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death_n	bear_v	die_v	live_v	5,060	5	5.3319	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56309	The weavers shuttle displayed and the swiftness thereof unfolded, or, The words of a dying man to a dying people, in the midst of a dying nation wherein is held forth I. That the time is short, the way is narrow, the prize is great, the runners are many, the obtainers few, II. That repentance and turning to God is not in one call or command, wherefore wait upon the means appointed by God to work it, and that diligently and constantly this work deferred will be still greater, the time to do it wil[l] be shorter, the strength to do it by wil[l] be less, III. If we endeavour to the uttermost to improve the present opportunity and ability that the Almighty gives us, we shall, for ought I know, live with more comfort here and die in full assurance hereafter, for the greatest evil threatned or feared, may through wisdom be timely prevented / by Robert Purnel.	Purnell, Robert, d. 1666.	1652 (1652)	Wing P4244; ESTC R32258	54,417	168

THE Weavers SHUTTLE DISPLAYED And the Swiftness thereof Unfolded Or the Words of a Dying man to a Dying People in the midst of a Dying Nation Wherein is held forth I. That the time is short the way is narrow the Prize is great the Runners are many the Obtainers are few II. That Repentance and turning to God is not in one Call or Command wherefore wait upon the means appointed by God to work it and that diligently and constantly this Work deferred will be still greater the Time to do it in wil be shorter the strength to do it by wil be less III. If we endeavour to the uttermost to improve the present opportunity and ability that the Almighty gives us we shall for ought I know live with more comfort here and die in full assurance hereafter for the greatest evil threatned or feared may through wisdom be timely prevented By Robert Purnel Job 14. 1. Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of trouble Psal 39. 5. Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Job 7. 6. For his days are swifter then a Weavers Shuttle London Printed for Giles Calvert and are to be sold at his Shop at the black spred Eagle neer the West end of Pauls 1652. The Epistle to the Impartial READER Courteous Reader AS death is the King of Terrors to Christless Souls who have made the World their portion and Lyes their Refuge c. To Christians it is but a Servant sent from their Father to put them to Bed or sleep for a little time till Corruption put on Incorruption and Mortality Immortality to the first Death comes in full Power Force and Vertue to execute all the Plagues written so puts a period to all his good things But to the latter it puts a period to all his Troubles of what kinde or nature soever they are for Christ hath born all their griefs iniquities transgressions sorrows stripes and chastisements c. Fear not me saith death to a Saint I come from your Father who hath taken away my sting I am come to tell you that God and Christ doth love you and they love you so well that they can not suffer you any longer to be out of the full enjoyment of their love I have but one thing more in my Commission and that is only to crack the clay Walls which is the Prison that you may flie home and be at rest and this will be to the advantage both of thy body and soul thy body shall be healed of all its diseases of what nature or kind soever Death puts an end to all hunger and thirst cold or nakedness labour and weariness and then thy soul shall be taken up into the perfection of Gods eternal Love free Grace full Glory and everlasting Purity and so be for ever with the Lord in a word Death comes to put an end to a dying life which finisheth that work which begins so soon as we begin to live for the whole life is but a progress of death all the time we live we die invisibly and when we die indeed it is but a compleating of what we have been doing all our life long So that all the sons of men may say as once Iacob to Pharaoh Gen. 47. 9. Few and evil have the days of my life been few in comparison of his forefathers evil in the respect of his manifold crosses first in his Infancy secondly in Youth thirdly of Manhood fourthly of old Age each of those states accompanied with as many miseries as an hour is with minutes as doth appear by those words of Christ Mat. 6. 34. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof c. And as for the things of this life when we have taken all the pains we can to rake and scrape them together it will be with us as with the children of Israel they that gathered little had no lack and those that gathered much had nothing over The Scripture tells us that the World was made of nothing Heb. 11. 3. and Iob telleth us it doth hang on nothing Iob 26. 7. Therefore to depend upon it is to depend on nothing Prov. 24. 5. VVilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not I have endeavoured in this Treatise to hold forth the frailty of man and the miseries that do accompany all men and women that do take up their rest in any thing beneath God I have exhorted all to improve the present opportunity and ability to the best advantage that all their good meanings and purposes might end in speedy performances in all which I do not say or mean that man should or could act without the Lords enabling him for we cannot get life by any action as it is mans without God for there is a flaming sword so that there is no coming to the Tree of Life but by Iesus Christ the new and living Way the true and only way We may assoon stand upon the Earth and touch the Sun in the Firmament as perform any Spiritual action without him or have any Acceptance either of our persons or performances but only in him Look upon whatsoever I have written as my thoughts or judgement who am a man knowing but little I must confess I rather lisp then speak plain in the things of God wherefore cover all my imperfections with a Mantle of Love this Piece is the only Work of a few redeemed hours compiled in the midst of many personal tryals if thou finde any imperfections yet let not the Truth of God suffer through my weakness but ascribe them to me even to me to whom of due they belong wherefore to the Law and to the Testimonies wherein I come short of speaking according to that Rule it is for want of light I am content to decrease so the glory of God may increase let my name perish so his may flourish let me cut off like a Weaver and die so his Name and Glory may live R. P. THE Weavers Shuttle Displayed And the Swiftness thereof Unfolded Job 7. 6. My days are swifter then a Weavers Shuttle THE Book of Job whereof this Text is a Part in general lays before us these things viz. 1. Gods Omnipotency 2. Mans uncharitableness 3. Jobs Patience and Thankfulness arising from his living in the will of God He giveth and takes away blessed be his name Job 1. 21. Now there were many things very eminent in Job 1. Uprightness of life in these words And Job was an upright and just man one that feared God and hated evil Job 1. 1. 2. Patience in Affl●ction Shall we receive good at the hands of God and not evil Job 2. 10. Job further holds forth viz. 3. The vanishing frailty of mans Nature 4. The envy of the Devil Job 1. 11. 5. The mercy of Almighty God in these words He maketh the wound and bindeth it up Job 5. 18. In the first of these to wit the Uprightness of his Life there are these

us to the grave and our deeds to judgment and as death doth leave us so shall judgment find us All creatures observe their time but man the Stork the Crane the Swallow the Pismire these observe their time and yet Man the most noble of all creatures none above or higher then himself but onely the Lord God Almighty who hath given to man time and all things else to attend him to bring him to glory but most men turn Prodigals and spend their little inch of precious time with Harlots and hope to return to their Father hereafter not considering that death stands in the way to put a period to his dayes which flie away swifter then the Weavers shuttle Oh what a dreadfull day will that be when thee and I shall stand before the Judgement seat of Christ if not prepared for it If we look about us beneath us on the right hand or on the left all will increase our misery above us shall be our Judge offended with us beneath us Hell open and the Furnace ready burning to receive us on our right hand shall be our sins accusing us on our left hand the Devils ready to execute Gods eternal Sentence upon us within us our conscience gnawing without us millions of damned souls bewailing on every side the World burning what way shall we take to go back is impossible to go forward is intollerable what then shall we do If we seek death death shall flie from us if we cry to the Hills to fall on us they will refuse to do us so much pleasure and then immediatly the Judge will say to all the Goats Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels Then there will be the greatest separation that ever was upon the earth the husband and wife the fathers and sons the mothers and daughters masters and servants Priest and people friends and companions the one to glory and the other to confusion without ever seeing one the other again Oh what an eternal separation will this be Whose heart can read these lines and not melt whose eyes can behold these words and not weep Nay it may be these be the last lines that ever thou shalt read for thy dayes be swifter then the Weavers shuttle 1 Cor. 7. 29 30 31. But this I say brethren the time is short it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passes away Wherefore be without earthly carefulness But as Peter Jude speak there are a generation of Scoffers which lately went under the name of Levellers and now have taken to themselves the name of Ranters These men for the most part of them say that there is no Hell neither day of Judgment nor Devil but all is God and God is all things And to these men I have but these two words to say First that although they will not see or believe there is a Hell and a Devil here they are most like to know it by woful experience hereafter The second word is this When thou turnest over the leaves of the Bible and findest mention made of Hell and of the day of Judgment and of evil Angels called Devils and yet wilt not be perswaded that there is any such thing thou mayst as well rase out those Scriptures for untruths for thou art wise above what is written And to the rest of that heady high-minded unbelieving and vainglorious Crew I say as in Eccles 11. 9. Rejoice O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the wayes of thine heart and follow the sight of thine eyes but know thou for all these things God will bring thee to judgment Oh miserable is that man whose life is almost wasted and daily wasting and he thinks not of it often saying I thought no more of this that is now fallen out then of my dying day Never minding what Job saith My dayes are swifter then the Weavers shuttle Neither doth he mind that Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed unto all men once to die and after death to judgment And let me tell thee thou art in a thousand thousand casualties here every moment ready to take away all the comforts of the earth from thee When Nebuchadnezzar was blessing himself in the Palace that he had built for his honour then there comes a Messenger from the Lord and he was presently outed of all his comforts The wheel is turning the grass is withering the flower fading the smoak consuming and the shuttle swiftly flying and yet thy dayes are swifter then the Weavers shuttle We have but a little time and a great deal of work to do let us work then while 't is day for the night cometh in which no man worketh If we did but know what Eternity means and if the fear of Eternity did but once fall on us we should cleerly see it had been better for us that we had never been born or that we had been made Toads or Serpents or the vilest beast that creeps upon the earth then Reasonable creatures Seeing we were born in sin as if that was not enough we live in sin and at last die in sin and so as Death leaves us the Judgment finds us There depends upon our little short uncertain inch of time matters of more consequence then all the world is worth I do not say upon the spending or mis-spending this inch of time depends our eternal being either in blessedness or misery but this I say that our well-being whiles we remain here depends much upon it See Joh. 14. 21. 2 Pet. 1. 11. Oh then consider such is the swiftness of mans dayes shortness of his life and frailty of his nature that the swiftest shortest and frailest things for the most part that we read of in Scripture are not swift short and frail enough to compare mans life unto Vse 2. And if so in the second place by way of use this doth teach us to carry our selves towards all in a way of love as if this were the last opportunity that ever thou shouldst have to be helpful to them either in spirituals or temporals Hast thou a Father or Mother yet alive If ever thou wilt obey the command of God in honouring them do it presently for before one day is past they may be taken from thee or thou from them and then how will thy heart smite thee and thy conscience accuse thee and thy carelesness often trouble thee Let me tell thee I know some that can speak this by woful experience whose hearts do even bleed for their omissions herein And as for you Parents that have Children if ever you will express your love to God

wisdom of man rather then the wisdom of God we will take the words as they lie without any division or subdivision c. My dayes are swifter then a Weavers shuttle From which words we may naturally draw this Conclusion or Doctrine That such is the swiftness of mans dayes and shortness of mans life and frailty of his nature that the swiftest shortest and frailest things for the most part that we read of in Scripture are not swift short and frail enough to compare mans life unto This Observation might be proved by Scripture and Reason abundantly but I shall endeavour to contract what I understand in it in few words Iob tels us Iob 16. 22. When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return But as if a few years were too long a time the Prophet Isaiah saith Isa 64. 6. We all do fade as a leaf But as if that were too long a resemblance the Prophet tels us 2 Sam. 14. 14. We are as water spilt upon the ground that cannot be taken up again Now as if this were too long a Comparison for water may lie in the Pool a pretty distance of time before the ground drinks it up Job tels us that Man that is born of woman is of few dayes and full of trouble Now as if a few dayes were too long a time to set forth the short life David brings it within the compass of one day Psal 90. 6. Our life is as grass which flourisheth in the morning and in the evening is cut down and withered But as if this were too long a resemblance David tels us Psal 102. 11. Our dayes are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass But none of these are swift short and frail enough to compare mans life unto wherefore James saith Jam. 4. 14. For what is your life it is even a vapour that appears for a little time und then vanisheth away But as if this were too long we find it written for our further learning Ps 102. 3. My dayes are consumed like smoak Now smoak will appear as a cloud in the air but speedily consume away But this is yet too durable a thing to compare mans frailty unto therefore another Scripture tels thee it is but a span long But as if a span was too much the Holy Ghost tels us it is but a hand-breadth Ps 39. 5. But a hand-breadth is too large a thing to compare mans little time unto and therefore Job tels us Job 7. 7. that our life is but as a puff of wind which flies away as swift as lightning But this is yet too permanent a thing to hold forth our life by therefore David sayes Mine age is nothing before thee Let us a little lay these things together and we shall soon conclude with Job My days are swifter then a Weavers Shuttle Lo here is the Anatomy of our life it is a shrub a leaf a reed a rush a grass a smoak a Post a cloud a wind a water a bubble a vapour a shadow a nothing it is swift yea more swift then a Weavers Shuttle We no sooner have our Being but we are going to our End and our strength is but as the grass and our beauty is but as the flower the grass fadeth and the flower withereth and so our glory is gone and life is uncertain but death is certain for we are more sure to die then live for what is more certain then death and what is so uncertain as life All Creatures observe their time but man and yet man is the most noble of Creatures having time and all things attending him to minde his Creator but alas poor Creatures we do countenance our greatest Enemy for we are a friend to our Flesh and it is an enemy to God How much time do we take in cloathing it what cost do we bestow on it to cloath it and to make it fine we rob or at least borrow of every Creature to adorn our selves viz. we go to the Sheep and take his wool and from another Creature his skin from another his furr then we go down to the ground for gold and silver and turn up the Sands for pretious stones and having borrowed all this of other Creatures we jet up and down and look so big and so lofty as if all this were our own when the stone shineth upon our finger we will seem forsooth thereby to shine when the silver and silk doth glister upon our backs we look big as if all that beauty came from us and as we walk in the Streets and meet with men that be not so richly arrayed as our selves we expect Cap and Knee as Haman did of Mordecai or else we will seek their ruine as he did Esther 3. 5. How oft do we change our habit and how bravely do we indeavour to adorn our selves How carefull are we of our dyet how softly do we lay us down In a word we seek to save that which doth seek to destroy us and so we are a friend to our flesh and it is an utter enemy to God and so we come to be carnally minded which is death Rom. 8. 6. The word Fashion not your selves according to this world is forgotten and also that of Christ is slipt out of our memory Matth. 6. 31 32. Take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithall shall we be cloathed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek It is a wonder to consider the different proceedings of God and the World herein the Almighty was the first that ever made apparel in the World Gen. 3. He made it for the most noble of all our Ancestors in Paradise and yet he made it but of Beasts skins And Saint Paul testifies of the noblest Saints of old Heb. 11. how that they were cloathed with Goats skins and Camels hair what vanity is it then for us to be so curious in apparel and to take such Pride therein as most do at this day never considering those words Isa 40. 6 7. The voice said Cry And he said what shall I cry All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field The grass withereth the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it surely the people is grass Psal 90. 9. We spend our days as a tale that is told but a tale is sometimes longer in telling then a man is dying Let them that have wives be as if they had none saith Paul there is the Doctrine My days are swifter then a Weavers Shuttle saith Job there is the Reason Oh teach me so to number my days saith David Psal 90. 12. that I may apply my heart to wisdom there is the Use Oh earth earth earth hear the voice of the Lord Jer. 22. 29. Why doth the Prophet mention the earth three times is it not for this cause viz. 1. Because we came from the

but few men saying with the Prophet Psal 90. 12. So teach us to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts to wisdom 7. But most men and women when they are cutting off their life like a Weaver fall a praying with Balaam Numb 23. 10. Lord let me die the death of the Righteous and let my latter end be like his Never considering that none can die the death of the righteous but only those that live the life of the righteous It is true we read of one as the Thief upon the Cross that no man might despair and we read but of one that no man may presume Surely Death sends many messengers to you and me to tell us that he is coming One while in comes the Ague after that the Feaver and before we can shake them off many times in comes the Head-ach and it may be the Tooth-ach raging and shaking the best beam in thy natural building Well after a while thou and I have it may be shaken them off and now it is pretty well with us again we begin to smile and to feather our nests and while with Martha we are troubled about many things Death sends another Pursuivant and he terrifies us with Crosses and Losses troubles within and without Well we have scarce got over these torments but in comes Sir Thomas Gout or Sir William Cramp or both and these unwelcome guests will sit at the table with us and lie in the bed with us and night and day lie trouble us when we think to sleep then they will be talking saying Our days are swifter then the Weavers shuttle Well if all these be shut out of doors through long patience great charges and thou begin to cheer up in comes another Pursuivant and turns thy nearest and dearest Friend into thy greatest Enemy and so this cross in thy nearest Relation from whom thou didst expect thy greatest assistance and help now proves thy greatest enemy So that put all thy Crosses Losses Sicknesses Persecutions c. that ever befell thee in one ballance and this Cross in thy nearest Relation in the other ballance and this latter will weigh down the former ten times over In a word I do know a man that lost his tender Father and after that he lost his Estate that his Father gave him then he was in a banished condition at least 26 moneths then he lost some of his Children not long after he lost his tender Mother and a little before he lost one of his dearest Brethren since that he lost his onely Son not long after he lost his dearest Sister and between each of these Losses for the most part he was visited with Sickness and often brought even to the gates of death Then a little after this some of his most intimate Friends with whom he had sweet converse about S●ul-work these turned Ranters besides these at least an hundred Crosses more came in the one upon the neck of the other And yet this man doth profess that all these put them together are but a Flea-biting to that one Cross in his nearest Relation and that but in her little member to wit the Tongue See Jam. 3. 5 6. Eccles 7. 26. Death doth often summon us to be in a continual readiness to lay down these crazie brittle dusty Bodies in their own Center the Earth And for my own part I must confess that the Weavers Shuttle hath been preaching to me almost these 25 years still telling me that my days flie away faster then my shuttle And now at last it having prevailed with me a little for my attention at least I had no sooner silenced my own thoughts but I heard a voice from Heaven saying All flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the field And when I lift up mine eyes to the Heavens as in Isa 51. 6. and look upon the Earth beneath the Heavens shall vanish away like smoak and the Earth shall wax old like a garment and they that dwell therein shall dye but my Salvation shall be for ever and my Righteousness shall never be abolished Men and women are like a bubble upon the water they would fain get above their element and swim a loft but they shall be cut off as the foam upon the water Mans life is like a Candle in a Paper-lanthorn full of crannies there comes on a sudden but a little puffe of wind and blows the Candle out Oh then let this little inch of Time be improved to the best advantage seeing Time is one of the most precious herbs in the garden of the World And yet by most men there is not one thing more slighted in the World surely if we did see time so pretious as it is we should take the counsell of the Holy Ghost and redeem the time because the days are ev●l Eph. 5. 16. And if in truth thou and I did redeem the time there would be no room or time for so many idle words there would be no room or time for so many idle thoughts and unprofitable musings our thoughts are the eldest and most noble off spring of our souls and so are too worthy to be cast away upon base objects did we indeed see time precious short and swifter then the Weavers Shuttle we should redeem a little from our ordinary sleep and a little from our worldly business and to make all our dealings in worldly business subservient to Religion and not to grasp so much of the world as to distract our head with cares or engage our heart in sin we should redeem a little time from our usual lawfull recreations and so from all things else that drink up our time and improve this redeemed time to the best advantage for the glory of God and thy own good and benefit of others Let me tell thee what I know upon found ground we shall finde all little enough I once read of a man that did trifle away his time as most of us do not seeing the worth of it untill he was about thirty years of age and then hearing a Sermon of the shortness of mans life being a little troubled makes his request to a Godly man whom he looked upon as a Prophet to tell him how long he should live that so before death came he might repent of his sins and make his Peace with God The Minister asked him how long he desired to live and he said he would fain live sixty years at least well the Minister told him that there were more did die before they came to fifty then there was that did live to fifty yet saith he thou shalt have thy request thou shalt live till sixty Well with that the man was very thankfull conceiving he had time enough to take the pleasures of the World and to repent hereafter The Minister asked him how old he was he answered thirty then says he take out thirty of sixty and there remains but thirty years that thou hast

died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him The Holy Ghost in this place forbiddeth not Christian sorrow for the dead but Heathenish sorrow not moderate but excessive and immoderate either in respect of time or measure of our grief we may water our plants for our deceased Friends but not drown them 7. Let us consider the priviledges of Believers after death for death is unto them but a Porter opening a door into a dark entry or a servant of thy Fathers sent to put thy dear friend to bed for a little while till corruption shall have put on incorruption and mortality shall have put on immortality Death is but a sleep and the grave a bed and all things that be on the other side death are taken away by Iesus Christ Death openeth the great gate that leadeth to thy Fathers house that so thou mayest go home for we are but Sojourners Pilgrims and Strangers here in this World it is true unbelievers are at home whiles they live here they be called the inhabitants of the earth and dwellers upon the earth when they die they do not go home as thou doest it is true they go to their own place and to their own Father so that death to them is the King of Terrours but to thee and thy believing deceased Friend death should be looked upon as the Messenger of glad tidings which is come only to crack the clay walls which is our Prison that you may flie home and be at rest and when thou comest home to enjoy the presence of thy Father and Saviour Christ and to be filled with the Spirit and to be with all the holy Saints of Heaven thou wilt then rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 8. Let us consider that although I and thee be like to loose our own lives or else have lost some of our nearest and dearest friends yet let this comfort us this also shall work together for our good Rom. 8. 28. Wherefore let us not so fear death but hearken what death doth whisper in thy ears saying fear not me I came from the Father and have no Commission to hurt you although my countenance be grim my message is sweet and pleasing Christ your beloved husband hath taken my sting from me before he would let me come to you I am come without a sting to tell you that God and Christ loves you and hath sent me on purpose to invite you into their presence where is fulness of joy and pleasures at his right hand for evermore only you must put off your filthy garments that the earth may return to its earth the fire to its fire the water to its water the aire to its aire for these were the Elements thy body was made of and so thou must endure a little pain in putting off these cloaths they be somewhat little and strait but thou must with Paul put off this earthly Tabernacle for that must be dissolved before thou canst be with Christ in whose presence there is fulness of joy where all relations will be made up in God there is no complaining in the Streets of this new Ierusalem no want of Relations God will be a Father Christ will be a Husband Saints gloryfied our Brethren Sisters and associates so we shall want no Relation neither shall any Relation want Perfection There is but a breath between thee and this condition 9. Let us consider that the Scripture doth pronounce them blessed that die in the Lord Rev. 14. 13 For from henceforth they rest from their labours See Eccles 4. 2. Job 3. 17. The greatest evil death can bring unto us is but a more speedy way to happiness Lastly let us consider that our dear beloved brother David although he mourned fasted and prayed whilst his Child was sick yet as soon as it was dead he arose and began to comfort himself saying I shall go to it ere long for my dayes are swifter then the Weavers shuttle saith Job Then shall the dust return to its earth saith Solomon Eccles 12. 7. The dust that is the body to shew the original of it Gen. 2. 7. and the weakness of it Dust is the weakest part of the earth Psal 103. 14. the basest and vilest of it Job 4. 19. Phil. 3. 21. Job 30. 19. Our original from the dust our return unto the dust This should humble us in our own eyes and should warn us to improve all our ability and every opportunity to make our calling and election sure that there might be nothing wanting in us to secure a better life before this be ended and not to put off the endeavours towards it as most do unto old age which haply we may never attain unto and if we do it will bring it self work enough for us to do Death comes swift and uncertain Sin the longer lived in doth the more harden Repentance is not in our call or command when we please it is a work of the whole man and of the whole life this work deferred will be greater the time to do it in will be shorter the strength to do it by will be less bodily infirmities will disinable spiritual actions God will have less honour and service from us and we our selves shall have more sorrow and less comfort For my own part I can speak something by woful experience of the sad effect of not imbracing the present opportunity and ability that God hath given me I am assured that I have lost much of my comfort here for hearkening to the motions of my own spirit and slighting the motions and strivings of the Lords Spirit by which means I have deprived my self of manifestations and apprehensions of heavenly and spiritual things that the Lord begun to pour out upon me And now if I would give all the world I cannot recall one day that is past nor one of those blessed opportunities that I have lost Only I desire if the Lord will to redeem this little inch of time yet remaining like an idle servant that hath loitered all the forenoon begins to work twice as hard in the afternoon I have two Requests within me to make unto thee whosoever thou art that readest these lines If there be in thee any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercy then my first Request is I do beseech thee beg thee in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ if thou mindest his glory or thy own good that thou wouldst seek the Kingdom of Heaven in obedience to his command in the first place for in so doing the Lord will be glorified thy light shining before men that they seeing thy obedience to him may glorifie thy Father which is in heaven that so while the whole World with Martha are troubled about many things thou mayst with Mary choose the better part That so while some are giving all diligence to get

thy after-services are but like Cain's Sacrifices procuring a curse rather then a blessing In a word we were not made to serve the world the world was made to serve us and we were made to serve God Let every creature especially Man continue in his place for man is the most excellent creature of all on earth Let him then transcend all in his holy obedience to his Maker We are not our own we ought not to live to our selves we have forfeited our lives many a time the wages of the least sin is death and cursedness and yet our lives have been restored to us again For what end why saith the Scripture that we might not live to our selves but unto God Oh how often times doth he call how earnestly doth he knock at the door of our hearts how powerfully doth he strive how long doth he wait upon us to get us to yield unto him namely to have our hearts dis-ingaged from all things beneath himself and yet such wretches as we are we will not yield What is become of that frame of Spirit that was upon the Saints in former days Nathan used but one parable to David and he was converted Jonah preached but few days to Nineveh and they repented Christ looked back once upon Peter and he wept bitterly but there is such a spirit of slumber fallen upon most of the people in these days that nothing will prevail unless it be that place Rev. 21. 11. He that is unjust let him be so still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still And so they make good this place as it is spoken by way of precept and not by way of caution never considering what will become of them in the end thereof O ye sons and daughters of men did not our tender loving Lord God make us Lords of the Creation and are not we become Servants unto it Did not he make man the wisest of all Creatures and is there any Creature under the whole Heaven so unwise as man Did he not put a fear and a dread upon every creature Gen. 9. 2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the ayr and upon all that moveth on the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea into your hands are they delivered But how is poor silly man afraid of and become a Servant to the meanest of all these Creatures in a Spiritual sense These were made our servants and have been faithfull in their service to us we were Created in the Image of God and appointed by him to be serviceable unto him and yet the whole Creation are more serviceable unto him and do not dishonour him as man doth Jer. 8. 6 7. I hearkened saith the Lord and heard but the most excellent piece of my workmanship man spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done So I was fain to repent my self that ever I made man for every one runneth into sin as the horse rusheth into the battel Yea the Stork in the heavens knows her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but my People know not the judgments of the Lord. Man that was made the wisest of all is become the variest fool of all And oh that we saw it 1 Cor. 3. 18. Let no man deceive himself If any man among you seemeth to be wise let him become a fool that he may be wise We like fools take a great deal of pains to make our selves miserable We forsake the Fountain of living endurable waters and ride and run through thick and thin labour and toyl dig and hew unto our selves Cisterns yea broken Cisterns that will hold no water Jer. 2. 12 13. If John were to write an Epistle to the Professors of our dayes as once he did to Gaius 3 Ep. Joh. v. 1 2. Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayst prosper be in health even as thy soul prospereth I say if he were to write to us he would undoubtedly change his voice and say O ye Professors now extant in the English Nation I wish above all things that ye may prosper in your souls even as your bodies prosper O thou hast a flourishing body but a starved soul thy eyes stare out with fatness thou hast more then heart can wish thou art like the green Bay tree or the Willows by the water side thou hast given thee thy hearts desire but thou hast a lean famished starved soul and I could wish above all things that thy soul prospered as thy body prospereth Oh is it not better to go to Heaven with poor Lazarus then to Hell with rich Dives Is it not better O sons and daughters of men to be often saying with our head Christ The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head then to be saying in effect as most do at this day with that rich man Luk. 12 17. 18 19 20. Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry but God said unto him Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee c. We have forgotten those words 1 Joh. 2. 15. Love not the world neither the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him O how few such can we find in a whole Parish in a whole City in a whole Shire nay how many think you are there in a whole Nation that love the world and so have not the love of the Father abiding in them In this Epistle of John the Spirit of the Lord in the mouth of his servant cals to all the sons of men and craves their diligent attention I have written to you Fathers I have written to you Children I have written to you Young men Why what is the Spirit of the Lord about to make out unto us Only here is the sum ver 15. Love not the world nor the things of the world for if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Object But some will be apt to say We do love God we do not love the World Answ How shall that appear If I should try thy practice by the Scriptures I shall find that thou dost love the world and not God 1 Ioh. 3. 17. Whoso hath this worlds good and seeth his brother in need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion how dwelleth the love of God in him That thou hast faith shew it to me by thy works and if thou hast love shew it by its fruits Indeed there is abundance of Faith and Love in the Nation but I can find but little in my self and others in the powerful operation The Power of Godliness is but here and there in a corner and when it doth