Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	word_n	year_n	young_a	126	3	5.6627	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88594	A treatise of effectual calling and election. In XVI. sermons, on 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherein a Christian may discern, whether yet he be effectually called and elected. And what course he ought to take that he may attain the assurance thereof. Preached by that faithful servant of Christ, Mr. Christopher Love, late minister of Lawrence Jury, London.	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.; Calamy, Edward, 1600-1666.; Cross, Thomas, fl. 1632-1682,	1653 (1653)	Wing L3178; Thomason E696_1; ESTC R202781	182,095	256

and contents of youth this will become an heavy burden and bitter vexation in old age Beloved the more evil you run out into in your youthful daies the greater and deeper foundation of disquietnesse and sorrow you lay in your souls in your latter daies though you should be called by Jesus Christ 4. If the Devil suggest that you are too young to imbrace the invitation of Christ consider That Jesus Christ will take it most kindly at your hands if while you are young you will give intertainment to his call Jer. 2.2 I remember thee saith the Lord and the kindness of thy youth that thou wouldst follow me in the Wilderness in a Land that was not sown Mark how the Lord speaks and how kindly he takes it that they would in their youth follow God the Lord will remember it and take it acceptably from you if while you are young while the Marrow is in your bones and strength in your joynts you will imbrace the wayes of Jesus Christ It is an observation that some have concerning the beloved Disciple John John 20. He is called the Disciple whom Christ loved and that leaned upon his brest of all the other eleven Disciples Christ did love John above the rest and Divines give this reason of it John was the youngest of all the Disciples he was converted and called by Christ when he was a young man and Christ seeing a young man follow him took this very kindly at his hands and cals him his beloved Disciple As you that are Parents you let your little Children sit in your lap when your great ones shall not so John he being a young man Christ would let him lean upon his brest and lie in his bosome expressing his kindnesse to him Now O how should this beat off this temptation that you are too young to follow Christ because Christ takes it so kindly at your hands if you imbrace his call in time nay Christ doth take it so kindly that he doth love bare Morality and Civility in young men and therefore it is said in Matthew when Christ saw the young man and he told him Matt. 19.20 I have observed these things from my youth Christ look'd upon him and loved him Christ shewed a general love to the young man that was but a Moral man from his youth and if Christ love Morality he will much more love Piety and true Sincerity It is observed of Timothy that of one particular man Paul expressed more love to Timothy then any other Read over all the book of God you shall never find Paul expresse so much love to any as to Timothy he cals him Timothy my son Timothy who serveth me as a child and Timothy my dearly beloved and why was all this Why the reason is because Timothy from a child was converted and knew the Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.6 He was from a child converted and called by the Ministery of the word in Paul's mouth and this did more indear the heart of Paul unto him You read in the book of Leviticus that when God did require a Sacrifice he would not have an old Sheep but a young Lamb a Lamb of a year old and a Kid of the yongest of the Flook And it was significative in this not only to shew that Christ our Sacrifice should die and suffer for our sins in the flower of his age but also to shew that Jesus Christ looks upon that as an abominable Sacrifice when you will not be of his Fold while you are as young Lambs O Beloved Christ takes it wonderful kindly if in your youth you do imbrace his call Fifthly Yield not to the Devils temptation considering this that though you should be converted in your old age yet Christ cannot but take this very unkindly at your hands that you should put him off until your last end that you reserve if any part yet the worst part for his service You know when Christ stood all the night for his Spouse till his head was full of dew and his locks were wet with the drops of the night he got him gone because she came not and would stay no longer O how unkindly think you will Christ take this when he shall wait year after year and yet you not imbrace his call It is said in Isaiah All the day long have I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people yet they would not hear and Mal. 1. Offer the Lame and the Blind to thy Governour will he accept of it Christ must needs take this unkindly that you should give the Devil the flower of your age and give to Christ but the decrepit and infirm parts of your lives that the Devil should suck out the Marrow of your youth and onely give God the dry bones a palsie head a dim eye a weak body and so all your services must needs be weak also and think but how unkindly Christ will take your services thus performed Sixthly Consider this that from your Birth-day to your dying day you have time little enough to carry on the business of your salvation should you live never so long and therefore you have no cause to put off the call of Jesus Christ And thus much be spoken by way of satisfaction to take off the first temptation that you are too young to give entertainment to the call of Jesus Christ and this I do for the sake of young men that they may take heed of being insnar'd by this delusion of the Devil 2. Sug. 2. Here it may be the Devil cannot insnare you in this Gin Old men will say this concerns not me I am not taken with this temptation therefore now the Devil comes upon them with this suggestion Saith the Devil to them You cannot now give entertainment to the call of Jesus Christ for you have callings in the world to follow you have a particular calling and you must provide for Wife and Children and Familie and lay up for future times against old age and sicknesse and therefore you cannot be at leasure now to give entertainment to the call of Jesus Christ when I am more at leasure I may look after my effectual calling And this also sticks very close to a great many And to take off this suggestion of the Devil I shall lay down six particulars also by way of Answer As First God never intended that our outward calling should any way hinder us in the work of our conversion God never intended that our imployments upon earth should justle out the necessary provision for heaven But God hath so given out our callings here in the world that he hath made and ordained them to be subordinate to our general and effectual calling to the great business of Gods glory and our own salvation It is said of Noah that he walked with God Gen. 6 14 and was perfect in his generation And yet Noah was imployed by God for some time to wit for 120 years in a Handycraft-calling to build an

Gods decree be changeable Gods essence and nature were so also election being nothing else but God himselfe chusing for every thing in God is God And this the Scripture tels us is farre from him for there is no variablenesse or shadow of change in God Jam. 1.17 Isa 46.10 Mal. 3.6 Secondly if the elect could perish then Jesus Christ should be very unfaithfull to his father because God the father hath given this charge to Christ that whomsoever he elected Christ should preserve them safe to bring them to heaven Now should not this be accomplished Christ would be unfaithfull to his father John 6.39 This is the fathers will which hath sent me into the world that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but that I should raise them up at the last day This is the will of God to save many by Christ Now should not this be made good Christ must needs be unfaithfull to the Commission of his father Thirdly should this be true then Pauls golden chaine should be broken Rom. 8.30 Whom he did predestinate them he calls whom he calls them he justifies whom he justifies them he glorifies Now should this chain break that whom he elects them he calls whom he calls them he justifies and there cease as the Papists hold and men be after damned then the great and many links would be lost that whom he justifies them he glorifies and so bring an absurdity upon the Scripture thereby Now to answer some texts of Scripture they abuse which at first view you would think very plausible to maintain that a man may be an elect man and brought into Christ yet afterward damned The first is John 6.70 Have not I chosen twelve and one of them is a divell Now say they there were twelve chosen or elected and one of them is a divel did perish intimating that men may be elected yet perish for all this To which I answer That there is a double electing First a chusing to some peculiar Office Secondly there is an electing to grace life and glory Now when Christ saith Have not I chosen you twelve it is meant of his chusing of them to an Office to the place of an Apostle to be his disciples Now it is true that man may be chosen to some peculiar office in the Church of God and yet be a perishing and damned man but this phrase hath no relation to the decree of God from eternity onely to a temporall electing of twelve men to a temporall Office to the Office of an Apostle Another Scripture they abuse is Exod. 32.32 it was Moses prayer If thou wilt not saith Moses to God forgive their sinnes then blot my name out of the book of life Now say they the book of life is Gods election and here Moses prayed that God would blot his name out of the book of life Intimating say they a man may be elected and written in that book and yet afterward blotted out and perish To which I answer That this prayer of Moses is onely a wish or supposition as Pauls was when he wisht he were accursed from Christ for his kindred in the flesh Now a man may suppose mountaines of Gold and suppose things that never were nor ever shall be in being bare suppositions put nothing in being so here that Moses makes a supposition in a patheticall prayer this doth no way argue as if his name could be blotted out of the book of life Secondly Rivet he expounds it thus that there is a double book of life The book of life being sometimes taken for the eternall counsell and decree of God as Phil. 4.3 sometimes for the speciall providence of God over men in preserving them among the living So we read Psal 139. In thy book saith David were all my members written meaning not in the book of Gods decree but onely in the book of his providence that all the members of Davids body they were all under the providence of God that none could hurt him And so Rivet with others think that by the book of life here is meant that God would blot out Moses from the book of his speciall protection and let him die as other men rather then this evil should come upon the people of Israel q. d. Destroy my name from among men and doe not protect me any longer Againe they object that in Psal 69.28 It is said Let them be blotted out of the book of life Now say they That is Gods election and to be blotted out implies that a man may be elected and yet perish To this I answer as formerly that the book of life in that place hath no reference to the decree of Gods election but onely to his book of providence that God would not protect wicked men as he doth his own people in a way of providence And other phrases in Scripture will somewhat favour this interpretation As Ezek. 13.9 They shall not be written in the writings of the house of Israel What 's that i.e. let them not any more be thought Israelites nor numbred among the people And Ainsworth I remember compares Psal 69.19 with this place in Ezek. 13.9 and he makes the sence to be one and the same that to be blotted out of the book of life is nothing else then to be out of Gods protection to be blotted out of the catalogue of the living and have ones life in danger to be brought to death And this wish David wished for those wicked men But then they object further from Revel 22.19 If any man shall take away from the words of this book God shall take away his part in the book of life Here say they by book of life is unquestionably meant Gods decree and the Scripture saith they that take any thing from this booke God will blot him out of the book of life and will undoubtedly damne him To which I answer I confesse in this place the book of life is taken for Gods decree and that a man may be said to be blotted out of this book and yet this no way follow that a man elected may be damned And here let me give you Austins words upon the place which is a very cleare and satisfactory answer That a man may be said to be blotted out of the book of life in two regards First it is equivalent to this phrase that his name shall never be written in the book of life And you have often such phrases in Scripture As it is said in Matthew He that doth evill himselfe and teacheth men so to doe he shall be least in the Kingdome of Heaven Intimating not as if he should come to heaven but that he should not come there at all To be least there is never to be there So here To be blotted out is equivalent to this that they were never in Secondly a mans name may be said to be blotted out of the book of life not as if it were there in deed and in