life shall be at an end Shall it be well or ilâ— with us to all Eternity The Resolution of this great Question depends upon our Behaviour whilâ— we are in the Body for accoraing to that we must be judged whether it bâ— good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 The Goodness or Wickedness of ouâ— Actions is to be measured by their agreeableness or disagreeableness to thâ— Divine Law which is norma officiâ— judicii a Rule to live by and by which we must be judged The Duties which God hath enjoinâ— are such as in their own Nature do manifestly tend to qualify and fâ—â— us for that eternal Blessedness which he hath prepared for his holy ones It is therefore of great consequence to understand in some competent measure the Nature of the Heavenly Felicity because the more clear and distinct our Apprehensions are in this Matter the more will our Hearts be raised to desire it and our Endeavours quickened in the pursuit of it and the better we shall understand the way that leads to it The absolute necessity of Holiness in order to our everlasting Happiness is rather confessed than well understood by the generality of those that bear the Christian Name and this not for want of sutable Means and Helps in order to such Knowledg but for want of Hearts to use them Prov. 17.16 Men's thoughts are otherwise taken up and their carnal Minds are averse from Considerations of this nature That Holiness is necessary because God hath commanded it is a very great Truth and nothing but the Truth but yet it is not the whole Truth neither For besides this legal Necessity of it there is also a natural Necessity in the case it being as impossible in the nature of the thing that we should be happy without being holy as that a blind Man should be delighted with Colours or one that is deaf with Sounds and Harmony And this will appear if we consider what it is that must make a rational immortal Spirit compleatly blessed namely the enjoyment of the most holy glorious blessed God whereunto an unholy Soul is utterly indisposed and disaffected and therefore cannot be happy till its Temper be altered and made sutable to the Object that is holy The Saints in Glory are taken up with God admiring loving praising and delighting in him as their chief Good their only Soul-satisfying Portion yea and as infinitely and amiably good in himself and withal injoying the most sweet and refreshing sense of his Love to them without any Clouds Darkness or Interruptions Now this kind of Happiness is no way sutable to the Genius and Disposition of an unsanctified Heart and how should a Man be happy while his very Soul is averse to and at Enmity against that which alone can make him so This is the woful case of the far greater part of the World which loudly calls for our deepest Lamentations over it and our utmost Endeavours to redress it To this purpose I have thought meet to publish the following Discourse wherein I have laboured to lay open our Way and our End beginning with the latter according to the order of intention I have therefore first laid down a short plain scriptural Account of that blessed State reserved in Heaven for true Believers and then proceeded to open the Nature of that great Work of Grace whereby we must be prepared wrought or made meet for that State Each of these gives Light to the other the End and Way are so near a-kin that they differ rather in degree than in kind Grace is Glory begun Glory is Grace perfected If these things were well weighed and compared together the advantage would be very great every way Give me leave to mention some few Particulars 1. This would effectually put to silence the ignorant Cavils of foolish Men who complain that the ways of Holiness are too strict and precise for them Did they but better know what the Bless'd Above are doing and what they are enjoying they would quickly see reason to conclude that the greatest Diligence and Care we can use is all little enough to ripen us for so holy so glorious so perfect a State 2. It would certainly pull down the groundless Presumptions of Self-deceiving Hypocrites who promise to themselves Heaven at last tho they be utter Strangers to that vital Power of Religion without which there 's no coming thither No wonder that Men who hope for they know not what hereafter live they know not or care not how while they are here But whatsoever a Man sows that shall he also reap Gal. 6.7 3. This would also shew us what way and manner of religious Worship is like to be most acceptable to God and advantagious to our selves viz. That which tends most to refine and spiritualize our Hearts and so to fit them for Heaven 4. And consequently what ends we ought to propose to our selves in every religious Duty Namely that we may get as near unto God and be as inward with him as possibly we can till we come to the State of full and perfect Communion with him 5. And what need there is of Divine Grace to elevate and raise our Hearts to such high and holy things as these Alas what poor work shall we make with spiritual things if we be left to our selves 6. This will greatly support the People of God under the difficulties of their present State and Work Their spiritual Conflicts will soon be over and Heaven will make amends for all The end to which the dispised ways of
such a time when sharp Afflictions press hard upon you It must indeed be acknowledged that even Nature it self seems to promp Men to look up towards God when they are under extream Difficulties and some for Fashion will do it sooner But in the mean time the greatest Supports and Comforts of Ungodly Men are usually taken from the Creature They hope the Tide will turn and Matters go better with them in the World and this it is that keeps them from sinking sometimes they trust in their Riches sometimes in their Friends sometimes to their own Conduct and Management in short they will turn their Eyes every way for Satisfaction and Ease rather than towards God The Reason is plain they are estranged from him and have not learn'd to take up with him for their only Soul-satisfying Portion and Happiness They like not the thoughts of this but shun it as a thing unsutable to them They will rather weary themselves with a thousand fruitless Attempts to sind rest in the Creature than seek it in him who alone can give it Perhaps when they are forced and even fired out of all other Refuges they will then come crying to God but what can such a constrained shew of Devotion signify Vtumur Deo fruunâ—ur creaturis They would as it were make use of God to serve a turn but their Hearts their Love and Delight is upon the Creatures As for the truly Godly the Case is otherwise with them their Hopes and Comforts are of a more divine Original Lord what waâ—â— I for My hope is in thee Altho the Fig Tree shall not blossom c. yet will I rejoice in the Lord Hab. 3.17 18. Some trust in Chariots and some in Horses But we will remember the Name of the Lord our God Psal 20.7 There be many that say who will shew us any good Lord list thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us â—sal 4 6 In the Multitude of my Thoughts Heb. troublesome perplexed Thoughts within me try Comforts deligâ—t my Soul Thus the Spirit of Adoption teâ—châ—th Believers to lay open their Complaints to their Heavenly Father to cast their Câ—re upon him to place their Hâ—ppiness in him to fetch their Comforts from him And this as Matter of choice not meerly out oâ— constraint The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower The Righteous â—â—â—neth into it and is safe Prov. 19.10 Psal 94.32 The Lord is my Defence and my God is the Râ—ck of my Refuge They know them elves to be Stranger in this World and therefore expect no great Matters from it Heaven is their home Their Treasure their Hopes their Joys their Hearts are there Of this we have full Proof in the Context as has been already observed By these and such like Questions ye may try your State I know there are different degrees of Grace all that are truly Godly will not be alike able to answer what has been proposed Nor would I make sad the Heart of the weakest sincere Christian There may be great Failures and Imperfections but that which I would advise you to is strictly to observe what is the prevailing bent of your Hearts in all this But I have one Question more fit for the strongest to try themselves by tho the weakest are not unconcerned in it neither Quest 10. Do ye love God as God for himself above your selves or any other Object whatsoever That in point of Duty we ought thus to love God is past dispute unless we will renounce at once both Reason and Religion Mark 12.30 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy Heart and with ALL thy Soul c. this is the first and the great Commandment Mat. 22.38 And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Here 't is plain that we ought to love God totally without any Limitations or Restrictions with all our Power Mind and Will with a Love transcending either that of our selves or our Neighbours I suppose ye will readily grant that God must be loved better than your Neighbours and yet they must be loved as your selves therefore God must be loved better than your selves too Thus the necessitaâ— praecepti is plain But since there is more in the Precepts of the Divine Law than in the Condition of Salvation otherwise none could be saved without perfect Obedience Therefore here ariseth a great Question before us viz. Whether such a Love to God as God above our selves oâ— our own Happiness c. be so necessary necessitate medii that no Man is to be accounted in a State of Salvation who doth not thus love God better than himself What I have to say in answer to this shall be digested into the following Particulars with submission to better Judgments 1. 'T is very odd and dangerous to say that that Man is in a State of Grace who loveth not God as God doth not this sound very absurdly and strangely We will leave it to the Ear which as Elihu says triâ—â— Words Job 34.3 2. 'T is clearer by far than the Sun at Noon-day that God as God is infinitely better than our selves and the whole Creation besides I would not so much undervalue your Judgments as to think that ye stand in need of having this proâ—ed to you Nor would I so far overvâ—ue your Piety as to think that there is no need of pressing it upon you that your Hearts may be sutably affected with it 3. Therefore we love not God as God if we love him not better than our selves or our own Interest and Happiness as such Because as God he is infinitely better than we are or can be God is the universal Self originated independent unchangeable GOOD but the goodness of the Creatures is particular limited derived and entirely dependant upon him And therefore by no means to be set in competition with him Isa 40.25 4. 'T is certain that God hath deeply implanted in our Natures a Principle of Self-Love And that he makes use of it both in order to our Preservation and Government This it is which engageth us in the use of Means in order to our own Welfare and is supposed in all the Precepts Promises and Threatnings that are set before us This Principle neither can nor ought to be extirpated but it must be regulated and kept within its due Bounds or in its proper Place in order to the best and highest Ends. 5. 'T is also evident that by the Apostacy our Self-Love is become inordinate perverse and therefore exceeding sinful So that Self-denial is one of the first steps towards our Recovery Mat. 16.24 We are fallen from God to our selves and are for setting up our own little carnal supported Self-Interest in opposition to that full and proper Interest that he has in us that is we would be Gods to our selves this is the grand fundamental disorder of human Nature the Heart of the Old Man This has disjointed us and rendred us offensive to God and
is fit God should have the Glory of his own Gifts while you have the benefit and comfort of them This is the way to receive more To him that hath shall be given Sit down and consider seriously cast about in your Minds what shall I do to promote the Honour and Interest of that God who has done so much for me Can you form no Project for greater servicableness I will try if I can help you by and by in the mean time resolve to walk with God more humbly strictly and watchfully than ever yet you have done and joyfully to embrace every opportunity which it shall please God to put into your Hands to testify your Thankfulness by humble and self-denying Obedience 'T is true God needs not you you cannot be profitable unto him But it is as true that he expects all this from you as a due Expression of the Gratitude and Ingenuity of an honest Heart Tho you cannot profit him yet obedient you must be and besides Soveraign Authority you have many indearing Obligations thereto I will shew you presently that you need not want work but will endeavour first to fortify you against the difficulties of it Direct 4. Let Patience have its perfect work We have need of this Grace at every turn the Race set before us will never be finish'd nor scarce one step rightly taken without it Heb. 12.1 We must expect to meet with many Afflictions Psal 34.19 which cannot be born nor improved as they ought without patience Whether they be such as come more immediately from the Hand of God Shall we not be subject to the Father of Spirits and live Heb. 12.9 q. d. We must be subject our Lives lie on it To mutiny is mortal as one glosses upon the place It is the Lord let him do what seems good in his Eyes When God is glorifying himself in correcting us we must with Aaron hold our Peace Lev. 10.3 Be still and know that he is God Dumb and not open our Mouths because he does it If we be afflicted by the Pride or Malice of Men here again we have need of Patience that we fret not our selves because of Evil-doers nor entertain any peevish revengful Thoughts against them There 's more of Christianity in this than most Professors think of To be habitually disposed to bless those that curse us and to overcome Evil with Good And indeed we shall never be able to bear the Contradiction of Sinners without fainting in our Minds except we exercise Patience and eye the Example of Christ Heb. 12.2 3. Again are we assaulted by the Temptations of Satan we shall never conquer without Patience Moreover we have need of Patience to carry us through the religious Duties to which we are daily called Because our sluggish Hearts are still drawing back from Duty and are prone to grow weary of it and reluctate against it These Fruits of Righteousness will be blasted or miserably impaired if not brought forth with Patience Luke 8.15 So pronâ— are we to be weary of well-doing Lastly We have need of Patience that after we have done the Will of God we may receive the Promise Heb. 10.36 That we may wait God's time for our glorious Reward The wisest Man tells us Prov. 13.12 Hope deserred makes the Heart sick 'T is Patience therefore that must keep us from fainting O what need have we to pray That the Lord would direct our Hearts into the Love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ 2 Thess 3.5 Direct 5. Put on bowels of Compassion to the Souls of others Say not with Cain Am I my Brother's keeper nor yet think that Ministers only are obliged to promote the common Salvation Methinks you should be desirous to take as many along with you to Heaven as you can Are you not taught to pray That the Name of God may be â—allowed his Kingdom come and his Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven And must not these Prayers be seconded with sutable Endeayours in your places Striving to help on others will be a means to exercise and increase your own Graces and to advance your Comforts It will be a sign that you love Christ sincerely when you lay out your selves to promote his Interest And since God hath had Compassion upon you ought ye not to have some Compassion upon your Brethren I know the Devil will do his utmost to oppose you but you must be armed with Resolution and Patience There are more with you than against you When you meet with any that are buffeted with Temptations perplex'd with Doubts and Fears remember it might have been your own Case Labour therefore to administer Comfort to them by religious Conference Communication of Experiences and all other proper Means that fall in your way do not despise the meanest of them And then as for those that are in an unregenerate State how can you look upon them and not be deeply concerned for them The less they pity themselves the greater objects of your pity If the Children of Israel were obliged to be kind to Strangers and not to vex or oppress them because they themselves had been such in the Land of Egypt and therefore knew the Heart of a Stranger Exod. 23.9 Levit. 34. O then what reason have you to pity those that are in an unconverted Estate estranged from God! It was once your own Case you cannot but know what a dead dark disaffected thing the Heart of such a Person is how obdurate and senseless O think what they are doing and whither they are going if infinite Mercy do not prevent Happy you if you can help to save one Soul from Hell But let me urge this Point somewhat more distinctly 1. Begin with those that are under your special Care and Charge If these perish through your neglect look you to it their Blood will be required at your Hands Those of you that have Families think how much you have to do for God in them It may be some of you will say we keep up religious Exercises in our Houses viz. Praying Reading the Scriptures and Singing the Praises of God I answer thus far is well I wish more could say so too But this is not all that you have to do Children and Servants are to be dealt with plainly familiarly and tenderly by you with all the Skill and Application you can in order to the Salvation of their Souls I must not stay to give you particular Directions honest Hearts and a sincere desire to do their Souls good will soon put you in a way to do it 2. You have a great deal to do for the Souls of your Neighbours Are not many of them ignorant carnal and ungodly Can you contrive no way to be helpful to them Have you no particular Interest in some of them Have they no dependance upon you Are they under no special Obligations to you Why are not all these Advantages improved for God Can you see them
perishing by Multitudes round about you and not once open your Mouths to help them Is this to love your Neighbours as your selves 3. In a word I tell you 't is your duty to take all opportunities wherever you come or with whomsoever you converse to do good to Souls I do not mean that sacred Things should be exposed by rashness indiscretion or imprudent management nor Pearls cast before Swine who will turn again and rent you But one thing I will tell you as bad as the World is the Names of Holiness Justice Purity Religion c. are still honourable among Men and the contrary Vices are accounted odious No Man would be look'd upon as an impious profane unrighteous Villian Now this gives you some advantage and a willing Mind may find many ooportunities to bring in good Discourse and that in such a way as the woâ—st of Men should scarce dare to contradict it There is somewhat in serious Religion which commands Awe and Reverence even from them that hate it Herod feared John the Baptist knowing that he was a just Man and an holy Mark 6.20 As for those that are civilized or moralized as some speak the difficulty is next to nothing to bring in some edifying Discourse among them and to leave some good savour behind you Christians should be the Salt of the Earth Mat. 5.13 And to let them know that the Life of Religion is somewhat more than they seem to place it in Can you not gently and prudently reprove the Sins of others where you think it may do good I know that this is a Duty that goes as much against the Grain as almost any but the Scripture is plain Lev. 19.17 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine Heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin to the upon him Or as the words may be rendered that thou bear not Sin for him you make your selves Partakers with other Men in their Sins if you endeavour not to prevent them In short God will own those that own him and stand up for his Cause and if that be not enough see where you can find a better Patron Moreover as for those that are poor and low in the World you might make way for doing good to their Souls by shewing Kindness to their Bodies if you thought it worth the while to be at any expence for the interest of Christ in the World I say no more than this if it were possible that Grief could have any place in Heaven this sure would be the matter of it to remember how little we had done for God on Earth Direct 6. Be much in the exercise of those Graces and Duties which tend most directly Heaven-ward and are nearest a kin to that blessed State This is the way to make you ripe for Glory You need not stay for all of Heaven till you come thither there are great Foretasts of it to be enjoyed on Earth if you be not wanting to your selves You may feast your Souls upon the Provisions which Christ hath made for your present support and more especially upon those discoveries which he has given you of the Glory intended for you and you have need so to do lest you faint by the way I may say to you as the Angel to Elijah 1. King 19.7 Arise and eat because the Journey is too great for thee 1. Live by Faith upon the great Promises of the Gospel whereby the Heavenly Glory is made sure unto true Believers realize those Promises there remaineth a Rest for the People of God Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord c. If any Man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my Servant be If any Man serve me him will my Father honour These are the true Sayings of God Rev. 19.9 How comes it to pass that they are no more considered and lived upon What tho at present we have not the satisfaction of immediate intuition know ye not that Faith is to be instead of sight till we come to Heaven Heb. 11.1 But alas how apt are we to take up with some dark dreaming confused Notions and Thoughts instead of the lively Exercise of such a Faith 2. Labour to stir up in your selves earnest Longings after this blessed State How can we say we love our Lord if our Hearâ—s be not with him Should we not set our Affections on things above where Christ sitteth on the right Hand of God Col. 3.1 2. Ouâ— Lord is there our Inheritance is there many of our Friends and Acquaintance are gone before how ill doth it become us to suffer our Hearts to flag as if we were indifferent whether we followed them or no Surely we should groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.2 Do but observe how eager and intent Worldlings are upon empty Vanities things that cannot profit And shall we be so cold and heartless in the Tendencies of our Souls towards that Happiness which is solid and substantial Were our Hearts more set upon Heaven it would put Life and Savour into all our Duties it would support us under Afflictions and enable us to baffle Temptations it would be an Evidence of our Sincerity and raise us above the slavish Fears of Death But I proceed 3. Be much in the exercise of a lively well grounded Hope Faith presents the heavenly Glory to the view of the Soul Desire reacheth forth towards it Hope lays hold upon it To this we are begotten again 1 Pet. 1.3 By this we are saved Rom. 8.24 See first that your Hopes be rightly grounded and then that they be duly exercised 4. And now it is time that your Souls should be affected with spiritual Joy Faith and Hope must both contribute to this Thus we read of Joy in believing and of rejoicing in Hope Read Psal 32.11 Phil. 4.4 1 Thess 5.16 You are over and over commanded to rejoice 't is not left to you as a Matter indifferent 'T is as truly a Duty in its place as Godly Sorrow Humiliation and Repentance are in theirs And 't is more noble as appertaining to the primitive and principal Part of Holiness whereas the other belong to the medicinal healing part thereof 5. Above all things strive to keep up the Warmth and Vigour of holy Love to God and your Redeemer Let every other Grace do its part to promote this Labour still to get nearer to God more inward with him and that your Hearts may move more naturally towards him God is Love Direct 7. Observe narrowly the Temper and Behaviour of those Persons who seem ripest for Heaven and take them for your Examples Converse much with such He that walketh with the Wise shall be wise In such you may observe manifold Appearances of those inward gracious Principles by which they are acted In them you may observe great Humility and Condescension toward such as are their Inferiours Great tenderness for the Honour and Interest of God in the World Great delight in making mention familiarly of those that are gone to Heaven before them An excellent composure of Gravity and Chearfulness a weighty Seriousness and Warmth in the Duties of Gods holy Worship In a word you may see plainly enough whither they are going and how beautiful a thing Holiness is thus growing up towards its Perfection FINIS