Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
spirit_n body_n soul_n true_a 7,689 5 4.8842 4 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A93757 Six several sermons preached on Isaiah, 38. I. Wherein that great duty of setting our body and soul in order, for we shall die, is at large opened and explained Wherein also many divine truths are made known relating to the same matter; and now published, because of the exceeding importance and concernment of this subject unto all people whatsoever. Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703. 1696 (1696) Wing S5135; ESTC R230779 115,810 178

There are 15 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

Self-righteousness and be clothed with the Righteousness of Jesus Christ p. 50 65. Of Mixt Holiness P. 63. The Contents of the Fourth Sermon Herein is shewed how it is with us from our first Conception and Birth until our Death p. 81. The manner whereof is shewed and may be most clearly conceived from those several Words whereby it is expressed in Scripture of Dying Deceasing Departing Yielding up the Ghost Gathering to his Fathers Falling asleep p. 83. Of seeing Death p. 88. In which there is nothing dreadful to such as are indeed the Children of God P. 96. The Contents of the Fifth Sermon Of seeing the Lord 's Christ or rather of having Christ formed within us and that not in part only but wholly and throughout before we see Death p. 98. How to order our Good Works or Alms-giving that they may be acceptable with God p. 119. What may be thought of the different Sorts and Sects of Religion now in the World and concerning the Salvation of such of the Heathen as are indeed Good and Vertuous p. 124 125. The Contents of the Sixth Sermon Herein is shewed what mighty Force Reasoning and Exhortation is in this Consideration Thou shalt die and not live to set our Body and Soul in Order p. 132. Some Brief Remarks concerning Rich People p. 141. The whole is concluded with Two Practical Vses and Inferences p. 148 153. God hath at this Day Three Ways of Speaking Manifesting and Revealing himself unto Mankind viz. by his Written Word by his Spirit in the Heart and Conscience of each Person and by his Ministers Here also a difference is shewed between the true and false and what God will at length do as to the latter sort p. 154 155. The End of all the Parts and Ordinances of Religion and of all Books and Sermons if they be managed and composed aright is to set the Soul in Order against the time it shall go out of the Body p. 158. ERRATA PAge 24. line 4. for Charity read Chastity P. 54. L ● for summoned r. summed p. 53. l. 4. r. They know not I. 32. for Minstry r. Ministry p. 101. l. 33. for Mal. 3. 8. r. Mal. 3. 5. ibidem l. 24. r. To be obeyed p. 35. l. 33. r. We shall with them the better serve God SERMON I. Isaiah 38. 1. In those Days was Hezekiah sick unto Death and Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amos came unto him and said unto him Thus saith the Lord Set thine House in Order for thou shalt die and not live A Serious and thorough Consideration concerning Death and Immortality was the principal Inducement which did first bring me acquainted with the Ways of God for I have thought much thereon from my Tender Years And now as I approach Day after Day nearer in Time towards it so I ought to have it yet much more in Remembrance with continued Thought and Searching of Heart how I may grapple with that last Enemy how either to pluck out or blunt the Edge of the Sting of Death that the Grave may not have the Victory over me that is so far overcome me as to consign me over unto the Second Death I would not therefore by mine own good will Preach one Sermon nor yet make one Prayer unto God wherein I did not mention somewhat or other of this Wisdom as the Holy Ghost calleth it that we may understand this that we would consider our latter end Deut. 32. 29. For indeed this is the Will of God and of Christ concerning us dying Creatures as also it doth teach and instruct us what Mind and Temper we should be in now we are for a very little while Breathing as yet on this Earth Let your Loins be girded about and your Lamps burning and ye your selves like unto men that wait for their Lord observe that when he will return from the Wedding that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching And so we should every one of us wait and watch for the coming of the Lord our God and especially for his Ha●binger Death which he sends before for to bring our Souls unto himself the God unto whom shall all flesh come Psal 65. 2. or rather what inhabits in Flesh shall come At the Death or Departure of each Person the Body or Dust returns to the Earth as it was and the Spirit to God that gave it Saith the Apostle Whatsoever things were written asoretime were written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scripture might have hope Rom. 15. 4. And so this great place of Isa 38. 1. which was written three or four Thousand Years ago is written for our Learning who live almost Seventeen Hun●dred Years after Christ Yea as Christ himself sai● upon another occasion This Day is this Scripture fu● filled in your Ears so I testifie unto all that shall he● or read these Lines This Day is this Scripture mean this very Text of Isa 38. 1. fulfilled in you● Ears for instead of what is there said In those Da● wa● Hezekiah sick unto Death now it may be read 〈◊〉 this wise In these Days are such an one and such a one naming the several People by their respective Names and so it is of all the Dwellers in England ye● and of all the Habitable Parts of the Earth They are all sick unto Death For though indeed it was thus originally said upon the account of an extraordinary Ulcer or Disease which was then upon Hezekiah and by that phrase in the Gospel This sickness is not unto Death John 11. 4. we must distinguish between health and sickness and again between that kind of sickness which is Recoverable and Curable and that sickness which indeed is Mortal or a sickness unto Death how then can it be here truly said when many are in Health Youth Vigour Lusty and Strong that they are all sick unto Death Nevertheless I will prove and make out what I afore-affirmed Common Reason sheweth that a growing Tree is equally alive in the midst of Winter although it doth seem as a barren dead and dry Tree because then it doth not run in Sap nor shoot forth in green Leaves even so by the very same similitude by supposing it contrariwise it may be conceived that in the midst of Youth Health Life and Vigour which are the Spring and Summer of our Age we are all the while sick unto Death or as it is appositely and properly expressed in the Office of Burial In the midst of Life we are in Death because that we do all along carry about us in our Body the Seeds of this sickness unto Death or the Seeds of Mortality According as it is expressed in the Book of Job The Root of the matter is in you so as soon as we are Born the Root of sickness which is the usual forer●nner thereof the Root of Death is in
days in the L●n● whither ye go over Jordan to possess it This is sufficient prolonging ones days to a witness to live the length of a whole Eternity or to live for evermore In the Land that is the new Heavens and new Earth where dwelleth Righteousness After we are gone over Jordan hereby is typified and signified the River of this Li●e for to possess it For indeed the very truth of the matter stands on this wise if we shall be rendred meet and found worthy As Jesus the Prince of Life did say when he heard that Lazarus was sick This sickness is not unto Death When indeed it was a sickness unto Death for Lazarus died of that sickness But Christ the Way the Truth and the Life spake on this wise knowing in himself what he would do even raise Lazarus to Life again And so it was for the Glory of God that God might be glorified thereby Even so in very like manner the words of our Text may be read and reversed Set your House in order for thou shalt live and not die For the Soul which is we our selves doth not die when it goes out of this Body but only leaves this earthly House and departs from this Body and changes its place of Abode and Habitation I remember that I was very much pleased and transported within my self because I find from out of the S●r●ptures of T●uth and mine own Spirit witnessing the same what I have Read in Cicero and Zenophon Heathen Authors where Cyrus and Cato and Scipio are brought in speaking to this purpose and effect Saith Cyrus It could never be perswaded to me that these Souls of ours when they go out of this Body do die or perish For most certainly they live unto God the Father of Spirits For my part I do as firmly b●lieve and am as verily perswaded of all this as that I now write these Lines or as I am assured that I now live and breath It hath b●●n aforesaid That even in the midst of Life Health and Vigour every one of us was sick unto Death because that we did all along carry about with us in the Body the Seeds of Corruption and Mortality Which holds true as to the Flesh and outward part of us But as to our Souls we are not sick unto Death but alive unto 〈◊〉 in the Apostle's Phras● or alive unto Everlasting Life if we have the Seeds of Grace and Holiness in our Souls which are indeed the Principles of Life and Immortality abiding within us To this agrees the meaning of the Holy Ghost in several places of Scripture particularly in the Gospel of John Saith Jesus Christ Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life John 5. 40. For the Bread of God is he that cometh down from Heaven and giveth life unto the world I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be a Well of Water springing up into Everlasting life John 4. 14. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water John 7. 38. These two last Scriptures com● directly to our present purpose For it being here said In him a Well of Water springing up unto everlasting life and here it is said That it shall flow out of his Belly and by what the Scripture elsewhere saith that such an one hath in him everlasting life all this shews and confirms that the Saints and Servants of the Most High God by having Grace and Holiness and the new Life ingraffed in them they have also thereby even whilst their Souls inhabit in this weak vile and dying Body here on Earth the Seeds and Principles of Immortality and Eternal Life so that they shall never see Death that is Death Eternal and when their Souls go out of these Bodies they do not die but live And so it is found true in them what Seneca saith who herein spake much more like a Christian than like an Heathen for Flesh and Blood could not reveal these things unto him but God his Creator saith he That day which some fear to be their last he means the Day of Death is indeed the Birth-day of Immortali●y For in truth the Souls of the Righteous are then Born and brought forth into another World into an in●●ni●ely better and more enduring s●ate The Vngodly are not so It is otherwise with the Wicked and the Children of Disobedience or the Children of Perdition as the Scripture Phrases them For wh●t is the greatest Happiness to the Righteous is the beginning of Sorrows unto these The Day of Death is either the best or worst of all the foregoing Days even according as the foregoing Life hath been Good or Evil Godly or Ungodly for the Souls of these Miserable Creatures do also live and exist and they are sensible also Yet according to the meaning of the Holy Ghost especially in many places of the Revelations and also according to the desire and feeling of the Creatures themselves it is Death and not Life or rather worse than Life to abide in Torment Pain and Misery And therefore it is so of●en called the second Death or Death The Soul that sinneth it shall die Turn you turn you why will ye die Not that the Souls of them will ever cease to be in no wise But they will be in such a wretched condition that Death would be better than Life According as it is written In those days shall men seek to die and death shall flee from them As it is here explained these two manner of ways this is the Order Decree and Appointment of God our Creator upon all the Reasonable Inhabitants of the Earth who are commonly called or known by the Name of Men and Women It is appointed for all once to die but after that the Judgment and then they are to rise and live again For the hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his voice And shall come forth They that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation S●eing then that all these things must so be yea and they shall so be what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Looking for and endeavouring whatever we can in this short space between during the few and evil days remaining of our Pilgrimage that we may rise unto the Resurrection of Life Most People have done some little good in the foregoing part of their Life according to their Station and Capacity their Condition and Employment in the World But as it was said Ahab served Baal a little but Jehu shall serve him much So let every one of us make the like Inference and Reasoning and to take up the same Resolution as to put it
also Self●Righteousness denoted by this Phrase of the Holy Ghost our Righteousness are the two p●i●cipal Garments and so must be done of whatever is like unto them which the Soul must be stripped of before she goes out of the Body that she may be set in Order and to the intent that she may be found comely meet and acceptable in the ●ight of God when this Spirit of ours is to return to the God that gave it It is commonly and truly said That it is a great thing to die And so indeed it will appear notwithstanding that the most and generality of People who are in the broad way that leadeth unto Destruction make no more of it than barely to undergo it when it comes as if there was no more than to yield up the Ghost and surrender up their Breath when they can no longe●●old it in In truth there is no great matter to die as People usually die to slip and descend down into Hell But to die as indeed we ought to die sed Revocare Gradum superasque ascendere ad Auras hi● labor hoc opus ●st that we may ascend up above and be received up into the Mansions above here is labour and work here is matter enough for all our life foregoing let us do and endeavour and labour as much as ever we can If I should here go about to describe what it is to strip off these Garments spotted with the Flesh to put away the unclean thing and to renounce all our self-Righteousness I am apt to think that I shall pencil and set it forth in higher Perfections and Attainments than People will reach and arrive unto And yet let me say what I can concerning it even according to the Ability and Knowledge God hath given me it will come ●●● short of what is the meaning and requiring of God concerning it whereby also it will be seen Thy Word is very pure therefore thy Servant loveth it Psal 119. 140. The consequent to which is to hate yea and strip off the Garment spotted by the Flesh Some may here be apt to say such a State of Holiness Christianity and fear of the Lord is too wonderful for me it is high I cannot attain to it If none will go to Heaven but such Precise Mortified and Self-denying People Lord have mercy upon us For what will become of us Notwithstanding this or the like imagination and saying so frequent in the Mouths of People when they hear strict and hard sayings drop from the Preachers Mouth who can bear them Yet I say and testifie again there is no making our Calling and Election sure Heaven is such a great and lasting Good that we can never make too sure of it and Hell is so sore and abiding an Evil that nothing can be done too much to avoid it without coming up to these Perfections and Excellencies and higher degrees of Grace and Knowledge of Holiness and Innocency which the Scriptures do any where speak of or set forth And truly we should purchase to our selves a good degree and great proficiency in the Christian life and in the Faith which is in Christ Jesus if we have already used the Office of a Deacon well 2 Tim. 3. 13. That is if we did learn and behave our selves well enough in the lower Forms of Christ's School as to be still coming up and making towards the higher yea the top and highest of all As indeed the very top and highest pitch of Christianity and Faith attainable here on this Earth is set forth by those kinds of words that lie before us of hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh of laying aside every weighs and the sin that doth so easily beset us of resisting unto Blood stirring against sin Shew me any stricter Gospel Precepts or higher Advancements towards the likeness of God and of Christ For this is certain the more like unto God any one becomes the more he doth love Good and the more he doth hate Evil. Ye that love the Lord hate Evil Psal 97. 10. Now this is an hating of Evil with a perf●ct hatred when we do not only hate loath and have indignation against Evil but we hate every thing that is in the least stained tinctured and spotted with the Evil. Nay yet further this is true hating of Evil when although the Flesh is not simply and absolutely evil yet it being the Ground or Soil where this Evil the Poysonous Herb grows and springs up we do not only hate the Poysonous Herb it self but even the very Ground that bears it and round about for its sake W●e● in our Thoughts and Soul the Ground is by us accursed for its sake That although no Man hates his own Flesh but loves and cherisheth it as the Scripture witnesseth and God would have it so in the State of Innocency yet because of the Body of Sin dwelling therein and because that Evil and Corruption doth root settle and spread it self fo●th there we hate our own Flesh therefore and could almost destroy it which we must not neither though here we are Commanded also Mortifie your Members which are on the Earth If ●hy righ● Hand offend thee cut it off if thy right Eye offend ●●ee pluck it out And even we are to loath and detest those Members which have been yielded Servants to ●nclean●ess and to Iniquity unto Iniquity The Flesh lusteth and striveth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh as may be seen in the seventh and eighth Chapter to the Romans For when we were in the Flesh the motions of sins which were by the Law did work in our Members and by the like consequence of that of 〈◊〉 of hating even the Ga●ment spotted by the Flesh we ●ught to hate our Members because of the motions of ●●s in them to bring forth Fruit unto death But now we are delivered from the Law that being dead wherein we ●●e held that we should serve in the n●wness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the Letter Rom. 7. 5 6. For they that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit Because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed ●an be So then they that are in the Flesh cannot please God There is no need of citing more places of Scripture these being sufficient and express to the purpose to shew that the Flesh is distinct contrary and opposite unto the Spirit And also the reason of not only hating but even stripping off the Garment spotted by the Flesh to set the Soul in Order before she goes out of the Body will easily appear By the way it is not proper nor yet a true expression to say that the Soul doth die when it goes out of the Body for indeed it doth not die but depart But this is certain and evident that when
taught it unto us by that common knowledge which he hath given unto us as his reasonable Creatures But yet God willing more abundantly to acqnaint us with a lesson of so very great Importance as indeed it is to every one of us And seeing that the same hath a much further meaning and requiring than to order the Disposition of our Lands Houses Money and Goods For it hath a much more Noble even a Spiritual Sence and Signification to set our Souls which dwell in this Earthly House of the Body in order for we shall dye or yet more properly we shall leave these Habitations of Clay Therefore I say that God hath ordered the same for further security and to bring it yet more to our Knowledge and Remembrance to be written in his Statute Book the Bible as also we may find the same Engraven in the Word that is nigh us even in our Heart for we may also perceive a still Voice speaking from thence Set thine House in order for thou shalt dye and not live Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amos came unto him and said From hence we may also consider How God who at sundry Times and in divers Manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son For in those days it was not so much Isaiah but God himself who spake this by Isaiah unto Hezekiah To which agree those words of our Saviour unto his Apostles and Disciples For'tis not yē that speak but the Spirit of my Father which speaketh in you Mat. 10. 20 And so God spake by Moses David Job and by all the Prophets But now he speaks by Christ who is the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God in whom all the others do meet and concenter Searching what or what manner of Time the Spirit of Christ wh●●h was in them did signify 1 Pet. 1. 11. The Spirit of Christ in them In whom Why In the Prophets mentioned in the foregoing Verse Whose Spirit did actuate them all just like as the Soul doth actuate the Body Although Christ was than in Heaven and they were here on Earth in their several Generations long before God did send his Son in the fulness of Time for to become Flesh The Spirit of God and of Christ are near one and the same and so God and the Word of God are one and the same according to that common Maxim Nothing is in God but what is God himself So that we are not to look upon those words which we find written in the Bible as the words of Moses Samuel Job David and the Prophets or those in the New Testament as the words of the Evangelists and Apostles who yet did write and speak them but we should consider of it higher and further as the word of God and Christ which God and Christ spake by them As when we send a Letter to one at a Hundred Miles distance whom we have known or heard of we do by that same Letter speak to him in effect yea and as much to their knowledge and understanding as if we were in the same Room together and we did talk to them face to face So I have often thought that the Scriptures are as the Letter or Epistle of the Most High God which is sent unto us the Inhabitants of this Earth for hereby God doth speak unto us from Heaven the Habitation of his Holiness which is more than a Thousand or a Million of Miles distance from us all one as if we heard outwardly his Voice which in that sence no Man hath seen God at any time nor heard his Voice or as if the Lord did dwell Visibly amongst us which he doth not Is it so Yes verily Then this is a mighty Argument and terrible Consideration against those who refuse to Read or Hear the Word of God See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven Heb. 12. 25. It was the Angel on Mount Sinah and Moses and the Prophets that spake on the Earth but it is Christ the Son of God that now speaketh from Heaven For though Jesus Christ is long since ascended on High and Sits on the Right Hand of the Father yet he speaketh to us from Heaven even now in his Word and in the Preaching and Ministry thereof For as Moses of old time hath in every City them that Preach him being Read in the Synagogues every Sabbath Day Even so now Christ hath those who continually Preach him as Moses had ● by how much he is not only greater than Moses but even greater than the very Angels of God And who will not hear the Ministers of Christ who preach him or who Preach the Word of God for whosoever Preacheth the Word of God Preacheth Christ in as much as Christ is the Word of God Neither would such be perswaded if Christ should come once again into the World after the same manner as he did which will not be so for his next coming will be unto Judgment which Will be in Glory and in Power and in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ But in the mean while he hath gave the Word and there are those who Preach it He hath sent forth Labourers into his Harvest with full Power and Commission He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth him that sent me Luke 10. 16. Even the Great God himself who made the World and all things therein What do ye think will become of those who despise God As they who despise his Word either preached or spoken written or printed do despise God himself Why God hath fortold us what will become of such They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2. 30. This is not all neither for God will answer requite and punish them in very like manner They shall go forth and look upon the Carkasses of the Men that have Transgressed against Me and they shall be an abhorring unto all Flesh Isa 66. 24. Observe here the slighting kind of Phrase Carkasses the Holy Ghost makes use of That such little despicable and vile Beings who even in the midst of Life are but Men and Women in Carkasses Notwithstanding some have Jolly and Red looks A●e inclosed in their own Fat according to the Psalmi●●'s Phrase or are arrayed in fine Cloaths should ever behave themselves contemptuous or disdainful towards a most Excellent Infinite and Glorious Majesty as the Invisible God is If there should come any Letter to me or any order concerning me under the Great Seal of England with the Royal Signet and Arms and I would not Read nor look into it nor hear what it was but take and stamp it under my Feet or Burn
she goes out from the Body she is then stripped off from that Garment of Flesh in the general that is the Body For the Soul goes upwards and gets out from and lays aside the Body which then seems as the Mantle that fell from Elijah at his going up to Heaven and then she becomes all and pure Spirit Now as aforesaid the Flesh in it self simply and abstractedly is not Sinful nor Evil. For it was not so in its Original and first Creation But after that Adam fell into the transgression all his Children and Descendants from his Loyns are conceived in Sin and brought forth in Iniquity And they are polluted in their own Blood Ezek. 1● 6. as soon as they are brought forth from their Mothers Womb. So that this Flesh of ours is become a Seed plot of all manner of Sin and Evil Like Leaven doth leaven the whole lump so it hath spread and diffused it self throughout the whole Flesh and every part thereof From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores Indeed Man was at first the work of God's own hands and truly a noble Creature Yet had I planted thee a noble Vine wholly a right Seed how then art thou turned into the degenerate Plant of a strange Vine unto me Jer. 2. 21. But since that by his Fall he is turned topsie-turvy over what he was then For now he is become Universally corrupt throughout Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually So that until he is renewed again after the Image of him who Created him which is in Righteousness and true Holiness he stands not only distinguished from but as it were in perfect contrariety unto God Said our Saviour to one of his Disciples Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of Men. As if the things which did only savour of Men were a stink and evil smell and a smoke in his Nose Isa 65. 5. which he could not endure and would have behind and far from him And so it is all one of the things which savour of the World and the things ●hat savour of the Flesh the infinite Holiness and Uprightness of God is in no wise reconcileable unto them nor yet doth approve of them For they are all bad and nought they being either the receptacle of Sin and Evil or at least they have a smell taste and tincture thereof which the Holy and Pure God doth not like In this sence it is not as some of the ignorant and foolish Popes did from thence forbid Priests to Marry That they that are in the Flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. for the Flesh as it is now is either Sinful or Evil it self or it hath a savour of Sin and Evil. And it is the Will of God that we should come out even from that By what hath been aforesaid it may be understood what it is to hate and strip off from us the Garment spotted by the Flesh that is spotted by the Sin or Evil which doth usually lodge and dwell in the Flesh And care should be all one taken as to this as we would not willingly have next to our Skin any linnen cloth wherein some poysonous Herb or Flower hath been lately wrapped up or as we would not of our good will and choice wear the innermost Garments soon and immediately afterwards of one that hath died of the Plague or as we would not drink out of a Glass before it is throughly washed and rinsed in which we knew there was immediately before yellow Arsneck or any other most deadly Poyson As we naturally fear and avoid all these so if we were Spiritually minded we would take as much heed of the World and of the Flesh although we are in the midst of the one and wrapped up and encompassed about with the other But to be in the World and not of the World That by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Cor●●ption that is in the World through Lust From whence it follows that it is impos●●ble to be a Partaker of the Divine Nature● unless one hath first escaped the Corruptio● that is in the World through Lust So again as long as we are in the Body we are in one sence in the Flesh and accordingly the Scripture calls the time of this life the days of our Flesh But as long as we do not obey yield nor give way unto the motions of sins that are in the Flesh If we keep under and crush even Concupiscence which is the beginning of Lust and so the beginning of each sin or the tendency to each sin if we make not Provision for the Flesh to fulfil th● Lusts thereof It is not here said to satisfie the necessities thereof but the Lusts which are excrescencies and superfluities and needless things so long we are safe enough as to the Flesh for though we are in the Flesh yet we walk not after the Flesh The World and the Flesh for the most part in Scripture sence are taken for the Evil thereof for the Reasons afore assigned Because Sin and Evil hath its Root Being and Dwelling in them and they are the occasion thereof God hath therefore suffered yea and placed us in the midst of them both for our greater Proof and Tryal to prove us to know what is in our heart whether we will keep his Commandments or no. By our being in the World and the Flesh and yet to be kept innocent and free from the Evil thereof is just like treading upon Coals and not be burnt which requires much and constant speed skill and care Now for a season God having thought fit that it should be so we are encompassed about with and very near to manifold Temptations arising from the World and the Flesh and the things thereof That the Tryal of our Faith Obedience Holiness and Innocency might be had Which if it be retained for all It is much more precious than of Gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire and so it will be found unto Fraise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ The Word of God is very Spiritual and Heavenly for it doth teach us as we may find by the Instructions scattered up and down therein that when a great deal of our life is spent and the day of Immortality is at hand and we begin to move off from the Stage of this Earth like as when Soldiers have a mind to draw off from besieging a City of their own accord thinking that either they cannot obtain or it is not worth their while to obtain it then they draw off their Carriages Burdens and Instruments of War before they march off themselves So it is where they do it with advisedness and deliberation and they have sufficient strength Even so many of the
●hings of this World and of the Flesh we cannot obtain which we would and if we could we cannot hold or continue to have them for we die and go away Or if we could yet they are not worth the holding because as yet God doth not commit unto us the true Rich●s Luke 16. 11. that is the true and abiding Happiness for it is not to be had in this World but in the World to come wherein we seek and do expect it Here then is the mind that hath Wisdom to draw off our desires not only from the Sin and Evil for we should be perfectly listless and dead as to them And if Christ be in you the Body is dead because of Sin Rom. 8. 10. But also our desires should be drawn off utterly even from the lawful necessary and indifferent things of this World We should be as if we used them not temperate in all things and get above them We are commanded not only to commit any unclean thing But not so much as to touch the unclean thing Which is standing as much at a distance from it as well as we can So the Word of God which is very pure hath provided against all manner of Sin and to abstain from all appearance of Evil to take this care even as to prevent the first beginnings rise and occasion of Sin or Evil. Thus to Hate and Strip off the Garment spotted by the Flesh as is before explained and to lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset us and to resist unto Blood striving against Sin all those Expressions come to one and the same thing That is to set up again Innocency and Holiness in the Soul after it had by the fall of Adam by whose Transgression many were made Sinners lost and defaced them And this is to set the Soul in Order before we die or before she goes out of the Body It being a taking care that nothing is wanting in her as indeed it would be a very great want if she was not renewed again after the Image of him who created her that is in Righteousness and true Holiness It hath been aforesaid That to set our Bodies in Order was that they might be made free from Sin for an Holy Body is an orderly Body Even so it is here an Holy Soul is an orderly Soul or to get Holiness which is the Image of God ingrafted and implanted in her is to set the Soul in order for then it is meet for his Acceptance who is the Father of Spirits and Lover of Souls Inasmuch as Holiness is the Image of God and every like loves its like With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure What sets the Body in Order as Holiness doth that the same Holiness doth set the Soul in Order also for they are both united in one and make up the same Man and they desire the same end which is Happiness The High way to which is the way of Holiness The Body indeed must go through more Alterations and it shall be raised up again to partake of Happiness of Misery According to this very same Truth and Observation Paul prays by the Spirit And the very God of Peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Faithful is He that calleth you who will do it 1 Thess 5. 23 24. Good God What comfortable and encouraging Words are here From this Place of being preserved blameless and from what we read in Rom. 6. 22. Of being made free from Sin ye have your Fruit unto Holiness We see hence that Sin and Holiness are as Incompatible Things as Darkness and Light They are perfectly and properly contraries the Nature of which is to expel one another and one succeeds the other for as when the Sun sets and the Light goes off from the Earth then Darkness comes and succeeds And so when the Sun arises again it drives off Darkness from the Face of the Earth so it is as to Sin and Holiness There is no arriving at Holiness without being made free from Sin As again when Holiness goes off or is defaced then Sin succeeds and creeps in of course It is ●onsence and a contradiction to say that People lead an Holy Life and Conversation although they seem outwardly Religious when they are yet in their Sins or when they serve divers Lusts and Pleasures For Darkness may be as truly called Light which would be a great absurdity and imp●ssibility as to think or say ●uch are an Holy People Woe unto them that call Evil Good and Good Evil that put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness that put Bitter for Sweet and Sweet for Bi●ter Isa 5. 20. And whereas the divinely inspired Prophet goes on to add Woe unto them that are wise in their own Eyes and prudent in their own sight vers 21. Hereby He seems to meet tacitely with a fort of People which are common and many now in the World They make up nine parts in ten in the visible Church Who do not care nor heartily endeavour to come clearly out of Sin nor yet can they gainsay and renounce Holiness quite inasmuch as glorious things are spoken of it and precious Promises are made and annexed unto it And therefore they are for a kind of Life which is made up as they fashion and imagine to themselves of a mixt medly of Sin and Holiness as twilight is made up of Darkness and Light and th●y think that this will serve their turn with God so as they hope for his acceptance of them although they are sinful also because they do love and esteem of Holiness But God answers such by his Spirit Woe unto them that are wise in their own Eyes and prudent in their own sight as to think to compound the matter with God No such matter For He that commanded Thou shalt not sow thy Land with divers kinds of Seeds nor yet make a Garment of Linsey Woolsey when such a judicial Law was given forth of old Time the Holy Ghost hereby signifies even in these days that God will never accept of such a medly or mixt kind of Goodness or Righteousness as is made up of Sin and Holiness which is properly no Goodness or Righteousness at all As it is written But they like men have transgressed the Covenant Hos 6. 7. That is it was like and such as could be expected from them Even so this sort of mixt medly Goodness or Righteousness is like Mans Goodness and Righteousness which is a corrupt and imperfect thing at best and that our Righteousness spoken of in Isa 64. 6. which is as filthy Rags which People are to be stripped utterly off to set their Souls in Order before they die or otherwise God will not accept them For that is an offence unto him and He commands to get behind him what savours of Men. But God hath yet much
or as a Garment which will wax old and wear away or like a Watch o● any other Motion only to continue so long and no longer even whilst the Pulse beats and whilst the Springs and Wheels of Life within do continue in Motion and Circulation I have often thought and admired within my self how the ever-living God unto whom all Flesh shall come doth summon and call for us severally through th● Postern-door and Gate of Death And when I have enquired and my Heart hath searched diligently out of the Scriptures of Truth what will become of us when we come to die searching what or what manner of thing it is to die truly the best and most intelligible account that I can give of it is this I find in the ●criptures that it is always expressed by these five or six manner of words Dying Deceasing Departing Yielding up the Ghost Gathering to his Fathers Falling asleep All which tend to one and near the same signification and so it doth if there be any other Phrase or Form of speech to express Death by And it came to pass as her Soul was in departing for she died Gen. 35. 8. which was spoken of Rachel And so when Elijah was to raise the Widows dead Son He streched himself upon the Child three times and cried unto the Lord and said O Lord my God I pray thee let this Child's Soul come into him again 1 Kings 17. 21. In the Margent there it is into his inward parts Besides these two plain and express Scriptures which do prove and confirm the matter in hand to this give all the Prophets and Scripture witness That Death is nothing else but a going out or departue of the Soul from the Body When the Soul or Ghost or Spirit is yielded up and committed and returns to that God who gave it And when the Holy Ghost Phraseth it by falling asleep thereby it would set forth that little pain or difficulty which is therein For they die in like manner and make no more of it than when we take our ordinary rest by sleep in our Beds This is commonly the Portion and distinguishing Character of the Godly and Righteous that they go out of this Body with Peace of Conscience and Peace towards God in which same sence that saying of the Disciples is true Lord if he sleepeth he shall do well Which will be so as to the future State if it be real Sleep and perfect Peace and not the Slumberings only of false Presumption But then as in Sleep we do not speak or act as when we are awake nor yet do we think clearly for Dreaming is but a kind of confused Imagination inasmuch as Death also doth take away the use of those faculties which in sleep are only suspended for a time therefore because that in this respect and for this reason it hath some resemblance and likeness to sleep the Spirit of God doth sometimes so compare and call it In Death the Soul is actually gone out of the Body but in sleep it seemeth only to lie a little more still Again the Body is as the House or Tenement but the Soul is the Inhabitant or Tenant thereof and as when that leaves it there is nothing seen but bare Walls and not any thing that hath life within So the Body is evidently seen to be but a meer Trunk Carcase or Lump of Clay when the Soul which is the life and did give it Beauty and ruddy colour which also doth vanish with it is gone out and departed from it Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy Word Luke 2. 29. This one Scripture s●ews forth and confirms all those two or three Truths ●fore-spoken of The blessedness and desirableness of ●eparting in Peace that is Peace towards God Hereby again Death is shewn to be and is properly called a departure According to thy Word Hereby is shewn fo●th and gathered that the Soul is only Tenant at Will to the Great Landlord of Heaven and Earth wh●n she inhabits here in one of his little Houses or Cottages viz. the Body here on Earth And it is as much as if God should say to her at first Soul I allow thee to inhabit such an exact time in that little Tenement of Clay and when that time is expired thou must come out of it again But now The S●cret of the Lord is with them that fear him Psal 25. 14. It sometimes happens that the Godly and Righteous do perceive and guess about the time God will have them to live here on this Earth It was revealed by the Holy Ghost to Simeon that he should not see Death before he had seen the Lord's Christ And so besides ●he example of Jacob Moses and Aaron and others Registred in the Book of the Lord I have read and heard of several of the Saints and Servants of God who have had it revealed unto them a considerable time before in their foregoing life near about what time and at what year of life they should die which hath accordingly so came to pass I my self have had a forebode for several years past that I should die about the three and thirtieth or the three and thirtieth year and an half of my life God knows whether it will be so And when the time draws nigh that Israel and so they that are of Israel must die they do with a willing mind resign and offer up their Soul unto God as in a readiness a little before that time comes Which is a thing pl●asing and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour the God of the Spirits of all Flesh as we see by the example and good temper of this Simeon who was Just and Devout waiting for the Consolation of Israel And so we should wait beforehand for the Consolation which God will give unto his Servants if we do indeed serve him after that we are passed through this Vale of Tears and World of Misery It was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see Death It is very proper and pertinent to the matter in hand to open and explain this manner of Speech of seeing Death The Infidel Ungodly Ig●orant or Brutish Person may at first look upon it as a nonsensical and false kind of saying to see Death For Death closes and destroys the Eye sight that it can see nothing at all But to answer him Thou Fool that which tho● sowest is not quickened except it die Thou Ignorant Person I do here say and affirm then it is that we see most of all when Death hath destroyed all our Opticks and power of seeing and our Eyes are sunk into our Head I will prove and demonstrate it from this very Similitude of Things Do not we see more when we have the full and whole sight of a thing than when we look at or upon it only through a Crevice Hole or Chink Do not they see more who are at full liberty in
to Breathe forth Her●by is shewn forth the wonderful Workmanship and contr●vance of God that the Soul like the Godhead himself is purely an invisible Being We are to admire and say it is wonderful and to believe and be most fully satisfied that it is so although we cannot comprehend it And the Angel did wonderously and Manoah and his Wife looked on For it came ●o pass when the flame went towards Heaven from off the Altar then the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the Altar Judg. 13. 19 20. Even so here it may be reasoned and supposed for it is a wonderful thing of God and his doing wonderously the thing is most true that when we stand by the Bed-side of our dying acquaintance we see nothing but a little struggling gasping or such like And yet it comes to pass that as the Creature lies upon his back or side his Soul goes up towards Heaven it returning to the God that gave it And as the Angel ascended in the flame even so the Soul expires and goes out in the Breath and we see it not But the d●ceasing Soul or rather after it is a deceased Soul sees it and this is a seeing Death The Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but thou dost not see it and canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth So it may be truly reasoned and conceived of the Soul or Spirit The Soul did actuate the Body whilst it was therein and we did Hear See Taste hear and feel the Operations and Life thereof but we cannot tell exactly the particular Place from whence it came from God and Heaven in the General neither can we tell the particular Place where it goes only in the General that it is to return to God and to appear before him in Judgment and from thence to go away into Everlasting Punishment or into Life Eternal Mat. 25. 46. But further as to the exact Place Manner Time we cannot tell so as to describe it particularly as it is Again As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the Bones do grow in the womb of her that is with Child even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all Eccles 11. 5. We know not which way the Spirit came into the Infant whilst it was in the Womb by Creation and Infusion from God in the General neither do we know which way it takes as now we know Roads or Paths When the Breath of Man goes forth and he returns to his Earth his Spirit or Soul ascends up above the Clouds into the upper Parts of the World as may be understood from the Light and ascending Nature thereof as the same is in Smoke or Fire We may also perceive somewhat thereof whilst she is in the Body by liftings up of Spirit As Ecclesiastes saith Thou knowest not the Way of the Spirit nor yet the Works of God who maketh all Even so it is not to be expected that I should so make it known even from the Law and the Testimony and from the Light that is given me from thence and so describe what it is to see Death as People will find when they come severally to see and feel Death indeed Then they shall more clearly perceive the Truth of what hath been afore written when they shall in their individual Persons be brought down to the People of old Time It is well if in our Searching and Learning thereof we come somewhat near to the Truth By what hath been aforesaid a clear Apprehension Notion or Knowledge may be had what Death is or what it is to dye even for the Soul to go away of out of the Body And because it must after Death go to Judgment and from thence it shall go further into Everlasting Punishment or into Life Eternal Hence doth arise that doubt and fear of Soul which of these places it shall go away into As to this how to obtain the one and avoid the other to partake of the Blessing and escape the Cu●se to enter into Heaven and not fall into Hell to go away into Happiness and pass by Misery all Scripture is therefore given us of God for to Teach Instruct and Guide us herein even to make us wise unto Salvation The same and this only is or ought to be the end of all Books or Sermons I am sure it is the only intent of the present Treatise According to the Method and Favour which God afforded unto old Simeon we gather hence that it is a very great Blessing and distinguishing Mercy of God for he doth not vouchsafe this favour unto all but only to his Elect neither doth he deal so with every sort of People to have this revealed and manifested unto them that they shall not see Death before they see the Lord 's Christ It is reported of Julius Caesar that a little before he was Murdered in the Senate-Hoase that he did see the Apparition of himself in the form of a dead Man at which sight although he was a Mighty Man of Valour he was strangely astonished and struck with fear For so terrible was this sight of Death unto him that he did exceedingly fear and quake And truly well he might for he was an Heathen and Infidel and we can apprehend by the Gospel Revelation what will becom● of such after Death But our good old Simeon hy having seen the Lord's Christ before was sufficiently fore-armed and fortified against the sight of Death The reason whereof stands on this wise for as when the Chick sees the Kite or Hawk that would devour it if she can then run under the Hens wings into the Cub she is safe for as the Hen was instrumental at first to give it Life and Being so she will preserve it Even so it is here by seeing the Lord 's Christ who is appositely called the Prince of Life Acts 3. 15. The faithful Soul or the Soul that is Christ's runs and makes to Christ who promises and will perform it also I will gather my Children togeth●r even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings Mat. 23. 37. He shall cover thee with his Feathers and under his wings thou shalt trust his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler Psal 91. 3. Then let Death and the Devil come to destroy that Soul if they can Here Christ is greater in Power and Might for asmuch then as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their life-time subject to Bondage Heb. 2. 14 15. Simeon was one example to confirm this Truth for he being by the Lord Christ delivered from the fear thereof was not so astonished thereat as Caesar was or as other natural ungodly People now-a-days are Who though they name of Christ yet
whereby we must be saved For such an one as Socrates who died a real Martyr for the One God in opposition to that Error of Polutheism so common among the Gentiles may be saved by the name of Christ at the last day And so such of the Gentiles which have not the Law but do by Nature the things contained in the Law Rom. 2. 14. although they were before or since Christ or in other Countries there is good ground of Hope from the Mercy Goodness and Truth of God for they are his Creatures as well as we that some of these will be actually saved by the name of Jesus Christ also whom as soon as they shall hear of they shall obey him Psal 18. 44 In the day when God shall judge the Secrets of Men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel For indeed those Gen●iles or Mahometans did obey Jesus Christ all along although they never heard of his outward Name when they did by Nature the things contained in the Law they having not seen any written Revelation But this I do Teach and Affi●m constantly That inasmuch as Christ is become the A●thor of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him And to them only For God hath Anointed him to be a Prince and a Saviour to be a Prince to give Laws for us Subjects to obey as well as to save us from our sins by yielding and complying with him we do also obey him And inasmuch as the same Jesus Christ hath said If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments Matth. 19. 17 from hence it appears that of all the Sorts and Sects of Christianity such of them and they only will be saved who confirm all the words of his Law which includes both the Law of God and the Law of Christ both the Old and New Testame●● to do them Deut. 27. 26. F●r as every one is cursed that doth not confirm all the words of the Law to do them And as the Prophet David saith They are cursed that err from his Commandments And so unless they confirm that particular Commandment of Christ to do it Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you Matth. 28. 20. they will never be saved by Christ And so if they should break one of his least Commandments and teach Men so they will not be saved by Christ But whosoever shall do even to the very least and to every one of them the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven And this is to have Christ formed within them and not in part but throughout and both Body and Soul and Spirit may be preserved blameless unto the coming of Jesus Christ This is to take and receive Christ in all things and not in some things only as the manner of many is who call themselves Christians but they are not but do lye as all such do who name the name of Christ and yet do not depart from Iniquity I will make so far bold with those words of Scripture Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shait be saved which was said to the Penitent Jaylor as to affirm That to believe with an Historical Faith that Jesus Christ was the Messias sent by God will not save any one For suppose a Drunkard or an Unrigh●eous Man or a Fornicator or any of that black Catalogue which are excluded from the Kingdom of God in Cor. 6. 9. 10. 11. should believe all that as none do commonly deny it will this Historical Faith save him In no wise This makes against that Error and Deceit of the Solifidians and some Dissenters among us have bordered upon and came near to the same Error and Deceit The bare name of Christ will not save any one but it is the thing for several name the name of Christ who have not Christ nor yet the thing signified by him SERMON V. Isaiah 38. 1. Set thine House in Order for thou shalt Die and not live IT was the saying of Abigal unto David Yet a Man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy Soul but the Soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of Life with the Lord thy God 1 Sam. 25. 29. So the case stands as to us all One is risen up to pursue us and seek our Souls even our Adversary the Devil of whom Saul was a kind of Type and Signification in Hunting after and Persecuting of David or rather the Devil acted through Saul in it As a roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom he may devour And he hath Death and Hell for his Companions or as two Dogs the one to catch and the other to destroy or make miserable But here if we see the Lord 's Christ or have Christ formed within us he is appositely and truly stiled the Prince of Life So that then of certain consequence our Souls are bound in the bundle of Life with the Lord our God This is a great expression containing in it self an unspeakable benefit Then it is that we dying Creatures if we have seen the Lord's Christ or have Christ formed within us we are bound up in the bundle of Life with the ever-living God So that of necessity as fire warms all things that are next unto it and which are capable of warmth we must live also For with thee is the Fountain of Life and in thy Light shall we see Light So it may be truly reasoned also in thy life shall we have life Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we be with the Lord. But when we once see the Lord 's Christ or rather feel him formed within us and we thus have our Souls bound with the Lord our God in the bundle of Life with the Lord our God then we which are now dying and going off from the Stage of this Earth as soon as ever we move off from thence The Eternal God is our Refuge and underneath are the everlasting Arms and he shall thrust out the Enemy before thee Deut. 33. 27. This Enemy is the Devil who was afore spoken of to be risen to seek our Souls Behold how in a wonderful manner all Scripture is consonant to it self at the greatest distance of place and how the goodness of God provides beforehand for the safety and salvation of Israel that is his People and Servants For he hath provided everlasting Arms to reach receive and catch the Soul in just upon its flight and being let out from the Body And whereas it is said That be rideth upon the Heaven in thy help and in his Excellency upon the Sky so that he is above the Prince of the power of the Air who with his Evil Spirits hath his Residence or Habitation thereabouts But we shall also meet the Lord in the Air and so we shall ever be with the Lord To partake of his Life and Happiness his Good and Blefsedness And so
whilst we are thus continually dying on this Earth we shall thus wait till our change shall come The word of Instruction which doth arise from hence is that we should endeavour to be as like God and as like Christ as ever we can in all his Communicable Attributes and Perfections for so far as we are partakers of his Holiness or of his Image and Likeness here we shall be assuredly partakers of his Happiness and Blessedness hereafter Thou shalt die and not live There is no need to insist much or enlarge further upon that Subject Death is common to all for who knows not this already Who knows not also that we do continually from time to time haste and approach nearer and nearer unto it As also who knows not that we are in a World of Transitory Perishing and Dying things but Faith teaches and instructs that all this is in order to that which shall remain See Isa 66. 22. and is Eternal and Life for evermore Accordingly we find and feel within our selves although we are subject to Mortality yet thoughts and desires after Immortality Which same thoughts and desires can never be in vain but there is also a real Object of Immortality though as yet it is unseen to whom the same do relate There doth arise in us afaintness and anguish at the thorough consideration of the perishing nature of things which is sensible and may be perceived For as when it was told Saul To morrow thou shalt be with me that is in the state of the dead then Saul fell straitway all along on the Earth and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel and there was no strength in him So it is at the thorough apprehension and knowledge of this thing of perishing Corruption and Mortality we become as of no strength free among the dead and we have less strength at the thoughts before hand that Death at length will take all strength from us Because that things by their perishing do seem to be vain therefore doth arise vexation of Spirit and we could wish it were otherwise and not so Yea that it is not so we have assured hopes It is usually now reckoned an enhancement of misery when we know better and yet we cannot have and enjoy it For if one had never known ●or conceived of the worth or goodness of such a thing the disappointment for missing thereof would not have been so vexatious And so here it is God having implanted in all Men whatsoever some knowledge and expectation of enduring Eternal and satisfactory things the ungodly have a little glimpse or glimmering thereof by natural Understanding like him that was born blind who saw Men as Trees but the Godly have a full Light and Sight thereof by Faith now here when every thing seems to perish and pass away and not a satisfie fully there doth arise Anguish Vexation and secret Thought in the Creature towards the Creator as if we were only tantalized that is put near what we cannot obtain or put in expectation of what is not at all But it is not so with us For only the matter is thus God doth all things in his own order The thing is true though the time appointed for it is long God d●●● in the life that now is and on this Earth give us onl● his Perishing Transitory and Imperfect good things The things that I have given them shall pass away from them Jer. 8. 13. Which are on this respect suitable to our condition here for that also is Perishing Imperfect Transitory and passing away But his Abiding Eternal Pesrect and Satisfactory things O I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Psal 17. 15. these he hath reserved and will give unto such of the reasonable Inhabitants thereof as shall be found meet and worthy after they are gone and removed off from this Earth in the future State Distribution and Restitution of all things For we have all things here in part and by way of taste and earnest But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away Now here on this Earth is sensibly and evidently seen Cursing Vexation and Re●uke in what People set their hand unto for to do Deut. 28. 20. And the Lord gives to some a trembling heart and a failing of eyes and sorrow of mind ver 67. Neither is this only the Portion of the Children of Disobedience but even as a precious Saint and Servant of God could say My Fl●sh and my Heart faileth but God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever It is sensibly seen that in Declining or Old Age or under languishing and pining sickness from day even to night wilt thon make an end of me Isa 38. 12. when the Flesh is withered like a stick it being shriveled away and there is little more than skin and bones when like Barzillai it cannot taste what we eat or drink nor hear any more the voice of singing Men and Women when sence can no longer relish but it is as it were benummed and dead as to all Creature-Comforts when the Arm of Flesh is withered Cursed is he that trusteth in the Arm of Flesh and its poor helps fail then also the heart doth evidently fail away with the Flesh and the anguish of Spirit doth so break forth that the Spirit it self which did heretofore sustain a man's infirmities can no longer pacifie and speak true and solid comfort but then as when the People talked of stoning David because the Soul of all the People was vexed and it is before said That he and his People lift up their Voice and wept until they had no more power to weep but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God 1 Sam. 30. 4. 5. 6. So when all these things fail and slide away from us in which was our Comfort and Well being as to this World and when con●rariwise the Rain descends and the Floods come and the Winds blow and beat up●n our House And dangerous Diseases Poverty the Consumption of Age and the Seeds of Mortality like those ill-natured People to D●vid do rhreaten to stone us Nay they will certainly do it at length and try to make us miserable and utterly destroy and make an end of us if either of them is possible Here if we can encourage our selves in the Lord our God or say not with good words or Scripture Phrases only but by way of saving and feeling ●ruth God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever So that we may be provided against the time now when our Flesh and our Heart shall fail till they come to an utter end as to the things of this World O then it is well with us and happy shall it be We know that now the manner and practice of the World is that where o●e is only a Rack-renter or Tenant at Will of a good Bargain if the Landlord is resolved to put him
And so the Lord Guides and Commands the Ministry of his Word Comfort ye comfort ye my People saith your God speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem To be Sons of Consolation to some and to be Sons of Thunder unto others To speak such a suitable word to all the several and promis●uous Hearers that all may learn and all may be comforted Some may be convinced some converted some strengthened and builded up according to the several needs of his People and according to the several great ends for which he in Wisdom appointed the Ministry and Preaching of the Word As the Apostle Paul saith to the Thessalonians But a● touching Brotherly Love ye need not that I write unto you for ye your selves are taught of God to love one another So I need not draw any more Practical Uses and Inferences from Isa 38. 1. because that as Isaiah the Son of Amos came unto Hezekiah and said unto him Thus sai●h the Lord Thou shalt die and not live So the same God the Creator of all Generations and Persons of Mankind speaketh unto them in his written Word in his Spirit in their Hearts and Consciences and by his Ministers for by all these ways they are taught of God to set their Souls in Order against the time they shall go out of the Body Which will time after time opportunity after opportunity morning after morning morning after morning he wakene●h me and all this will furnish ye with Practical Uses and Inferences enough on this Subject For all these ways God will teach you what shall be profitable for ye to know and give an inferring what ye have to do And so I have done with this Text telling ye withal that all your remaining business throughout your Life here on Earth and whatever other Sermons or Word of Exhortation and Instruction ye may ever hear or read if it is managed aright it is all to the same end and purpose that ye may set your Souls in Order for ye shall die that is they shall go out of the Body Do ye therefore so live and set your whole Body Soul and Spirit in Order that when ye die ye may live again in Happiness and Bliss and not in Misery and Punishment even that your Spirits may be severally saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Amen saith my Soul come Lord Jesus come quickly FINIS Practical Books Written and Published by Richard Stafford OF Happiness Wherein it is fully and particularly manifested That the greatest Happiness of this Life consisteth in the Fear of God and keeping his Commandments in oppo●●tion to the Pleasures of Sin or the pretended conveniency of Disobedience Rules and Directions for the prevention of and Recovery out of Sickness A Discourse against Partial Obedience Or that dangerous Deceit so universal amongst them who call themselves Christians of keeping some of the Commandments of God and neglecting others Some Thoughts of the Life to Come With a brief account of the state of Religion as it is now in the World The great Benefits of Christ to all that Believe on and Obey him Being a Treatise on Hebrews 2. 15. Wherein it is shewed and made known how People may be freed and delivered from that slavish fear of Death whereby they are subject to Bondage throughout their Life-time And also how they may be saved and preserved from the Evil and Danger of Death when it shall approach nigh and come actually upon them An earnest Call to all the Inhabitants of the Earth to Turn immediately to the Lord their God An Exhortation unto all Dissenters however they are distinguished or named to return into the Communion of the Ch●●ch of England Six several Se●mons Preached on Isaiah 38. 1. wherein that great Duty of setting our Body and Soul in order for we shall die is at large opened and explained
SIX SEVERAL SERMONS Preached on Isaiah 38. 1. WHEREIN THAT GREAT DUTY OF Setting our BODY and SOUL in Order For we shall Die is at large opened and Explained Wherein also many DIVINE TRUTHS ARE Made known relating to the same Matter And now Published because of the exceeding Importance and Concernment of this Subject unto all People whatsoever For Man also knoweth not his time as the Fishes are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the Snare so are the Sons of Men snared in the evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them Eccles 9. 12. For Precept must be upon Precept Precept upon Precept Line upon Line Line upon Line here a little and there a little Isa 28. 9. London Printed and are to be sold by Ralph Simpson at the Harp in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. TO THE READER IF I were to Judge of all others by my self I should think that all People of whatever Age or Condition of Life should earnestly catch at and be very desirous to look into and read all Books concerning Death and Mortality if perhaps they might light upon any thing therein which may either mitigate or lessen that fear of Death which even in the midst of and throughout their Life is sensible in all Mens minds Which same fear hath Torment and doth afflict them But more especially if they may find any thing in their reading of this kind which may Teach Instruct and Direct them what they must do to be Happy after Death and to make sure of it all one as it is desired to live comfortably and happy before Death for if People are so very much concerned as we see they are what they s●all eat and what they shall drink and wherewithal they shall be clothed for this short time because these things are present and sensible they should also take care beforehand nay they must and will unavoidably think when the end is come the end is come Ezek. 7. 6. which is doubled because the thing is established by God and for the certainty thereof whether it shall go well or ill with them throughout all Eternity for then these things will be present and sensible also And it being the highest Wisdom to do those things whilst living especially since those things are to be only done in our Life-time I must work the Works of him that sent me whilst it is day the night cometh when no Man can work which we shall wish and desire we had done when we come to die this should influence and actually persuade People even in the midst of their Youth Health and Vigour when they are Lusty and Strong yea throughout all their Life here on Earth to be continually employed about this one thing needful of setting their Soul in Order against the time it shall go out of this Body and to make sure that when their Earthly House of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved they may have a Building of God not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens This is the difference between the Godly and Sinners between Wise Men and Fools the Godly and Wise do only those things in time besore it be too late or the Door is shut which the Sinners and Fools do at last bethink themselves and wish it is the part of Fools to say I never thought it would come to this when it is too late and the time is over and past As Christ said the People of Nineveh will rise up in Judgment against the People of this Generation and condemn them So I testifie in this my day that the Heathen may rise up in Judgment against the People of this Generation and condemn them For they especially the wiser sort some of them defining Wisdom to be a Meditation of Death did search and enquire diligently and think continually what should become of them after Death albeit they knew nothing certainly concerning Immortality and future Life but they had only a little glimmering and conjecture thereof And yet this did put them upon the practice of Moral Virtue and the doing of Good Actions that thereby they might be Happy after Death But now in this Christian Countrey there is a most clear Gospel-Light and Revelation concerning it yet to most People herein Death is like a Damp which puts out all their Lights of Pleasure and through Satan's acting with all deceivableness in them that perish the greatest part of Men and Women do concern themselves but very little about it But notwithstanding their Supineness and Negligence which is the miscarriage of the whole Wo●ld the Children of God the Heirs of Life and Immortality in all their several Generations and Countries were always and all along even in the midst of Life Health and Prosperity great Meditators of Dea●h O that I my self might be of their number but as some little Hope and Evidence thereof I did always as for my part even from my Tender Years think very much of Death and what would follow thereon I now call to remembrance my Thought and searching of Heart which was in the days of old when I was but a Stripling I did then Commune with mine own Heart and my Spirit made diligent search What will bec●me of me after that this Body of mine which I carry about me is laid in the Earth For I did ●ind then that my Spirit would live and abide elsewhere as truly God hath shewn this unto me from within my self ever since I was a Child and had the least Knowledge of Good and Evil that there was another Life and a succeeding State which People should enter upon and go into after they were gone off from this Earth I was all along for the greater part and I am still as verily persuaded and ascertained of it as I am sure of this Life which I now live or that I now write down these words And thereupon revolving and pondering many things in my mind how that all here is but vain little and passing away as a Shadow and doth not signifie much afterwards f●in would I be Happy and Safe as to that succeeding and Eternal State of things into which my Soul must be launched forth out of this Body Accordingly I have made it my business to read all Books and Sermons that I could light upon which treat of this matter But especially I have searched and enquired diligently into the Scriptures in the which we think that we have Eternal Life But we know assuredly that the way to Eternal Life is taught and shewed therein And I desire that what things I have in the following pages brought forth out of that Treasury of Heavenl● Truths may be published for the Benefit and Instruction of others For I do not write these things out mine own Head nor yet from mine own Imagination and Invention but only from the Scriptur●s which are given to make us wise unto Salvation and what is rightly inferred from Truth is Truth likewise And although this
us even from our Cradle unto our Tomb so that it is no false Doct●i●● to affirm That all People even the most Young and Healthy are sick unto Death The Spirit of God did say thus of Hezekiah even when he had Fifteen Years longer to live as appears by the sequel of that Story and so the same holds true of all Mankind severally Though perhaps some among them may have the same period of time twice thrice or four times over for perhaps some of them especially Children may have thirty forty five or sixty Years to live longer yet even at this very Moment they are all sick unto Death A proportionable number of strokes with an Hatchet will cut down the biggest Tree that did ever grow on the Earth And although one stroke is given now and then another the Tree is all the while a cutting down Even so each Day and Night every Rising and Setting of the Sun are two strokes of this Hatchet which as Time is always in flux and succession continues to be still cutting down the Tree of our Life To pursue this same similitude again though it be to another matter yet it is to the same subject still as to our own Death and Mortality As it is written But every man in his own order 1 Cor. 15. 23. so I have often thought that as God is the Lord of Life he taketh away one and leaveth another in his own Order which his own Order is not to us discernable because that no respect or difference is had to Age for the oldest doth not most commonly go first the Good or Evil the Godliness or Ungodliness of the Person that one lives longer than another But the case of us all dying Creatures as we are under the Everliving and Almighty God is just like so many Trees growing in a Wood or Coppee As to which the Owner or Proprietor sends his Bayliff or Orders his Workmen to cut down one and then another according as each is marked out and according as he hath use and occasion either for a tender Plant or a well-grown Timber Tree for Building or an old Tree for the Fire even so the G●eat God over all doth give Command and Commission to such a Disease or outward Accident which herein may be compared unto his Hatchet or Instrument to go and cut down such a Man or Woman Stripling Boy Girl Infant of Days according as his Almighty Wisdom sees and knows best either cut him down quite or shake him for it is evi●ently seen that he sends sickness to this Person when another is well which sickness proves Mortal to some and not to others for there is a sickness which he sends and is unto Death Again there is a sickness which is not unto Death but unto the Glory of God in sparing Sinners so long and to the Benefit of them if they did make a right 〈◊〉 thereof which again is but a Reprieve and short Respite for at last comes the Sickness or Accident which is indeed unto Death The Lord God of Heaven who knows all things knows which of the Trees growing in this or that part of his Wood as are the several Cities Towns and Villages throughout the Earth are marked out for the very next to be cut down Though we do not know it before yet 〈…〉 afterwards Just like as at every Funeral we kno●●●ot then which of the Company that Accompanies the Bier will be carried next upon it themselves but this is seen and known afterwards The Word of Instruction which doth arise from this Consideration and Apprehension is this As when Jesus Christ said to his Disciples Verily one of you shall betray me And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say Lord Is it I Mat. 26. 21 22. so we may even now hear the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ God our Creator speaking unto us from Heaven on this wise Verily I say unto you that all of ye shall die but one of you in particular shall die before the rest God now speaketh thus from Heaven unto every Neighbourhood and Assembly of People and we should be hereupon not so much exceeding sorrowful as exceeding careful to live in trembling Psal 2. 11. and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear For we should every one of us begin to fear and provide in such a manner as if it was certainly I my self that must die the very first and next of any one in this Parish or Neighbourhood It is godly discretion so to live each and every Day as if it should be certainly our last and so it is here the same godly Discretion and Soul-saving Wisdom to reckon upon our selves as the Man that shall die the very next for it is an essential part of Wisdom to think the worst and put the case at the worst and to provide beforehand against the worst that shall or can possibly happen for in both these instances we are never the nearer Death for thus doing but only better provided and prepared for it We should so live now we are sick unto Death in the sence afore-explained as if we were indeed sick unto Death in the common meaning and acceptation of the Word We should so live every Day now we carry the Seeds of Corruption and Mortality about with us as we would live if the Plague were upon us and the Blue Spots and Tokens did appear on our Skin which do always and certainly presage a very near approaching Death The Reason whereof is this Because that every Day must come into account and we must be judged for the Thoughts Words a●d Actions of every Day after Years of Discretion and we are come to the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I shall be Judged and must give Account for what I did when I was but Sixteen Twenty or Twenty-five Years old as now when I am more than Thirty and so I shall be called in question at the Judgment-seat of Christ for what I do now as for what I shall do in the last Month Week and Day of my Life so that the Consequence is Natural and Necessary I ought now as much to walk in all Holy Conversation and Godliness and to efchew Evil and do Good as much and all one as if it was the last Month Week and Day of my Life for I shall be equally judged for one as for the other The end of our Redemption is That we might serve God without fear in Righteousness and Holiness before him all the days of our Life And although there is much talking in the World of Preparation for Death and of providing for our latter end as if it was then time enough to be godly when we grow sickly or old In no wise God forbid for it will go evil with that Soul which hath not been godly before Yet in the Scriptures which were given to make us wise unto salva●ion which is a Perfect and All-sufficient Rule of Life
which succeeds after that An Holy Body is an Orderly Body In the second place this proves and confirms that as we do carry along with us in these our Bodies the Seeds of Mortality and Corruption So if we have already or can get Holiness ingraf●ed in them This thing of Holiness is a Seed of Immortality and Eternal Life which the Man or Woman hath abiding in them even at the very same time when he is in this life which is as a Vapour and continueth not To mention again the Apostle's Dehortation That ye yield not your Members Servants to Vncleanness and to Iniquity unto Iniquity and as we naturally receive in Food and put on Raiment to avoid Hunger and Cold and as we would not willingly throw our selves headl●ng from an high Tower or Precipice nor yet dash out our Brains against a Stone● Wall nor run our tender Flesh upon sharp Iron Spikes for in all these and alike Instances this would be the ready way to break these our Earthen Vessels And no Man that loves himself or understands how precious they are and what a precious Jewel is contained in them would willingly have them broken or dissolved before their time So by the very same consequence we should abstain from all appearance of Evil but more especially and particularly we should abstain from those Sins and Evils which sooner bring on Diseases and Death than others Agreeable to th●s Christ Jesus the Wisdom of the Father and the Captain of our Salvation hath given this word of Command And take ●eed to your selves the manner of expressing it is observable take heed lest at any time your Hearts be overcharged with Surfei●ing and Drunkenness and Cares of this life and so that day come upon you at unawares Now these three especially Surfeiting and Drunkenness and Cares of this Life besides that the two first do overwhelm and drown a Man and the latter waste him out sooner do expose to Sickness and sundry kinds of Diseases and outward Accidents so that the day of Death comes upon such who give themselves unto these sins at unawares or sooner than it would otherwise to which succeeds the day of Judgment and of Account So Adultery Whoredom and following the strange Woman renders People weakly and short liv'd and brings rottenness into their Bones that their Body and their Flesh are consumed as some of us have seen sad Spectacles Examples and Monuments thereof So Anger Wrath Malice Hatred Variance Envyings set People together by the Ears to Wound or Murder one another when they go forth by Armies or single Persons Covetousness and Idleness doth tempt them to Steal and Rob upon the High-way which at length brings them to the Gallows So indeed almost every Sin one way or another is a Destroyer for it hastens sooner into the Pit of Destruction And it is one of those Paths of the Destroyer mentioned in Psal 17. 4. even of Satan the invisible Enemy of Mankind who hath his Name in the Hebrew Tongue Abaddon and in the Greek Apollyon Both which in our English Tongue signifies a Destroyer Which he makes use of to lead the Sons and Daughters of Men into the Chambers of Death the very Pit and Brink of Hell till at last they drop into it This place of Psalm 17. 4. is so excellent and observable and there is so much necessary and useful Truth contained in it that it is worthy to be quoted out at length for the Reader to meditate upon the significancy and the Word of Instruction which arises from thence Concerning the Works of men by the Word of thy Lips have I kept me from the Paths of the Destroyer As much as if David should say let other Men do as they will if they go on to destroy themselves as we see the Works of Men are and by their manner of acting abroad in the World they do as for my part I will make God's Word my Guide and my Rule I will be sure to keep to that and not vary from it and then I shall keep my self from the Pa●hs of the Destroyer I shall not be in those Paths which the Blood-thirsty and deceitful Men are in who do not live out half their Days and which those Sinners and Workers of Iniquity are in who do not live out half their days for if it had not been for that they might have attained unto the Days of their Fathers But this Rule doth not hold always for sometimes the Wicked grow old and are mighty in Power as Job saith And then chiefly my Comfort is as long as I hold my self to the Word of Gods Lips not to turn aside from it to the Right Hand or to the Left thereby I keep my self from the Paths that lead to Hell the Place of Destruction which is on the other side of the Grave And so to preserve our Bodies from falling into that Place of Destruction is to keep and set them in order for to that end we should have them ordered according to the Word of Gods Lips And this is according to the afore-quoted Place Rom. 6. 22. to have them made free from Sin Let not Sin therefore reign in your mortal Body ver 12. I beseech you Brethren by the Merci●s of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy mark that Epithet Holy acceptable unto the Lord which is your reasonable Service Know ye that ye are the Temple of God and tha● the Spi●it of God dwells in you If any Man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is Holy here we see again how the Eter●●●●pirit in a wonderful manner is all along Con●●●●nt to it self in promoting this thing of Holiness in us 〈◊〉 Temple ye are And so it is elsewhere written● Be ye clean that bear the Vessels of the Lord Isa 52. 11. And we carrying these ●arthen Vessels of the Lord that is to say our Bodies continually along with us Having therefore these Commands and Instructions Directions and Promises Dearly Beloved Let us cleanse our selves here must be some Act of our own from all filthiness of Fl●sh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God And then if this earthly House be thus set in Order as to be free from Sin and to be Holy to be swept and garnished within and kept so And if we touch not the unclean thing but be separa●e from all Evil and Defilement then will be fulfilled and brought to pass what God hath said I will dwell in them and I will be their God and they shall be my People Let us hear the summ and substance the Conclusion of this particular Head of Discourse set your Bodies in order That hath been shewed let your Bodies be o●dered according to the Word of God's Lips which requires that they be made free from Sin and that they be kept and preserved continually in Sanctification and Holiness The Reason is evident Why Holiness in Particular must be had
outside Acts of Worship and Religion if the inward parts thereof are not joyned with them Let them put away their Whoredom and the Carcases of their Kings far from me and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever Ezek. 43. 9. Lip-labour in Prayer is properly Whoredom for it takes away the Heart from God who is the right beloved and places it upon another wrong beloved And so meer and only outside Worship may be truly called the Carcases of Worship that is without any Soul Life or Spirit therein Now as we here learn and read all this must be put away for God to dwell in us and accept of our Worship Our Matters must be Good and Right exactly according to the great Rule of Righteousness in Scripture if ever they will find the least Acceptance or Approbation from God For He is an Holy God He is a God of Knowledge and by him Actions are weighed And so our Worship is to be in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to Worship him But all the Worship besides in the World whether Worship in Tongue or in Body which is all as nothing and profits as nothing without the Heart and Spirit going along with it or any Worship in which there is a mixture of Errour Idolatry or Superstition is an Abomination unto the Lord and obtains no good from him but rather brings Wrath and Punishment on the deluded Worshipper One false Expression in a Prayer Sermon or Service spoils the whole Burnt-offering or Sacrifice as to him that offers it up I mean as to the Preacher or Minister but the Hearers may separate the Precious from the Vile and not assent unto but dissent from it if any falshood should drop out of his Mouth The same holds alike and equally true as to good Works As to which the Lord seeth not as Man seeth for Man looketh on the outward Appearance but the Lord looketh on the Heart Suppose we instance in the Duty or good Work of Almsgiving whereof many good things are spoken and as to which many precious Promises are made in Scripture Now here it often so happens that an High-way-Man or one who hath abundance of Goods unjustly gotten or a Prodigal Spenthrift do now and then by chance or by way of vain Humour inconsiderately give a Crown or a Pound to a Poor Body when perhaps a real Servant of God or a good Christian doth not give mo●e than a Penny because of his impoverishment and low Estate The greatest summ doth the most good to the poor Object because it is a means to furnish him with more necessaries whereas the last is the better Work and more acceptable in the sight of God who seeth the Heart and with what Mind it is As the latter is done only out of a sence of Duty and in Obedience to his Commandments but the former sort is done at random or by chance Or perhaps because even in the most Ungodly and Wicked seeing that they must unavoidably die and mee● with God and every one doth more or less fear some Wrath and Punishment from him for their former Sins and evil Deeds So they have some inward wishes and wouldings also to be at Peace with God but they suffer it no more to grow fur●her unto Salvation then an addle Egg is to a live Chicken And so such may give Alms and that plentifully too like him in Micah thousands of Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oyl for the Sin of his Soul as hoping thereby to make At●onement for it or Comm●tation or hereby to make some Recompence and Restitution for Goods unjustly gotten What manifold and vain Imaginations do lurk and lye hid in the Heart of Man And yet all this is besides the Mark for it is not right in the sight of God How fain would they be at Peace with him and yet they are not at Peace with him because they do not go the right way nor do things throughly and wholly but only by halves and in Part. Nor do they receive Instructions from the Word of God where they might see how they ought to walk to please him I have seen it quoted out of the Turkish History that the Great Emperour once took some goods wrongfully from the Merchants and being troubled in Conscience for the same upon his Dea●h bed He sends for the Mufti who is their Hig●-Priest and tell him the Case and consults with him about building Alms-Houses for the Poor with the same Money The Mufti rather advises and it was done so accordingly to restore and give it back again to the right owner or to their Children and Kindred Now here it may be thought had not the poor Reason to curse the Mufti for had not they more need thereof than the Merchants who are commonly Rich and could better bear the loss No for all that in this the Mufti shewed himself a good Man For whether the Alcoran d●th so direct or not I know not but I am sure that herein He did speak and dictate according to the Law of God in the Bible If a Soul Sin and commit a trespass against the Lord and lie unto his Neighbour in that which was delivered unto him to keep or in fellowship or in a thing taken away by Violence this was the Turkish Emperours Case as to the Mercha●t or deceiveth his Neighbour then it shall be because He hath sinned and is guilty that He shall restore that which He violently took away or the thing which He hath deceitfully gotten Lev. 6. 23. Or if the Party be dead then to his Kinsmen or if there is no Kinsman then let the trespass be recompenced to the Lord even to the Priest Numb 5. 8 9 and so on If neither the Parties themselves ●or th●ir Children nor Kindred were alive for to whom Restitution was to be made then Alms was to be done in the very last place of all From whence it appears that as M●rcy is before Sacrifice ●o Justice and Restitution is more pleasing and acceptable in the sight of the Lord then Almsgiving for assuredly He who hath commanded Thou shalt not bring the hire of a Whore or the price of a Dog into the House of the Lord thy God for any Vow For even both these are an abomination unto the Lord thy God Deut. 23. 18. even He will not accept of Alms out of Goods or an Estate unjustly gotten or holden For I the Lord love Judgement I hate Robbery for Burnt-offering Isa 61. 8. And so God hates Robbery for Almsgiving Will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for him Job 13. 7. And so will you lie or rob or steal or oppress or grasp too much because it is in the Power of your Hand and practice and devise iniquity Micah 2. 1. and pretend it is all for God which is Abomination and Hypocrisie And so it holds in like Cases for where is the same Reason and approves it self so to the