yet to live then consider that half of this thirty years will be slept out and then there remains but fifteen years and the half of this fifteen years will be spent in pains and care to provide for thy self and Family and then there remains but seven years and a half and in the half of this thou wilt have some unexpected sickness and weakness which man that is born of a woman is subject unto and then there remains but three years three quarters and the half of this will be spent in mourning for some losses or crosses in thy Wife Children Kindred and Friends and so there doth not remain so much as two years of peace and quiet for thee to minde thy soul this struck the man into such a damp that he went away sorrowfull as the young man in the Gospel did from Christ Matth. 19. 22. Oh let us redeem that precious jewel of time which we have formerly lost Travellers that have staid a little too long at their Inn when they do find the night approaching they mend their pace and go as many miles in one hour as they did before in two so let us do we have staid too long in doating upon the things of this life and in setting our eyes and hearts upon that which is not the World it was Created of nothing saith the Lord and it hangs upon nothing saith Job Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not saith Solomon Pro. 23. 5. I remember a passage that many years since I read in a little Book called Good News from Heaven between Wealth and his worldly Master at the point of death 1. First Wealth seeing his Master dying saith Well Master thus long have I served you or rather you have served me for you have loved me too much and doted upon me and therefore now you be like to speed the worse you was my Master in shew but I was yours indeed for you did what I would have you do thus far have I gone with you but further I will not I have nothing to do in another world now therefore Master shift for your self if you go to Hell I cannot help it I will go seek me a new Master adieu Ans Master Nay saith his Master I hope thou wilt not serve me so now I have most need of thee many a nights rest have I broken for thee many an hour have I bestowed on thee many a good Feast yea many a Sermon and good opportunity for my soul have I lost for thee Wealth Wealth The more fool thou Master who bid you do so not God I am sure but the Devil and therefore to him you are like to go that set you on work or whither you go I know not nor care not but further to go with you I will not Master Nay Wealth I pray thee say not so that goeth to my very heart go answer for me or at least speak a good word for me Wealth Not I nay I am sure you shall answer for me and your self too and to tell you the truth I doubt the place is too hot for me where you are going but go try Master first how you shall speed and if you do not like the place if you can get leave to come back again I may chance to serve you again believe it who list look look here comes death quivering in your lips quaking in your joynts staring in your eyes I cannot endure the sight of him oh draw the Curtains shift for thy self Master I will shift for one Master What dost thou mock me to increase my misery and dolor What wilt thou leave me thus in the straits Oh that I were to live in the World again I would care as little for thee as thou doest now for me Oh base Vagrant have I thus entertained thee like a Prince for this Oh all ye People of the World be admonished by me a dying man take heed how you give entertainment as I have to this Vagabond cheating Wealth that wanders up and down the World but lay up treasure in Heaven not on the earth and that speedily For man that is born of a woman is of few days saith David and they pass away faster then the Weavers Shuttle saith Iob thou shalt cut off thy life like a Weaver saith the Prophet Isaiah and then if thou hast improved thy talent redeemed thy time and given all diligence to make thy Calling and Election sure for ought I know thou mayest die in full assurance of true blessedness which consisteth not in honour for then Pharaoh had been blessed not in wit for then Achitophel had been blessed not in wealth for then Ahab had been blessed but herein will thy blessedness be that thou indeavourest to be found cloathed with the Robe of Christs righteousness in comparison of which thy own is as dung Phil. 3. 8 9. Looking upon thy self as thou art in thy self as a Tree the body where of is iniquity the Leaves of it is Atheism the Rine pretends perfection the Sap thereof is Humane Reason the Buds swelling words the Fruit of it uncleanness but as thou art taken off from the old stock the first Adam and grafted into the new stock the second Adam thy blessedness lies here in this Root from whence thou receivest sap and becomest a new Tree which may be known by its Root which is Christ by its soil in which it grows which is Free-Grace planted in the House of the Lord and by its body which is Faith by its Bark which is Hope by its Boughs which is Charity by its Leaves which is Spiritual Vertues by its Branches which is good words by its Fruit which is good works This Tree shall stand up with boldness when the other Tree shall fear and shake if he look up there is his Judge offended with him beneath him Hell open and the Furnace boiling ready to receive him on thy right hand thy sins accusing on thy left hand the Devils ready to execute Gods Sentence upon thee within thee thy conscience gnawing without thee all damned souls bewailing on every side the World burning and this dreadfull day will come suddenly as a thief in the night 2 Pet. 3. Therefore while thou hast thy legs let them carry thee to the Assemblies of Zion run to and fro that thy knowledge may be increased thy legs may be taken from thee While thou hast thy hearing listen diligently thou mayst speedily be deaf as many be already While thou hast thy hands let them minister to the necessity of the Saints while thou hast any estate give somthing of it lest thou dost repent too late All these things be mutable and fleeting thy dayes be swifter then the Weavers shuttle and thou mayest lose these before thou dost lose thy life All men had one entrance into life and shall have the like going out In a word thou and I have forfeited our lives many times The wages of sin is death Every sin
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
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 Sâ—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 evâ—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
we commit we make a forfeit of our life Here is the sad condition of the sons of Adam O Adam what hast thou done For though it was thou that hast sinned yet thou art not faln alone but all we that come of thee as being then in thee and so infected by thee And we become guilty not only of original but also of actual transgression and so many of us have forfeited our lives ten thousand times over from which there is no redemption but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and it is to be feared that not one of twenty do truly believe in him and make it their work to follow him hence it is that death finds us so unprepared we never considering that there is but a breath between us and Heaven or Hell Vse 4 If our dayes be so short and swift let us so accompt of it that when death comes and sweeps away some of our nearest Relations it may not be so tedious unto us as to cause us to mourn excessively because we saw their dayes to be short and swift before So that in stead of grieving that they be gone so soon we should give thanks to God that he did spare them to us so long and say with David I shall shortly go to them The consideration of these ensuing things will much abate our mourning and take off the edge of our excessive grief for Friends of any Relation that are deceased 1. Let us consider that whatsoever doth come to pass is by the soveraign will and pleasure of God 1 Sam. 3. 18. And Eli said it is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good In the foregoing verses the Lord had told Samuel that the iniquity of Eli's house should not be purged because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not Well saith Eli good is the word of the Lord let him do as seemeth him good as if he had said The Lord is infinitely wise and therefore knoweth better then I how to dispose of me and my family for his own glory and our everlasting good And although those Judgments be very heavy which he hath denounced against me and my family yet we have no just cause to complain for doubtless he will bring glory to his name and good to us by it according to his promises So said David 2 Sam. 15. 26. Behold here I am let him do to me as seemeth him good So again Psal 39. 9. I was silent and opened not my mouth because thou didst it So said Hezekiah Isa 39. 8. the Lord had told him by the Prophet Isaiah that all his goods should be carried to Babylon and his sons that did issue from him they though near dear to him should also be carried to Babylon Well saith he good is the word of the Lord. So our dear Saviour himself Mat. 26. 39. O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Psal 68. 20. He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death Job 30. 23. I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living and that speedily too for my dayes are swifter then the Weavers shuttle 2. Let us consider that we our selves and our friend or friends that now we grieve for I say we and they received our lives from God and must be accomptable to him for them again Eccl. 12. 7. Job 1 21. 1 Tim 6 7. 3. Consider All men have one entrance into the world and the like going out Death is certain and appointed to all the greatest Kings and Emperors under the Sun must taste of this cup nay the Lord Christ himself if he will be vailed in flesh must die And that it is certain and appointed to all will appear by these Scriptures Heb. 9. 27. Job 30. 23. Job 7. 1. Gen. 3. 19. Psal 90. 3. 4. Let us consider the fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ answering every relation and the many excellent promises that are suitable to our particular condition He is bread to the hungry water to the thirsty cloths to the naked eyes to the blind legs to the lame strength to the weak life to the dead he is peace in trouble joy in sorrow health in sickness riches in poverty he is a friend to the friendless a husband to the widow a father to the fatherless I had thought to have brought chapter and verse to have proved each of these to thee but I would have thee to search for them thy self that so thou mayst finde many more sweet Promises sutable to thy present state and condition for he is all thy tongue can ask thy heart can wish or thy minde conceive he is light in darkness and Heaven in Hell if thou canst but see thy Interest in him and Relation to him thou wilt be ready to say within thee in the midst of all thy troubles Let friends forsake me let enemies deride me let all worldly comforts leave me nay the plagues of Egypt the botches of Iob the enemies of David the imprisonment of Ioseph the poverty of Lazarus the bands of Paul cannot hurt me for the Lord is my portion his grace is sufficient for me wherefore I will even say with David Psal 18. 2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower c. 5. Consider though I have lost a neer and deer Husband or Wife Father or Mother Son or Daughter Brother or Sister Kinsman or Neighbour yet I cannot say as once Jeremy did Was ever sorrow like unto my sorrow but I can say There is nothing hath befallen me but what is common to man nay God hath dealt more favourably with me then he did with Job Job 1. 19. 20 21. for he lost all and he hath dealt more kindly with me then he did with his servant Eli 1 Sam. 4 17. For he lost at once his two Sons and the Ark of God which went nearest to his heart and at last his own life too 6. Let us consider that many of the Saints have desired death and if we love our friends departed shall we grieve that their desire is answered Read and well consider Phil. 1. 23. and Job 14. 14. 2 Cor. 5 1 2 3 4. Again in another Scripture we find these and the like words Now let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 1 Kin. 19. 4. Take away my life for I am no better then my fathers For such as die in the faith we should not mourn for as men without hope 1 Thes 4. 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not as others that have no hope ver 14. For if we believe that Iesus
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
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
in bringing them up in his fear teach your Children their duty both towards God and man If there be ever a word of God within you endeavour to fasten it upon them Prov. 22. 6. Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it And what thou intendest to teach them do it speedily make no delay for they are but as a flower of the grass alive and green in the morning and many times cut down and withered before night your Childrens days are short and swifter then the Weavers shuttle And so likewise for Husbands and Wives Masters and Servants superiors and inferiors old and young if there be any Grace in your Heart and power in your hands improve both to the best advantage Be pittifull as your heavenly Father is pittifull make it your business as Christ made it his business to take all opportunities to do good both to Saints and Sinners Matth 5. 45 48. Oh let all your good intentions end in actions and all your Resolutions in speedy performances for the glass is almost run the day of our life is even done and thou must cut off like a Weaver as in Isa 38. 12. Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Oh all ye Parents then look upon your selves and children as upon a Flower that quickly withereth endeavour to acquaint your selves of one Lord Jesus Christ who is the portion of his people Psal 16. 5. compared with Psal 17. 14. Walk with God your selves and so apply those promises that he hath made to his Seed they will live more comfortably with one grain of Grace in the want of the abundance of these outward things then they could with the Kings Ransom if the other be wanting cleave closer unto Christ hang looser to your children that so nothing may be able to separate the one though death will separate the other And let not your lives O ye Parents be bound up in the lives of your children but let your wills be resigned up unto Gods Will that if your children cut off like a Weaver ye may say as once Job in the same case said Ioh 1. 21. The Lord giveth and the Lord takes away bleßed be the name of the Lord and endeavour by your further care and diligence in training them up in the way of Christ instructing them in the way which they ought to walk Shall I appeal to your consciences now O ye Parents hath your care been to provide in a sutable way for the souls of your children for their Spiritual estate as you have for the earthly you are loth to die before you can bring your estate so clear that you may leave it to your children but rather you should be loth to die before such time as you see some work of Grace wrought in their hearts verily these would your thoughts be if you were spiritual It is reported of Augustines Mother that the great thing she desired to live for was to see her son converted and the Lord granted her desire and then she found her self willing to die One Mr. Staughton a Minister in his Epistle to the Reader prefixed to the Treatise called Davids love to Gods word affirms upon his own knowledge that there was a young Gentlewoman in Kent but ten years old could say all the New-Testament by heart yea at that Age she was so perfect therein that being asked where any word were she would presently name Book Chapter and Verse Master Staughton writeth this upon his own knowledge and examination of her in above fourty places at one time wherein she never missed Book Chapter and Verse Truly if we would have the word of Christ dwell richly in us we must ever and anon call home our wandring thoughts and unprofitable desires and disordered affections and gather them up and establish them upon something that Moth and Rust cannot corrupt nor Thieves break through and steal for most of us are like unto Peter we toil all night and catch nothing because we do not cast down our nets at Christs Command which that we may do let us stand upon our guard and guard our Thoughts our Hearts our Wills our Affections our Judgements our Memory our Lips that we speak considerately advisedly and not so vainly Vse 3. By way of Use If our days be so swift and short let us indeavour to be in a continual readiness that we may have nothing to do but to resign up our souls into the hands of our Creator in the name of our dear Saviour by the help of the blessed Spirit and although death doth look gastly upon us when he comes to Summon us to appear before the Tribunal Seat of Justice there to give an account of all our Actions yet let us smile upon Death for he will but destroy our last Enemy Christ hath tasted death for us It is true Death is a dark entry that we must pass through but all trouble on the other side death is taken away the worst thing it can do for one prepared to die is but this namely to shut up the door of earthly comforts and open the door of Heavenly to deprive us of Temporalls that we may be invested with Spirituals to deprive us of the society of a few imperfect Friends that we might enjoy the society of all the Saints and Angels in a state of perfection and that which is ten thousands time more then all the rest we shall enjoy the presence of the Almighty God whose glory and excellency is such that the tongues of men and Angels are not able to express It is life to know him it is melody to hear him it is heaven to behold him it is endless happiness to enjoy him Oh then improve the present opportunity and ability that the Lord hath lent to the uttermost that when thou comest to die and to cut off like a Weaver thy dayes being swifter then a shuttle thou mayst be in some good measure so prepared That 1. If thou canst not say with thy Lord Christ Joh. 17. 4. I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do 2. If thou canst not say with thy brother Paul 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith there is laid up a Crown of glory not for me only but for all those that wait for his appearing 3. Yet thou canst say with Simeon Luk. 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servants depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 4. Or else if thou canst not say in the sincerity of thy soul with Hezekiah Isa 38. 3. Remember O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart 5. Yet thou canst say with David Psal 39. 13. Oh spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen 6. There are
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
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