Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	people_n	read_v	word_n	2,947	5	4.1038	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29472	A Brief relation of several passages of the life and death of William Barton of Shrewsbury, in October, 1661 wherein may be seen much wickedness against great workings of God in him, as also God's most just anger, and wondrous mercy (as is hoped) towards him / published by a relation of his, and intended chiefly for the good of such as knew him in Shrewsbury, many of whom can testify the truth of these things.		1664 (1664)	Wing B4624; ESTC R37471	26,372	56

the way that God would make use of to bring him home to himself by making him a true penitent and since it hath pleased God to give you thus much time we do hope he will hear the Prayers that are and have been put up for you For he never said to the Seed of Jacob seek ye my face in vain and you have been a Son of many Prayers Never said he seek ye me in vain Never said he nay then not in this condition Blessed be his Name if this be thy way for ever blessed be thy Name this is a strange way must I go through Hell to Heaven But O if this be the way blessed be God my tongue shall sing aloud of his Righteousness though it should be upon a Gallows wonderful Mercy to me to such a sinful Creature as me if this shall be the way then he hath punished me less then mine iniquities deserve Another time some of his Neighbours being with him he began to confess his own guilt and that he was hypocritical and lived to himself and that he sought the favour of men nay and that sometimes he had not stuck at a lye when he thought it might further that design Some of the company then by said William you were not so bad as you make your self now nor so bad an hypocrite as you think you are for of our knowledge you alwayes loved the best People and loved the Ministers and would take their part though you were hated for it and heard Gods Word constantly and would remember a great deal of it and loved to read good Books and therefore you were not so bad as you make your self to be All this said he doth but aggravate my sins I did but enough to leave me inexcusable and make against me and that you may not be taken in the same snares that I have been taken in I will make a relation of my condition I did delight to hear good Sermons and longed for the Sabbath-day and loved it when it did come And when those Psalms were sung that were promises to the Saints that they should be satisfied with the fatness of God's House and filled with the Rivers of Delight and such Psalms as set out the amiableness of Gods Tabernacle and that Scripture where it is said The work of Righteousness shall be peace and the effect quietness and assurance for ever I should be much affected and could not but weep when I sung such places and when my conscience told me that I was not right and that my works were naught and that if I went on as I did it would be sad with me it would make me very sad and I would then resolve that I would be otherwise I would verily think that I should be better and would resolve as well I thought as any one could resolve but when Munday came and those thoughts were gone of me I should make little or nothing of my former promise but should break through all as if I had never resolved and if any one did but call me I had no power but to go and if any thought should come in my mind that might hinder me I would do the best I could to hinder such a thought because I had a mind to go and sometimes I have sought temptations and though my Conscience and God's Word would keep me a great while yet at the last I shoul'd break through all and so I loved a little Ale better than God and better than my self and when I had broken my resolutions time after time I had no heart to resolve and thought it was to no purpose and then I went on without any gage but I found that when I did resolve it was better then when I did not for sometimes it would keep me but when I resolved not then I was drove any way And I would think sometimes what might be the reason that my resolutions never held me as well as other people others I could see could resolve and keep their resolutions and I alwayes broke mine and I do think that the cause was that there was something left behind something there was that my conscience put me on to do that I would not do sin lay in the bottom hid and unconfest and I would not go through the shame of confessing that and though I resolved against every sin yet alas that I would never resolve on and so the sin of hiding my sin was left behind and now I can see that the first thing that I should have done should have been to have confest those sins which I had kept close all my life and because I would not part with that therefore all my resolutions were as good as nothing for that sin which caused me to leave out that caused me to break over all my promises Another cause was because I neglected secret prayer and that sin kept me from praying and stopt my prayers I could not ask God for strength to do what I could not because sin lay hid in my heart which I should have discovered and I would not I hid my sin by lying and many a time when my mother would ask me what I had spent I have said indeed mother but two pence when I had spent a great deal more and though I thought I would be better for the time to come yet I had no power the same evil that kept me from discovering that sin made me still run further into sin Therefore let every one speak alwayes truth and that which is in their heart and if they shall at any time chance to speak that which is not so let them go and undo it the first thing that they do and tell them that they spake that which was not truth and then go quickly and beg of God to forgive you and then you will have more power over your self at another time for if I could but have parted with that one sin I do think that I should have had power over the rest and I have thought so then and have been convinced that that must be done before I should have any more power given me and yet I would never be willing to it When I would think of going about it the matter was so bad and I thought I should appear to be so odious that no one would abide me and then I thought of some good folks that did love me and I thought that they did not love me but because they thought me to be pretty good and for somewhat good in me and I would think that if they should know what an one I was they would never abide me again and such reasons as these or something or other still kept me off And sometimes I would put it off with reasoning that it was not necessary to confess it to men if I confest it to God I thought it would serve the turn Thus I went on runing out of one sin into another till I was as full of sin as I could