Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	counsel_n	young_a	youth_n	21	3	7.8491	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61409	Advice to the young, or, The reasonableness and advantages of an early conversion to God demonstrated, in three discourses on Ecclesiastes xii, I by Joseph Stennett.	Stennett, Joseph, 1663-1713.	1695 (1695)	Wing S5406; ESTC R15661	77,634	190

delay a Work of this nature and of this consequence till now but if God has given you deep and serious Repentance he designs you favour and your Contrition give hope of a Pardon Let the wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and he will have Mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon But 2. If you are truly converted 't is your Happiness and Honour The hoary Head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in the way of Righteousness But did you consecrate to your Creator the Flower of your Youth Or have you only offer'd him your later Years It may be you began to work in his Vineyard but at the Tenth or Eleventh Hour or at least since your Sun has been declining If so then 1. Admire and adore that Grace of God which kept back your feet from Destruction when you were ready to step into eternal Misery and indulgently pluck'd you out of the way of approaching Ruine as the blessed Angels did Lot to secure him from the impending Shower of Fire and Brimstone which threaten'd Sodom when he linger'd in that vicious and accursed City How can you choose but reflect with astonishment on the Danger you have escap'd and bless that Divine Hand that kindly diverted you from that presumptuous Course that was ready to cast you on a Rock on which you have seen so many dash themselves in pieces Praise him I say who has sav'd you from so great and so near a Death and remember'd you in Mercy when you had forgotten him Days without number 2. Let the sincerity of your Thankfulness and of your Repentance too appear by the improvement of that little portion of Time which you have yet remaining Redeem your Time now at least because the Days are evil Improve the evil Days of old Age with the utmost Diligence since the better Days of Youth are past recalling Evidence both to your selves and to others that your late Repentance is true by such an industrious management of your remaining Days as may convince the World that 't is no small grief of Heart to you that your Repentance was so late Recover your lost Time as much as possible by your present diligence and let none of your precious Moments for the future be heedlesly expended but husband 'em well in working out your Salvation with fear and trembling Let your frequent hours and acts of Devotion make up the long want your selves have had of those sacred Privileges that attend the Exercises of Holy Worship and thereby make restitution as much as in you lies to your Creator for the Sacrilege you have often committed in robbing him of those pious Offerings those continual Sacrifices with which you should daily have furnished his Altar Let your Example be as beneficial to Mankind as it has been injurious And as you have tempted others to Sin strive now to incite them to Piety If you bear the Character of Parents or Masters labour to convince those young Persons who are under the influence of your Counsel or the awe of your Authority of the great Advantages of an early Conversion And let them know you now seriously lament the past Follies of your Youth That as your ill Counsels and vicious Patterns have long made you Partakers of other Mens Sins so your Religious Exhortations and good Examples may obtain on your Acquaintance and those that are under your Conduct so as to intitle you in some sort to other Mens Vertues In a word remember that you are under a special Obligation that as the Apostle speaks you should no longer live the rest of your Time in the Flesh to the Lusts of Men but to the Will of God For the Time past of your Life may suffice to have wrought the Will of the gentiles when ye walked in Lasciviousness Lusts excess of Wine Revellings Banquetings and abominable Idolatries If your Case be otherwise and you began early to give your selves up to the Service of your Creator 1. Bless and magnify that God who was the Guide of your Youth who wrought that happy Change on your Souls who were Children of Wrath by Nature as well as others What copious Subjects of Praise will your Experience furnish you withal when you reflect on the long Series of Divine Favours that have attended you through the various Parts and Changes of Life And what a pleasant Review may you take of a well-spent Life directed to the Glory of God and conducted by his Grace What matter of thanksgiving may you find in the many Assurances of his Love and in the Evidences of the Work of his Grace upon your Souls and in the frequent and familiar prospect he has given your Faith of that invisible and ineffable Glory you have been so long aspiring after and are now so near enjoying You have reason to bless your Creator as well for preventing your commission of the many Sins you have escap'd as for forgiving of those you have committed For preserving your Innocence on many occasions as well as for pardoning your Guilt on others for making you happy so soon by an early Conversion and for giving you the hope of a distinguishing Crown of Glory for honouring the best of your Time by accepting it in his Service and for sweetning the worst of it the evil Days of old Age with all the Comforts which the Reflection on a Life of Grace and all the Joys which the prospect of a Life of Glory can inspire Surely the high Praises of God should be in your Mouths for to use the Words of Christ on that solemn occasion when his Disciples cry'd Hosanna to him I tell you if you should hold your Peace the Stones would immediately cry out 2. You ought to manifest the truth of your early Conversion by the extent of your Knowledg in Divine Things and by the warmth of your Affection to them I write unto you Fathers says the Apostle Iohn because you have known him that is from the beginning Both God and Men expect that your growth both in Knowledg and in Grace should bear some proportion to the Time you have spent in the School of Christ that you should be the tallest Cedars in Lebanon that have been so long planted there and the most fruitful Vines that have been so often water'd with the River of God Seeing you are not Babes either in regard of the time you have liv'd in the World or of that you have spent in the Church of God but Persons of full Age who by reason of use ought to have your Senses exercis'd to discern both good and evil Let it not be said of you that when for the Time you ought to be Teachers you have need that one teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and that you are again become such