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 Afflâ—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
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
so to them 2. Secondly Consider whatsoever ye do for them the Lord takes it as done to himself Matth. 25. 40. Forasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it to me 3. Thirdly Consider that whatsoever we give it shall be paid us again with interest Luk. 6. 38. Give and it shall be given to you again good measure pressed down and shaken together 2 Cor. 9. 6. He which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 4. Fourthly Consider that which you have in your Possession is not your own thou and I are but Stewards and we must give an accompt of our Stewardship Prov. 3. 27 28. Withhold not good from him to whom it is due when it is in the Power of thy hand to do it c. 5. Fifthly Consider that in Scripture phrase he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver that man in the time of trouble Ps 41. 1. Also consider that Scripture 2 Cor. 8. 2 3. How that in a great tryal of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality For to their power I bear record they were willing of themselvs Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the ministring to the Saints Therefore as you abound in every thing in Faith and Utterance and Knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see that ye abound in this also and set speedily about the work make no delay for the time is short our days are very swift yea swifter then the Weavers Shuttle It will be said shortly that Time shall be no more so Revel 6. 7. And the Angel lifted up his hand to heaven and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever who created heaven and earth and the things that therein are and the sea and the things that are therein that there shall be time no longer But in the dayes of the seventh Angel when he shall begin to sound the mysterie of God shall be finished as he hath declareth to his servants the Prophets Methinks I see the words of Christ come to pass Mat. 24. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those dayes shall the Sun be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and all the Tribes of the earth shall mourn for they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory Then he shall send his Angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the one end of the earth to the other Mat. 24. 30 31. O let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble for the day of the Lord cometh lo it is nigh at hand A day of darkness and of gloominess a day of clouds and of thick darkness there hath not been ever the like neither shall there be the like again A fire devoureth before him and behind him a flame burneth before his face the people shall be much pined all faces shall gather blackness the Earth shall quake before him the Heavens shall tremble the Sun and Moon shall be dark and the Stars shall withdraw their shining Oh this day of the Lord is great and very terrible who can abide it yea where will you find a man that can abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like a Refiners fire and Fullers sope Oh what a terrible day will this be to most of the sons and daughters of men 2 Pet. 3. 12. The heavens shall be on fire and dissolve the earth shall melt with fervent heat If the rocks and mountains would fall on thee thou wouldst think it a favour to hide thee from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come Rev. 6. 16 17. All both small and great shall be gathered together before the Judgment-seat of Christ Mat. 25. 32 33 34 c. yea the Sea shall give up her dead and the grave shall give up their dead death and hell shall give up their dead Rev. 12. 13 14 c. So we shall all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ and all that ever we have done good or evil shall be laid open before all the world yea all our sins shall be brought to light and each man shall give an accompt of himself to God and be judged according to his works Mat. 25. 32 33 34. Rev. 20. 12 13. If ever thou wilt improve time do it presently Luk. 21. 34 35 36. Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares For thy dayes are swifter then the Weavers shuttle and as a snare shal it come upon all them that dwell upon the earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things and to stand before the Son of man This day will come as a thief in the night Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hastening to the coming of that day wherein the heavens shall be on fire and the lements shall melt with fervent heat Seeing then that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found in him in peace without spot and blameless But if any say I will be diligent hereafter Let me tell thee If ever thou intendest to do any thing for the glory of God the good of thy self and the benefit of others do it presently for the time is short Oh then get oyl in your lamps grace in your hearts that you may not be like the foolish Virgins Mat. 25. 7 8 9 10. The wise Virgins considered that their time was short and their dayes swift and so made it their present work to get oyl in their lamps which was grace in their hearts But the foolish Virgins put it off from day to day never minding that their dayes were swifter then the Weavers shuttle Our time is short wherefore bid adieu to the world For what is the World but vanity All the Honours are but as so many dishonours all the Riches but poverty and all the Joyes but sorrows and all the Pleasure is but pain And if in this life only thou and I have hope we are of all men most miserable Our dayes are but as a bubble we no sooner have our being but we are going to our end All our strength is but as grass and all our beauty is as the flower of the field the grass fadeth the flower with ereth and our strength and beauty is gone Death will bring
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
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
glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord that exerciseth loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord Ier. 9. 23 24. But I see the glory of most men both 〈…〉 ders and Followers to be in this 〈…〉 their dung mixtion is bigger and 〈…〉 then their neighbours Oh that 〈…〉 n should be such fools to glory 〈…〉 p of dung which doth not 〈…〉 nk but breed noysom Crea 〈…〉 Yet if a mans Dunghill be a 〈…〉 er then his neighbours he gets 〈…〉 op of it and stands with one 〈…〉 is arms on kimble and looks 〈…〉 if any of his poor neighbors 〈…〉 hath not scraped so much togeâ—â—â—â— come to speak with him he must â—ome with his hat in his hand and his leg scraping and his head bowing or else he cannot finde acceptance with his rich neighbour I have observed these things not only in the Laity but also in the Clergy if one of the Ministers have gotten a fatter Benefice then the rest about him how fine will he go cloathed how daintily will he fare how big will he look And if any of his Brethren that hath not so much per annum as himself come to speak with him he must knock at the door and if admitted in he must stand in the Court and it may be have a Message brought him Sir the Doctor is in his Chamber or newly entred into his Study you must stay a while and why so why this Minister and many more here in the Countrey have but small Dunghils and are but as so many journey men they serve but at small Chappels of ease but the Doctor serves and is Curate of the mother Church the other Churches are but the daughters and must pay Tribute to the Mother So that all sorts all ranks and degrees of men young and old noble and ignoble professing people as well as profane Clergie as Laity are more or less laying up Treasures in the earth and accompt themselves more or less honourable not according to the measure of Grace they receive but according to the measure of wealth they have and yet these men would not be accounted worldly men And what shall I say to these things shall I say of you as in Gen 6. 5. And God saw the wickedness of man was great that every imagination of the thoughts of his hart was only evil continually c. Or else shall I speak to you as in 1 Joh 5. 19. The whole world lyeth in wickedness Or shall I not rather speak to you in the language of the Prophet Isaiah 56. 11. Yea they be greedy dogs which can never have enough and they be shepherds that cannot understand they all look to their own way every one for his gain from his quarter Isa 56. 11. Thus I see men be content to endure any labour and to hazard themselves to innumerable dangers and to suffer many and grievous miseries that they may be assured of earthly things and yet their strongest assurances be but uncertainties and the best things of the world assured but trifling vanities the Merchant is content to compass Sea and Land and to run many hard and hazardous Courses and all to get some Wealth which he is uncertain whether he shall obtain or if obtained whether he shall retain or enjoy it one day to his comfort Oh then why shall the choisest of our thoughts be so busied about earthly things so we let our hearts cleave to the earth and so the whole man filled with distracting cares It puts men upon great temptations 1 Tim. 6. 9. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare Again it is a dishonour to God and a scandal to Religion besides it hinders our preparation for death for we are thinking upon the world when we should be thinking on that Text Job 7. 6. My dayes are swifter then a Weavers shuttle See Luk. 21. 34. And so in the end the World will drown thee in destruction 1 Tim. 6. 9. It choaketh all the good we have either publike or private Mat. 13. 4. If all this be too little to set forth the sad condition of worldliness consider it is the root of Apostacie when Demas embraced the world he forsook God 2 Tim. 4. 10. If that be too little the Scripture calleth it Adulterie Jam. 4. 4. And if all this be yet too short consider another Scripture calleth it Idolattie Eph. 5. 5. Object 1. What should a man do or what means should I make use of that I might hang loose to the world Object 2. How far is it lawfull for a Christian to use the world To be diligent in our Calling is Gods Command and idleness is forbidden as sinfull 1. Of the first of these what means should I make use of to take off my heart and affections from these worldly things Answ When a man hath pitched his highest thoughts and dearest affections upon any thing which he esteems most highly he cannot dis-ingage his entire love unto that thing untill he be convinced of something that there is which is more excellent we cannot forsake a lesser untill we see a greater good If the world or any thing in the world be highest in our thoughts dearest in our affections and strongest in our Wills then our Wills will will that our affections will affect that and our thoughts will be upon that and there they cannot but center untill there is something discovered unto us to be more excellent Now if Christians so called had but the least knowledge of the glory of the Almighty how excellent he is in his Attributes as Wisdom Righteousness Truth and Faithfulness Mercy and Justice c. I say were but the back parts of the Almighty God unvailed and did we see him and though but at a distance we should presently see him to be the fountain of all excellency and the true object of all love so that all the excellence in all the whole Creation which we like fools had pitched our hearts upon is but as one drop of water to the whole Ocean sea to the beauty sweetness and glory of the Creator God blessed for ever Now this most glorious Being hath promised to manifest himself to us and the Scripture tells us it is life to know him it is heaven to behold him it is melody to hear him it is endless happiness to enjoy him to know him is to know all things for they had their beings from him and center in him if thou come but to know his name once see what followeth 1 Cant. 3. Because of the savour of thy good ointment thy name is as ointment poured forth therefore do the virgins love thee Mark therefore do they love thee for the excellency that is in thee O then taste and see how good the Lord is and when thou hast seen his beauty and tasted of his excellency we need not bid thee love
him all the men and women in the world could not quench thy love to him thy love would be as strong as death many waters could not quench it and when once thou comest to love him purely for himself because he loved thee first then thou wilt cease loving the world knowing that if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him and so while Martha is troubled about many things thou wilt with Mary choose the better part and as once he was satisfied and contented with the world without God so now he endeavors to be contented with God without the world The world was once thy portion now the Lord is thy portion Psal 16. 5. and Psal 119. 57. Lam. 3. 24. The loss of the things of this world did once trouble thee now thou canst suffer the spoiling of thy goods joyfully Heb. 10. 34. The glory and excellency of all things under the Sun are not so precious as the light of his countenance if all the world smile upon me and my Father seem to frown or hide his face I shall be troubled but if all things frown on me and He but a little smile I shall rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Let friends forsake me let enemies deride me let all worldly comforts leave me if thou hide not thy face O Father it is enough I shall say with Paul I have learned in whatsoever state I am in to be content therewith Phil. 4. 11. I was once earthly in spiritual things I am now Spiritual in earthly things saith the sanctified Soul I did once hate the Saints I do now love them And I know that I have passed from death to life because I love the brethren 1 Epist Joh. 3. 14. I did lately delight in the company of sinners now all my delight is in the Saints that excell in vertue and the more spiritual any Christian is the more entirely do I love him saith the enlightened soul I did lately envy that man that did outstrip me in getting goods I could heartily wish how that all the Saints would double and trebble their diligence in getting this heavenly treasure I did esteem my self better then others I endeavour now to esteem others better then my self according to that 2 Phil. 3. And so much for answer to the first Objection or Quaere Object 2. How far is it lawfull for a Christian to use the world because to be diligent in ones Calling is Gods Command and idleness is forbidden as sinfull Ans Under correction and with submission to better judgements I humbly conceive that we having made it our great business to improve our Talent or Talents in working out the manifestaâ—ion of our salvation and having given all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure in waiting for the appearances of the love of God the Father through his son Iesus Christ by the Holy Spirit in the use of all the Ordinances and appointments of Christ having I say in the first place made this the main of our business not so much that we might be saved by him but rather that hereby we might appear more capable to answer that great end for which he gave us a being namely that his name might be glorified by Jesus Christ in us In the next place we are look to our bodies and in order thereto to betake our selves to labour that so we might in a sense get our livings by the sweat of our brows this made Paul labour working with his hands night and day that he might eat his own bread and not be chargeable to others and so make his glorying void And the same Almighty that bids us hear read meditate and pray bids us also to be diligent in our Callings and provide for our selves and Families or else we come short of Infidels And again Let him that hath stolne steal no more but work with his hands that he may have for himself and something over for him that needeth This is so known a thing that no man unless those that have renounced their reason and made nonsence the mother of their Devotion will deny it wherefore it will be needless to write any more for the probation of it only a word or two how far it is lawful for a Christian to be diligent in it For I suppose that a Christian may honour or dishonour the Almighty in the lawfull use or sinfull abuse thereof as well in his particular Calling as in his general Calling First then follow thy particular Calling and be diligent therein purely in obedience to the Command of God that so if thou wert to have no profit by it yet thou wouldst follow it because he commands it 2. Be diligent therein that so thy self and Family may eat your own bread pray and work for daily bread 3. Be diligent in your particular Calling that so you may be helpfull to others 4. Be sure that in following this earthly Calling thou do it with an Heavenly minde in every part of it I had thoughts to have been large in every one these because there be few that have learned this Lesson but I have a perswasion even now darted in upon my spirit to write but a little more of each 1. Then let us follow our particular Calling and be diligent therein purely in obedience to the Almighty that so if we were but to have our labour for our pains yet we would labour because the Lord Commands us Exod. 20. 9. Six days shalt thou labour c. See again Deut. 5. 13. and 2 Thes 3. 11. 1 Thes 4. 11. And to work with our own hands as we commanded you 2. Be diligent in your Callings that so your selves and families may eat your own bread Though not in the first yet in the second place thou mayst have respect to the recompence of reward 2 Thes 3. 11 12. For we hear that there be some that walk among you disorderly working not at all ver 12. Now them that be such we command that with quietness they work and eat their own bread and if they will not work let them not eat 2 Thes 3. 10. c. I have often considered what should be the cause that many men and women in some sense are in a worse condition then the beasts of the earth or the fowls of the ayr for most times they have plenty of food and to spare and man which is Lord of these things is often in want so that many steal for want and I have at last found that their poverty doth arise from these or the like things 1. Either from Covetousness There is that withholdeth more then is meet and it tendeth to poverty Prov. 11. 24. 2. Or else from wastefulness or excess in eating or drinking Prov. 23. 21. 3. Or from the oppression of the rich Jam. 5. 4. 4. Or else from idleness and slothfulness in their Callings Prov. 20. 4. The sluggard will not sowe because of the cold therefore he
40. 7. Psa 102. 3. Job 7. 7. 2 Sam. 14. 14. Hos 10. 7. Jam. 4. 14. 1 Chron. 29. 15. Ps 39. 5. 3. If we make not Religion our business we shall lose much of our comfort here in point of our well being for if we were not wanting to our selvs we might live in heaven while our bodies were here upon earth Phil. 3. 20. For our conversation is in heaven and this caused the Saints exceedingly to rejoyce 2 Cor. 1. 12. For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Psa 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I shall have respect unto all thy Commandments What is the matter that one is crying another is sighing and a third perplexed and a fourth in despair why sin is the cause if a man made Religion his business so that his ways did please the Lord even his enemies should be at peace with him Prov. 16. 7. Nay further He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall be no evil touch thee in famine he will preserve thee from death and in war from the power of the sword thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee thy tabernacle shall be at peace and thou shalt not sin Job 5. 19 20 21 22 23 24 c. In a word what brings all the miseries upon our bodies and plagues upon our souls but sin and how shall we refrain from sin unless we make Religion our business which if we did do we should 1. Not fear the faces of men Mat. 10. 28. 2. When we did suffer either in our bodies or estates we should be so far from murmuring or complaining that our hearts would be taken up altogether with singing praising and rejoycing Acts 6. 25. Luk. 6. 22. 23. 1 Pet. 3. 14 17. 1 Pet. 12 13 14 15 16. 3. We should have a fellowship with Christ in all our sufferings as in Phil. 3. 10. 4. We should be great gainers by all our sufferings Rom. 5. 3. 1 Pet. 2. 19. 20. 5. We should accompt the worst of them both light and short 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory Rom. 8. 8. If we made Religion our business with Paul we should should say in our sufferings as he did 2 Cor. 4. 8 9. We be troubled on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed c. In a word I know nothing that keeps all good things from us and brings all miseries upon us but sin Jam. 4. 1. From whence come wars and fightings among you Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members Oh then let Religion be thy business and not sin 1. Because sin is contrary to the nature of God it doth dishonour him 2. It 's most injurious to thy self as hath been proved for it brings all the miseries upon thee that have do or shall ever befall thee As soon as ever thou sinnest the punishment lieth at the door Oh then if the love of Christ will not constrain yet let the fear of punishment compel thee and me to refrain from sin Rom. 2. 9. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil both of the Iew and the Gentiles Oh let us not do that abominable thing which the Lord doth hate Sin maketh a man abominable both in the sight of God and good men Better it were to suffer a thousand wrongs then to commit one sin Thou mayest have comfort in thy sufferings wrongfully thou oughtest to rejoyce in it but when thou doest sin thou shalt suffer as an evil doer thou art buffeted for thy faults in this thou canst not glory but blush with shame Wherefore if thou art not able to say with Joseph How shall I do this great evil sin against God yet say with Thamar How shall I do this evil and cause my name to slink among the sons and daughters of men Do but a little mark diligently and thou shalt find if thy Conscience be not feared as soon as ever sin is committed thy conscience checks thee thy heart smites thee thy foes laugh at thee thy friends grieve and pitty thee nay more then this thou dost crucifie afresh Christ Jesus and puttest him to an open shame as Heb. 6. 6. What is the reason thou hast so many enemies and so few friends Sin is the cause as Prov. 16. 7. Iob 5. 20 21 c. Thou art deprived of many comforts that others do enjoy Why sin is the cause of it Ier. 5. 25. Doth the Almighty hide his face from thee Why what is the cause Your sins and iniquities have made him to hide his face Wherefore doth the living man so complain but for the punishment of his sin Lam. 3. 39. Wherefore is there so much weeping in this Nation One weeps for his father another for his mother one for his brother another for his sister some for one Relation some for another Why dost thou weep for them Oh they be be dead or dying Why what brought this unavoidable Death into the world Ans It was sin it was sin The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. In a word Sin hath slain our father deceived our mother cheated almost undone all our brethren and defiled our sisters wounded our children and plundered all our kindred to the skin and left them as poor as Iob. One sin caused Adam to fall and so infected the whole world One sin caused the Angels to be cast out of Heaven One sin caused Saul to be utterly cast off from being King although he was anointed King by the Lord his special appointment Ananias and Sapphira for one lye were stricken with present death Besides sin defiles a man totally it beginneth at the understanding and so to the will and affection it will take in every faculty of the soul and endeavour to act in every member of the body it doth defile a man eternally it robs us of the Image of God it robs us of his presence it will promise us peace and bring us into trouble it will promise us honour and bring us into disgrace it will promise us liberty and bring us into bondage it will promise us life and bring us to death it will hide Pride under the name of decencie it will bring in Covetousnes under the name of good husbandry it will clothe Drunkenness Gluttony under the name of good-fellowship it will hide Frowardness under the name of zeal In a word as the acts of sin be numerous so the
will beget in us this unspeakable benefit namely To behold a hand of Providence in and read love under every dispensation You and I should say with Iob when we loose all blessed be the name of the Lord and with Paul Phil. 4. 11. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be contented and so we shall serve him without fear and not be afraid of Armies of men and Legions of Devils Psal 3. 6. He will not fear death and hell Why because he will see both overcome by Jesus Christ Death that was the King of terrours hath now lost his sting 1 Cor. 15. 56. and the Devil hath lost his power as to one that is in Christ for he is overcome by Christ Heb. 2. 14. Sin also the cause of death which did shut the door of Gods mercy and grace upon us is overcome for us by Christ upon whom it was laid Isa 53. 6. And so he made an end of transgression and sin The world also that did so often deceive us and perplex us is overcome for us by Jesus Christ Joh. 16. 33. The Law also which brought in many Bills of Indictment against us is fulfilled by Christ for us Rom. 10. 4. The Justice of the Almighty that did lie in the way of our peace and quiet untill it was satisfied is now taken away quite and appeased towards all true Believers by the Lord Iesus Christ Psal 85. 10 So that now come what will come all shall work together for the good of those that love God If prosperity come let us behold God smiling upon us and trying of us If imprisonment come let us with Paul and Silas sing Psalms if tribulation come let us rejoyce knowing that tribulation shall work patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed In a word if our wills were resigned up into his will we should be saying such words Good is the word of the Lord let him do what seemeth him good for nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Rom. 8. 38 39. Neither can any thing do me harm Rom. 8. 28. 7. This is the way to have our conversation in Heaven whilest we live on the earth Now what makes Heaven but Union and Communion with God in Iesus Christ now this being attainable in this life what hinders but a Christian may live in Heaven whilest he lives upon earth 1 Ioh. 1. 3. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ Phil. 3. 20. Our conversation is in heaven again I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. All these were men on earth subject to infirmities as we are and yet they lived in Heaven and these things are left written in the Scriptures for our learning to wind up our hearts to the like frame Let Religion be our business then and more time spent on that and less time on the world For as hath been said before the time is short the remainder of our season is now folding up as a Sail or Curtain into a narrow room time is short and life shorter and the end of all things is at hand Thus have I endeavoured as briefly as I could to lay before thee whosoever thou art that readest these lines viz. the shortness of mans life or fewness of his days and the many miseries that do befall him and how a Christian might if not escape them yet have them lessened and sweetned unto him so that he might walk through these Seas of troubles and winds and floods of afflictions and fiery trials by open secret buffettings from thy many enemies and sometimes from pretended friends and neer relations with comfort c. Was not Abel murthered by his brother Noah mocked by his sons Job and David scoffed by their wives was not Iacob threatened by his brother banished from his Father abused by his uncle in the day he was consumed with heat Gen. 31. 40. in the night with frost then there arose a division betweeen his two wives two sisters brawling for one husband after this they both run from their father now see a fresh pursuit behinde him Laban following him with an hue and cry before him Esau coming with four hundred men to go forward intolerable to go backward unavailable then a little after his wife Rachel dies his daughter Dinah is ravished his son Reuben lies with his Concubines then his son his Ioseph they report is lost and now see a man of sorrows indeed I will go down saith he to the grave unto my sons mourning after this a Famine begins and another of his sons in prison and nothing can redeem him but his only Benjamin here was loss of son after son Ioseph is not Simeon is not saith he and now ye take away Benjamin all these things are against me Thus every Christian more or less though he be a few days yet they are full of trouble and both flie away faster then the Weavers shuttle which if well considered will rouze up those many sleepy professors living in these crazy times and slippery days wherein both lives and liberties health friends wealth pleasures honours and priviledges are in such extremity of extraordinary uncertainties I say the serious consideration hereof might serve to rouze up all sorts of men to improve the present time to the best advantage that so they might have an unshaken foundation of true spiritual peace and consolation For we must al die and that speedily our days flie away swifter then the weavers Shuttle It is said that when the Egyptians found their first born dead in their Families there was a great cry throughout Egypt a great cry in every Family Now were we as sensible of our souls as we are of our bodies oh what a great cry would there be in most of our Families one crying out and saying O Lord I have a dead childe another O Lord I have a dead servant another O Lord I have a dead wife in my Family whose soul is dead another I have a dead husband a dead friend and if the Lord doth not raise them speedily I fear they will die the second death from whence there is no redemption for they shall be cast into everlasting fire which is an intolerable eternity our life is like a candle in a paper Lanthorn there 's but a breath between us heaven or hel Wherefore O earth earth earth hear the voice of the Lord even while it is called to day which is swifter then the weavers shuttle FINIS