Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	sin_n	wage_n	7,907	5	11.1189	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

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

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

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

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

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

effects of sin are viperous Sin was the first founder of hell and laid the first stone thereof and is the sole cause of all the torments therein and yet all this is but the effect of sin the essence of it which is the cause of all these evils must needs be much more abominable hence sin is called poyson and sinners are called serpents sin is called mire sinners swine sin sinners are called darknes blindnes shame nakedness folly madness In a word whatsoever is filthy defective infective painful and hurtful proceeds from this nasty filthy and stinking fountain and one sin vertually more or less containeth in it the nature of all sin No sooner did one sin sit upon our father Adam his heart but he had all sin in him which infected him and all his posterity and so defiled him and all his posterity eternally so that as I said before nothing can wash away the stain thereof but the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shall we then live in that for which Christ died shall that be our life which was his death shall we indeed enjoy the pleasure of sin and Christ undergo the torment of sin No no let us improve the present motions of the Spirit in us against sin least the Spirit of God cease striving with thee and me and so we shall fall to commit sin with greediness without any reluctancy O all ye sons and daughters of men put on all the armour of God stand on your guards make ready for your soul-murthering enemy whose name is Legion never be at peace with him maintain a continual war against him acquaint all the men and women in the world of his base deceitful cheating tricks that their ill savour in the nostrils of all men and women under the Sun may make them loath it and stand upon their guards to oppose it and if the love of Christ doth not constrain you yet let the fear of punishment compel you to refrain from that abominable thing called sin If thou canst not say with Joseph Gen. 39. 9. How shall I do this great evil and sin against my God Yet thou canst say with Thamar 2 Sam. 13. 12. 13. verses If I should commit this sin whither should I cause my shame to go So much shall serve at present to be written of the third particular to wit that if we made it our business to follow the Lord and were not wanting to our selves we might have our conversations in heaven even whiles we live upon the earth and be more then Conquerors over those sins that do often conquer us 4. That Religion may be our main work let us consider that the Lord that made us hath undertaken the care of us He commands us to wait on him and he will feed us and cloath us We have but a body and a soul and both we received from the Almighty God who hath undertaken to provid● for not only the being but also the wel-being of both only he requires of us to seek unto him and to wait upon him in the use of those means instituted by himself without too much carefulness 1 Cor. 7. 32. But I would have you without carefulness that is so to use this world as if we used it not ot not so using it as most do by too much doting upon it and cleaving unto it as Martha did but rather with Mary choose the better part and so much the rather because of those many promises of so many legacies left us by the Lord in his word as to instance in a few Psal 37. 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord trust in him and he shall bring it to pass Commit or roll thy way upon him Psal 55. 22. Cast thy burther upon the Lord. Prov. 16. 3. Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established 1 Pet. 5. 7. Cast all thy care upon him for he careth for thee and hath said that He will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13. 5. Some Expositors upon this Text do affirm that the Greek word hath five times together I will never never never never never fail thee nor forsake thee to assure us of the truth of this O my friends doth God take care for Oxen and feed Ravens and clothe Lillies and take care of Sparrows and will he not much more take care for Man whom he hath made Lord of all these creatures Read and well consider from the 19. to the 34. verse of Matth. 6. There we find in that one Chapter ten arguments that Christ hath laid down to assure us that he taketh care of us Psal 27 3. Trust in the Lord and do good and verily thou shalt be fed and so shalt thou dwell in the land See 1 Tim. 6 7 c. We brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment let us be therewith content But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and noisom lusts which drown men in perdition and destruction For the love of money is the root of all evil c. But thou O man of God flee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness c. 5. Consider that this God that hath undertaken the care of us is a faithful God and will make good every tittle promised He hath not only said but sworn and sealed that oath with his blood to assure us that he will make good whatsoever he hath promised Besides that he is a faithful God keeping promise in every tittle to a hairs breadth both Old and New Testament doth abundantly declare and testifie so that we have not only witnesses but clouds of witnesses besides our own experiences and inward evidences that we have not only read but experimentally found him to be a God keeping covenant a God keeping promise yea a God giving more then we were able to ask or think so that we can truly say we never found him worse then his word but often better for he never said unto us Seek ye me in vain He hath often knocked at the door of our hearts and waited upon us to shew mercy to us there is no one thing that he hath promised either for soul or body for our being or well being but shall be made good to us in its time And that he hath promised to give us food and raiment and all things necessary for us you may see it doth cleerly appear in the foregoing head to wit the 4. particular And that he is faithful and true and will make it good doth clearly appear by these and the like Scriptures 1 Tim. 1. 15. Heb. 10. 23. Mat. 24. 35. Luk. 16. 17. Tit. 1. 2. 1 Cor. 10. 13. Deut. 7. 9. 1 Cor. 1. 9. 1 Thes 5. 24. 2 Thes 3. 3. 2 Tim. 2. 13. Heb. 11. 11. 1 Joh. 1. 9. 6. If we consider these five things seriously it

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