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book_n	holy_a	part_n	scripture_n	3,691	5	5.5467	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56406	The faithful and diligent Christian described and exemplified, or, A sermon (with some additions) preached at the funeral of the Lady Elizabeth Brooke, the relict of Sir Robert Brooke, to which is annexed ... an account of the life and death of that eminent lady : with an appendix containing some observations, experiences, and rules for practice, found written with Her Ladiship's own hand / by Nath. Parkhurst ...	Parkhurst, Nathaniel, 1643-1707.	1684 (1684)	Wing P489; ESTC R14746	35,723	168

much deprest by it Her Danger was of fainting under this correcting Hand of God but she was upheld by him that is able to succour them that are tempted She often exprest her self in Words importing that she justified God and acknowledg'd his Righteousness in it She feared lest some might be scandalized by it and reflect upon Religion and decline it because of her deep Affliction and most earnestly desired that God would take care of his own Name and Glory But afterwards her Spirit revived and she was comforted as before and rejoiced in the God of her Salvation The Close of her Life was a long Languishing of divers Months which gradually confined her first to her Chamber then to her Couch and lastly to her Bed attended sometimes with great Pains under which Patience had its perfect Work During this Sickness her Mind was calm Her Conscience witnessed to her Integrity and she had a good hope in God that he would crown his Grace in her with Perseverance and then with Glory She was very apprehensive of her need of Christ adhered to him rejoyced in him and desired to be with Him She expired almost insensibly and had at the last an easy Passage to the Happiness which is the Reward of Faith and Holiness and the free Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. She hath left behind her which are Evidences of an unusual Diligence and an admirable Industry a great number of Writings under her own Hand some of which are these A considerable Body of Divinity in a large Quarto shewing what a Christian must believe and practice written Anno Dom. 1631. Collections of Commentaries upon a great part of the Holy Scriptures and of the Sum of the Controversies between Us and the Papists A Book containing Observations Experiences and Rules for Practice which being a most lively Image of her Mind may supply all the Defects of the Narrative I have given of her and is subjoyned here in hope it may be of no little Benefit to all pious Readers AN APPENDIX Containing Some considerable OBSERVATIONS EXPERIENCES and RULES for Practice found written with her Ladiship 's own Hand I. The World's Vanity ALL my Comforts below are dying Comforts no one Creature not all the Creatures that ever I enjoyed have given my Soul Satisfaction II. Good Actions will bear Consideration but evil Actions will not Every Act of Piety and Obedience will bear Consideration but so will not any sinful Action If we consider before we attempt any sinful Action either we shall not commit it or we shall do it with regret and a Conscience half set on fire But if we consider before any holy Action or Duty our considering Thoughts will much animate us to the Service Wherefore I conclude from hence that Sin shames it self and Religion justifies it self III. The Worship of God is made pleasant by a Sense of his Presence in it God's Presence was formerly manifested by visible Signs as the Cloud Fire and Brightness And though we cannot expect these yet we have the same especial Presence of God with us And when ever by Faith we attain any lively Apprehensions of it How solemn profitable and delightful doth it make the Worship of God with what Joy doth it bring us to the Assemblies and how unwilling are we to be kept from them when we have this Expectation from them And finding our Expectation in this answered how devoutly do we behave our selves in them and how joyfully do we return home as they that have seen God and conversed with Him IV. It is our Interest to be Religious It is a most experienced Truth that we shall never be well reconciled to Religion and steady in Piety until we see it is our Interest to be Religious V. It is difficult to pray without some wandring Thoughts in Prayer It is very difficult to carry Sincerity and keep a Sense of God through every part of Prayer which is necessary to be endeavoured and is the Life of the Duty I find it hard to keep my Soul intent for my Thoughts are slippery and swift and my Heart is snatch'd away sometimes against my Will and before I am aware yea even then sometimes when I have made the greatest Preparation and have had the greatest Resolutions through Grace to avoid wandring Thoughts My best Prayers therefore need Christ's Incense to perfume them VI. A deep Sense of God in Prayer is desirable and ravishing Could I understand my near approach to God in Prayer it would exalt my Soul above measure And why am I not ravished with the Thoughts of being in the Presence of God and haing the Ear yea the Heart of the King of Heaven It is nothing but want of Faith and the strange Power of Sense that weakens my Spiritual Apprehensions and keeps me from an unspeakable Delight in my Addresses to God What an high Priviledg is this to speak to the Great JEHOVAH as a Child to a Father or a Friend to a Friend But how slow of Heart am I to conceive the Glory and Happiness thereof Could I but manage this great Duty as I ought it would be an Heaven upon Earth It would bring God down to me or carry me up to Him Why should I not be carried above the World when I am so near to God Why should I not be changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory Why am I not even transported beyond my self VII We ought to be constant in Prayer Inconstancy in Prayer is not only sinful but dangerous Omission breeds Dislike strengthens Corruption discourages the Spirit and animates the unregenerate Part. Constancy in this Duty breeds an holy Confidence towards God Inconstancy breeds Strangeness Upon an Omission I must never approach God again or my next Prayer must be an exercise of Repentance for my last Omission VIII Sincere Prayers are never offered in vain Formality is apt to grow upon our secret Prayers one of the best ways to prevent it is to come to God with an Expectation This sets an Edg upon our Spirits I do not enough observe the Returns of Prayer though God hath said I shall never seek Him in vain And when I observe I must acknowledg I have daily Answers of my Prayers in some kind or other Nay I think I may say I never offered a fervent Prayer to God but I received something from Him at least as to the frame of my own Spirit IX Prayer promotes Piety and Godliness and Acquaintance with God It is the Christian's Duty in every thing to pray and Holiness lieth at the bottom of this Duty If I in every thing commit my self to God I shall be sure to keep his way or my Prayer will upbraid me This keeps me from tempting him and makes me careful to find a clear Call in every thing I undertake knowing that if I go only where I am sent the Angel of his Presence will go before me and my way will be cleared of

and Sorrow For though all that knew her Conversation which was like that of Hizabeth in St. Luke 1.6 A walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless are mightily satisfied that her Soul resteth with God in the Regions of Light and Glory after which She with great Zeal and diligence had long aspired in a way of sincere Obedience Yet it is grievous to be deprived of One that was so fruitful in Age and always rich in Good Works and whose Prayers doubtless were through Christ very prevailing with God Upon which Account not only Her Family particular Friends and this Village but the whole Church of God sustains a great Loss in Her Remove and especially this sinful Nation Considering that she prayeth no more for this People It would imploy a large Volume to describe fully the eminent Qualities with which God had endowed Her The sum of which I shall endeavour to represent to this end That God in whom all Her fresh Springs were and from whom she received all may be glorified by it And that we all may be moved to the Imitation of so compleat a Patern of that Sanctity that is attainable in this present and imperfect State having had this Testimony from all that observed her That she was stedfast unmoveable and always abounding in the Work of the Lord. AN ACCOUNT OF THE Life and Death Of the LADY Elizabeth Brooke Including the Character given of Her in the Sermon preached at her Funeral THE Life and Death Of the LADY ELIZABETH BROOKE THE Lady Elizabeth Brooke was born at Wigsale in Sussex in January 1601 Her Father was Thomas Culpepper of Wigsale in Sussex Esquire a Branch of an antient Family of Gentry of that Name which was afterwards in her Brother advanced into the Rank of the Nobility who for his great Loyalty and eminent Services done to the Crown was created a Baron by Charles the First with the Title of John Lord Culpepper of Thoresway Her Mother was the Daughter of Sir Stephen Slaney Thus she had the Honour of a Genteel Extraction and a Noble Alliance and as her Family derived an Honour upon her so she hath reflected an additional Glory upon her Family by her great Vertues having been one of the most Accomplished Persons of the Age whether considered as a Lady or a Christian While she was in her Infancy she lost her Mother and in her Childhood her Father so that she came early under the more peculiar Care and Patronage of God who is in an especial manner the Father of the Fatherless Her first Education was under her Grand-mother by the Mother's side the Lady Slaney She had rare Endowments of Nature an excellent Mind lodged in a fine Body and under a beautiful Aspect something of which remained even in her old Age. She had an extraordinary quickness of Apprehension a curious Fancy great Solidity of Judgment and a considerable Memory She was married very young to Sir Robert Brooke Knight descended from a younger Brother of the Antient and Noble Family of the Brooks formerly Lord Cobham a Person of a good Estate and Vertue who lived with her six and Twenty Years and died July 10. 1646 by whom she had seven Children three Sons and four Daughters viz. James who died an Infant John who lived Twenty six Years and was married but died without Issue Anno Dom. 1652. Robert who had the Honour of Knighthood conferred upon him upon the King's Restauration a Gentleman of fine Parts and great Loyalty to his Prince and Fidelity to his Country He was a Member of that Parliament which brought the King from his Exile and of the following Parliament which began May the 8th 1661. He died as he was travelling through France Anno Dom. 1669 in the 33d Year of his Age much lamented by his Friends and Acquaintance He was married also but left no Childeren Mary her Eldest Daughter and the only Survivor who inherits much of her Grace and Vertues Elizabeth and Martha Persons of great Piety were married to Gentlemen of fair Estates and good Reputation who had divers Children and died the Elder Anno Dom. 1647 8 in the 25th Year of her Age the Younger Anno Dom. 1657 about the 29th Year of her Age. Anne who died in her Childhood They continued the two first Years in London as Boarders in the House of the Lady Weld her Aunt From thence they removed to Langly in Hartfordshire a Seat which her Husband purchased purposely for her Accommodation that she might be nearer her Friends in London And after some Years stay there they came to Cockfield his Paternal Seat and there she passed the Residue of her Earthly Pilgrimage excepting the two first Years of her Widowhood In all which places she lived a rare Example of Goodness and left a good Name behind her in every place from which she departed and especially in the last where she passed the most and last and best of her time and from which her Soul was translated to Heaven She had many Excellencies which recommended her to all that had the Happiness to know her But the greatest glory that shined in her was in Religion in which she was not only sincere but excelled To which general Head may be referred the following things as the distinct Flowers in that Crown of Righteousness She devoted her self to God and Religion very early rising in the Morning of her Age to attend the Work and Service of her great Lord Remembring her Creator in the days of her Youth She made haste and delayed not to keep his Commandments And this she pursued with great steadiness through the course of a long Life So that she was not only an Aged Person but which is a great Honour in the Church of God an Old Disciple And having begun thus early to apply her self to Religion in the Power and Strictness of it Parts and Industry and length of Time and the use of excellent Books and Converse with Learned Men uniting together rendred her one of the most knowing Persons of her Sex especially in Divinity and in the Scriptures which made her wise unto Salvation And this Knowledg was not confined to the Practical but extended also to the Controversal and Critical Part even to the Difficulties concerning Scripture-Chronology and the Solutions of many of them She was able to discourse pertinently upon any of the great Heads of Theology She could oppose an Atheist by Arguments drawn from the Topicks in Natural Theology and answer the Arguments of Papists Socinians Pelagians c. by the Furniture against them in the Holy Scriptures I never knew any other Person that had so great a Knowledg in Divinity who was not skill'd in the Learned Languages so that no Scholar could repent the time spent in Converse with her For she could bear such a part in Discourses of Divinity whether Didactical Polemical Casuistical or Textual that some of her Chaplains have professed they have been sometimes

more profitable and pleasant than their own Studies and that they themselves did learn as well as teach This perhaps may seem incredible to them that were not acquainted with her But something of the Wonder will be abated by shewing how she attained her Excellent Knowledg She was an Indefatigable Reader of Books of the Scriptures especially and various Commentators upon them the best that our Language affords which perhaps are not exceeded by any other She had turned over a Multitude not only of Practical Treatises but also of Learned Books and amongst many others some of those of the Antient Philosophers translated into English gathering much from those great Lights among the Heathens so that she could interpose wisely in a Discourse purely Philosophical She was also a most diligent Inquirer and made use of all Learned Men of her Acquaintance to increase her Knowledg by moving Questions concerning the most material things as Cases of Conscience and hard Texts of Scripture and the Accomplishment of the Divine Prophecies She generally also took Notes out of the many Books she read that she might with the less Labour recover the Notions again without reading them a second time And She used a mighty Industry to preserve what either instructed her Mind or affected her Heart in the Sermons she had heard To these she gave great Attention in the Assembly and heard them repeated in her Family After this she would discourse of them in the Evening And in the following Weeks she had them again repeated and discoursed the matter of them to some of her Family in her Chamber And besides all this she wrote the Substance of them and then digested many of them into Questions and Answers or under Heads of common Places and then they became to her Matter for repeated Meditation And by these Methods she was always increasing her Knowledg or confirming the things that were known And having a great Treasure of Knowledg she improved it through Divine Assistance which she was most ready to acknowledg into a suitable Practice working out her Salvation with Fear and Trembling and was zealous of good Works Her Piety was exact putting Rules upon her self in all things and universal having respect to all God's Commands equally regarding the two Tables of the Law It was also constant and affectionate her whole Heart was given up to it and a holy Zeal attended it which Zeal was guided by much Wisdom and Prudence the Prudence never degenerating into Craft nothing appearing in all her Converse contrary to Sincerity It was also serious solid and substantial not touched with Enthusiasm yet she had a great regard to the Spirit of God as speaking in the Scriptures and by them guiding the Understanding and operating upon the Heart And as her own Practice was holy so she endeavoured also that her Family might walk in the same Steps providing for them the daily help of Prayer Morning and Evening with the reading of the Scriptures and on the Lord's-day the Repetition of what was preached in the Publick Congregation And for their further Benefit she many Years together procured a Grave Divine to perform the Office of a Catechist in her House who came constantly every Fortnight and expounded methodically the Principles of Religion and examined the Servants which was formerly done by her Chaplains till the Service of God in her Family and the Care of the Parish were committed to the same Person Thus with Joshua she resolved that She and her House should serve the Lord. With her Piety and Godliness there was joyned much Christian Love which was universal extending to all Mankind never suffering her self to hate or despise or over-look unless in the way of Censure for a Crime any Person in the World abhorring only what was vicious and evil in them But this Universal Charity admitted a Difference so as that the more Christian and Holy any were the more They had of Her Regard That Image of God that shined in a good Conversation she could not overlook in any though in some respects they were less acceptable to her valuing Grace above all the Accomplishments of Parts Breeding and Accord in lesser things And besides that all were dear to her in whom appeared the Fear of God she had also a most peculiar value for his Ambassadours and Ministers the Guides of Souls receiving them in their Ministrations as Angels of God fearing the Lord and obeying the Voice of his Servants esteeming what they delivered in consent with the holy Scriptures as his Message and Word She was very exact in matters of Justice and in rendring to all their Dues not suffering any Blot to cleave to her Hand and could not endure to have any thing without a Title in Conscience as well as in Law and was particularly tender in reference to Tithes and gave away all that she held by that * The Impropriations of Blithburgh and Walderswick in Sussex Title to him that took the Care of the Souls reserving only a little Portion yearly for repairing the ‖ The two great Chancels of the Churches there Edifices Her Charity and Alms-giving was very great and much admired by all that observed it though they knew only some part of it Every one that needed it had it in proportion to their Necessities and in the kind that was most suitable to their particular Wants She esteemed her self but as a Steward of her Estate and therefore gave away a great part of it to encourage the Ministry and to relieve the Indigent She dispersed abroad and gave to the Poor and Her Righteousness remains for ever She did most frequently cast her Bread upon the Waters and gave a Portion to seven and to eight and lent much to the Lord. And this she did willingly and chearfully and was ready to these good Works so that when there was any occasion that solicited her Charity it was never any Question with her whether she should give or not give but only in what Proportion she should extend her Bounty And for that she would many times most frankly refer her self to others saying I will give what ever you think is fit and meet in this Case having in this respect an Heart as large as the Sand on the Sea-shore and a most open Hand And as the Poor had her Charity in abundance so her Friends who needed not that kind of Bounty were yet Witnesses of her great Liberality and Generosity by which she adorned Religion and gained many to speak well of it Her Generosity was such That one would have imagined there was no room for Alms and her Charity such that it was wondered how she could so plentifully entertain her Friends But a provident Frugality and Management with the Divine Blessing enabled her to both to Admiration And her Charity was not only extended to the Bodies of others but she also most readily afforded Counsel and Comfort to them that repaired to her for Assistance in the