Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	life_n	lord_n	world_n	8,437	5	4.4039	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95488	The fathers counsell. Or, Certain usefull directions, for all young persons, especially elder brothers, whose portion it is or may be, in these perilous daies, to be left in a fatherlesse or friendlesse condition. / By W.T.	Tipping, William, 1598-1649.	1643 (1643)	Wing T3565; Thomason E1111_4; ESTC R208441	7,829	45

part of thy life Carrie thy mind equally poysed through all conditions that shall befall thee if God be gracious to thee in a large dispensation of his blessings be thankefull but not secure perchance some storm may be neare at hand and its wisdome in the midst of abundance to expect a change or on the otherside if God shallcast thee under a Cloud lay some pressure upon thee be humble but not discouraged perchance God will have the world become more bitter to thee that himselfe may become more sweet What ever thou wouldest judge best if thou wert now to dye the same thinke alwaies best even in thy most healthfullest condition for howsoever a seduced heart doth deceive us certainely that whih is best at last is best at first too and that is the happiest life which is ruled by dying Principles When thou seest so much bussing and distemper in the world cast with thy self who would bottom his soul upon so base a foundation and uncertain hold and be incited hereupon to looke upwards and labour with all thy might to get an interest in Jesus Christ for union with him alwaies drawes safetie and protection from him And whosoever feares to offend him unfainedly hee needes feare nothing else If a man be a diligent observer of his course of life he shall seldome find himselfe free from all kind of offences but one corruption shall trouble him much if another be weakned yea and without much strength of grace shall prevaile against him lusts will be violent and hardly take an answer but my Son though these unluckie birds light upon thy head yet let them not lodge within thy heart and because every man hath his bosome sin which doth more strongly and more oft besiege him strive to finde that out and then keepe the strongest watch where thou suspectest the greatest batterie When thou addressest thy selfe to any dutie or imployment whether it be spirituall or civill Never attempt any thing haesitante animo with a doubtful and devided mind but be alwaies clearly satisfied in thy judgement of the lawfulnesse of that which thy heart or hand shall go about otherwise thy too late providence may procure thee long repentance if the case be of that nature that thou canst not wind thy selfe out light thy candle at others whom thou hast cause to thinke by their place and parts should see further then thy selfe Certainly many Christians would find more sound peace within did thy seeke themselves more abroad I meane if in a prudentiall waie they did close in with some faithfull Pastour or friend to be a constant counsellor to them and who in cases of difficulty and above their reach might give them aime and direction But alas so strong is old Adam in us that wee oftentimes times feare to aske advise because we would not be taken off and unadvised from those things to which our corrupted hearts advise us this is a cunning slight of Sa●an take thou heed of it and in all thy undertakings consider and consult and then go on with chearfulnesse and thou wilt conclude with peace There is a common deceit of heart possesseth many Christians in the hearing of the word which because it suits so well with corrupt nature is hardly discovered by them Many there are who delight to feed altogether upon on the Mountaines high and loftie speculations exceedingly take them but if the Preacher carry on his endeavours in an humble and low sail they find but cold acceptance This is an evill under the Sunne and it is much amongst men it is a plague in the heart which wanton wits will one day mourn for But thou my Son know God never set up this glorious Ordinance of preaching to wooe the fancie but to win the soule Abuse not therfore his loving kindnes unto wantonnes but ever esteeme that most pleasant to thy eare which proves most fruitfull to thy soule Iudge not of thy present condition by the plentifull meanes of grace thou livest under but by what thou feelest and what thou art if the Ordinances of God have wrought upon thy inward man and thou findest the frame temper and disposition of thy soule renewed then hast thou some comfortable evidence of a growing condition but if there be no new Creation wrought in thee if thou continuest as proud as ever as fruitlesse as ever as profane as ever then certainly the word of grace though in it selfe it be the word of life Yet hitherto hath been but a dead letter unto thee nay thou art therefore worse because thou shouldest be better The light which thou hast received will but heighten thy sin and adde weight to thy punishment Many heare much yet take in little fruit because they write much but use no after reckonings and so by this means loose both their pains and profit this is one of Satans sleights who when he cannot hinder the free passage of Gods Ordinances labours to make them successlesse in their use Take heed of this delusion Shouldst thou note off halfe thy daies thou canst call nothing more thine owne then what thou dost remember nor will that further pleasure thee then as it shall be digested into thy understanding and affection and practise Mistake not I speak not this to discourage thee in the practise of this particular which I doe highly commend but to direct thee in the use It may tend much to the advantage of thy soule in thy Christian race sometimes to run over the Story of thy former vanities and to study the severall passages of Gods gracious providence over thee in the days of thy Youth as to meditate in such manner * Quanta super eos gratia Deus vigilat quos in sua de si deria non relaxat Had not the good hand of God restrained me when the lust of my flesh and the pleasures of my eye were the onely joy of my heart alas how easily might sin and Satan have then enthralled me and my lust have become my Law but blessed be God who hath not given me over as a prey to my corruptions he hath broken the snare and my soul is delivered Therefore whilst I live will I praise the Lord yea so long as I have any being I will sing praises to my God Thy whole life whilst thou sojournest in this vally of tears is nothing els but a dying condition a continuall progresse unto death it will be thy wisdome therfore without further procrastinations to improve this golden yet sliding opportunitie to the best advantage of thy soule as knowing thou sowest here that seed the fruit whereof will hereafter in another world either for good or for evill spring up to an everlasting harvest And therfore in all thy thoughts words actions directions and conclusions Let that pretious rule of the Prophet David be thy vade mecum live and die with thee Keepe innocency and doe the thing which is right for that will bring a man peace at the last And since that where thy treasure is there will thy heart be also therefore where thy God is there let thy treasure be All creature comforts have their allaies of bitternes their ingredients of sorrowes in them they are but shadowes and vanity being laid in the ●allance to things above Alas what is all the riches thou ●anst here enjoy to the gaine of Christ what thy honour to the inheritance of the Saints what thy comforts to the joy of the Spirit yea what thy life to that everlasting ever glorious being whose joyes shall never find either bounds or bottom ô therfore labour instantly pray uncessantly that thou maist be able to feele say The Lord is my portion therfore can I lack nothing for hee must needs have all things who possesseth him that possesseth all things Now that thou maist have sound evidence in thy soul that thytreasure is above thee Lay out all the strength of thy indeavors to gain a burning flaming love towards God into thy soul ô how happy Christians should we be could we in Davids words with Davids spirit say Lord I love thee dearly Indeed we cannot love him fully yet in his gracious and sweet acceptance We love him sufficiently if wee love him faithfully And in what measure we love God we are sure in a far higher and more transcendent measure to be beloved of him Nemo diffidate se amari qui jam amat quomodo enim amare pigebit qui amavit nec dum amantes FINIS

THE FATHERS COVNSELL OR Certain usefull Directions for all young persons especially elder Brothers whose portion it is or may be in these perilous daies to be left in a Fatherlesse or Friendlesse Condition By W. T. LONDON Printed by G M for Christopher Meredith at the signe of the Crane in Pauls Church-yard 1644. THE FATHERS COUNSELL My Sonne GOD hath given thee thy being in a dolefull age thou livest in times streaming in bloud abounding in sinne and alas therefore bloudy because sinfull and thine unhappinesse is the greater though perchance thy feare be the lesse that thy blossome years render thee unsensible of the present misery Life is now to them that can judge of it a sad and melancholy thing death uncertain yet at our doors friends proove flaggy and foes mercilesse the world deceitfull distractions rage within us and dangers without us GODS judgements round about us and this is the temper of these times And now my Sonne how wilt thou demeane thy selfe in this comfortlesse condition To rest upon Friends is but a fading shelter Alas how many perils be there on all sides to take them from thee To rest on other meanes they may proove but broken reeds for where the Enemy comes he commonly sweepes cleane and leaves men almost as naked to the world as Nature brought them into it Now where Friends and humane Supports fail what shall be thy Refuge Why let Davias charge to his soule be the practise of thine Put thy trust in God Put thy trust in God for God and a good conscience in Sunshine daies are the sweetest joyes and in the times of trouble the safest harbours when stormes arise and windes blow and billowes swell and no Haven appeares but bloud and death riot in all places yet even then an honest and sincere heart which hath made it's peace with God through Christ is as safely harboured as Noah in his Arke when the waves surrounded him Now my Sonne because it is not given mee to know to what times or length of dayes God hath reserved thee and for that it may possibly be thy portion to survive the calamities this present age groanes under and perchance in the meane time loose all those faithfull Friends to whose counsels forthy Education God and Nature hath ingaged thee I thought it fit to leave thee in supply of other helpes these ensuing Directions First Know this and lay it up in the Closet of your heart as your dearest and chiefest meditation That the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome A good understanding have they that doe thereafter the parise of it endures for ever For your carriage towards God let it be even close and regular walk sully with him rest firmely on him therefore take speciall heed of spiritual distempers to be sometimes hot sometimes cold sometimes luke-warme but labour for stability in Religion as well as truth for this will arme you against the breakings out of your corrupt heart and against those diversities of temptations which the world and the devill will be sure to cast upon thee For your carriage towards men and your ordinary demeanour in the generall course of your life see your dealings be faire your words faithfull your heart sincere your conversation lovely let thy life speake thy Religion rather then thy Discourse be courteous towards all but familiar onely with the best and make such your bosome friends in whose choice society you may happily either doe or receive some good This course will begin you a Heaven upon Faith and keepe your soul alwa es in an improoving condition What ever your state of life shall be whether conjugall or single be sure to exercise your abilities in some particular calling I wish it may be in the Ministery this is the chiefest in my desires and I pray God it may proove the dearest in your affections but I speake this in way of advise not injunction for the bent and ready inclination of your mind must much direct your choice in this particular but however your Genius frame I here charge you that as you tender the admonition of a Father to whose faithfull Instructions God hath obliged you that you detest with a perfect hatred that specious but pernicious sinne of idlenesse Yea that you abhorre and abandon it with as much indignation as you would a poisonfull Serpent for this destructive vice will render you displeasing to God unprofitable to the world unfruitfull in your Familie contagious to all men scandalous to the best and burthen som to your selfe believe it God hath not placed man on Earth as the Leviathan in the Sea to take his pastime therein But man saith Iob is borne to labour as the sparkes flie upward so naturally And here let no elder Brother shelter himselfe under is faire estate or plead the Inheritance of his Father for his sloth for Caine and Abel though heires of the whole world had their imploiments and the precept is generall reaching in all degrees of persons Of the sweat of thy browes shalt thou eat thy bread As for the ordering of the estate wherewith God shall intrust you for you must remember you are but his Steward be frugall but not base circumspect but not unjust One pennie in a pound ill gotten may like a theefe in the Candle eate out all the rest of your increase Inlarge your heart in works of mercie towards others as God shall be pleased to inlarge his hand of bountie towards you This is the surest waie to make your life more comfortable and your estate more full Let your Hospitalitie be moderate and according to the measure of thy estate rather plentifull then sparing but not costly for I never knew any grow poor by keeping an orderly Table but some consume themselves through secret vices and then Hospitalitie beares the blame Bee sure to banish drunkennesse out of thy house which is a swinish vice and doth impaire the health both of bodie and soule consumes much and makes no shew Let it be the businesse of thine heart as well as of thine eie to have religious Exercises constantly performed in thy Familie twice in the daie at the least if not oftner besides thy private Devotions And that the same may bee performed with such honour regard and reverence as becomes so high a worke post not off that service to some ordinarie Servant as is too commonly done for who is sufficient for these things but discharge it zealously distinctly and understandingly in thine owne person Take heed of carrying on these Exercises in thy houshold as a set and imposed taske onely as thinking vvhen the praiers are ended the businesse is done I tell thee thou maiest speake much to God and pray little This businesse is a work of the inner man and therefore whatsoever you doe for God doe it with all your might Call in your will understanding affections all the faculties of your soule to give attendance on this dutie One thing more

if any sudden and unexpected accident have mooved thy passions and raised some tempest within thee O pray not to God in that temper but approach thou to God as God came to Elijah in a quiet and still voyce not in a whirlewind God is a God of love and peace and therfore compose thy heart and becalme all distempers in thy minde before thou presume into the presence of so high a Majestie And here my Sonne I must admonish thee of a necessarie dutie the which indeed shame to this inlightened and knowing age is little knowne and lesse practised that is the Catechizing and instructing of servants and children in the grounds of Religion in private Families by the Masters and Governours thereof Which course were it more generally and effectually set upon certainly God would be more glorified his Word and Sacraments more reverently handled and the People better edified then our former daies have seene I know well the dutie of Catechizing the generall neglect wherof the Land hath cause to lament with teares of bloud doth properly belong to the Pastorall charge yet all Masters of Families are or ought to be like Abraham and Ioshuah Priests and Prophets in their owne houses and helpe laie the foundation of Religion in the peoples hearts that so by both working together the businesse might be advanced to a more glorious improovement were this necessary dutie throughly pressed and understandingly carried on through all parts of this Kingdome then should we not to our scandall and scorne see so many Schismes in our Church so many disorders and fractions in the State such diversities of opinions broached amongst us such unmannerly and unreverent carriage in Gods worship in many places In a word then should wee not see so many thousand poore soules perish for want of knowledge walking in the darke waies of their owne seduced hearts and acting all things as their lusts or perchance some ignorant leaders guide them My Sonne according to thy place power and parts do thou thy dutie in this particular and stirre up others in the prosecution hereof as knowing that hee which converts a soule from the errour of his waie shall shine as the Starres in the Firmament If it shall please God to bring thee tomans estate use exceeding great care and caution in the choice of thy wife if thy affections incline that waie And herein in the first place seeke unto God to counsell thee and he will direct thy path you have his promise for it Prov. 3.6 in all thy ways acknowledge him saith Solomon and he shall direct thy wayes This advise is better known then well improved often spoken exceeding seldome done but take you Gods word for good secu\ritie beleeve it the Psalmists words are true Psalm 9.10 Hee never faileth them that seeke him Now when you have consulted with God be industriously inquisitive into the disposition inclination stocke but especially the Religion of the partie commended to your choice for its heavie drawing in an uneven yoak and however it be true that parentage parts and portion are good Ingredients in your match yet these must not be the principles to guide your choice let her be gracious rather then great yet richly adorned I meane all glorious within and then what ever imperfections shall arise from her nature they will be her urthen as well as thine Religion is the sweetest and strongest tie and those that are so conjoyned nothing but death nay in truth neither life nor death can part them If God shall be pleased to blesse you hereafter with any children be carefull to present before their blossom yeares an unblameable life in your owne example For your personall demeanour and ordinarie carriage amongst them will have a verie powerfull Influence upon their dispositions they being alwaies exceedingly inclined to take in the habits either of vertue or vice from their parents footsteps And therefore if you find any naturall Infirmities be it passion or any other innate qualitie tolie strong upon you labour to beare downe the strength therof at all times but especially in the presence of your children least your actuall breakings out inflame their sparkes and cause those ill seeds to budd forth in them which your nature hath setled in their bloud Certainely much Christian prudence may be shewed in the education of Children by stopping the streame of their inclinations in the budd before they flow too high and by seasoning their mind with religious principles before their corruptions are fortified in them otherwise at will prove true Difficulter eradicatur quod rudes animi combiberunt In your ordinarie Conversation amongst your children be not so indulgently familiar as to make them forget their distance nor so rigoriously austeere as to discourage them I am perswaded the foolish cockering of some Parents and the oversterne carriage of others causeth more men and women to miscarrie then their own vicious inclinations Give your children a competent maintenance according to your abilitie otherwise your life will seem their bondage and what portion you shall leave them they will thanke death for it not you Bring them up in Religion learning and obedience and neglectnot to settle them in some honest vocation for if thou doest not imploy thy children the devill will Better thy sonne were a basket-maker then an idle droane As concerning the ordering of thy Familie let that be like a little Citie compacted in it selfe Vnitie and unanimitieare beautifull accommodations in everie houshold and where they are advanced and preserved inviolable they facilitate domesticall imploiments causing them to be carried on with more alacritie and sweetnesse In a word where Truth and Peace in any civill societie doe kisse each other and goe hand in hand together they usher in Gods love and do clearly evidence that God is in that place indeed for it is God that makes men to be of one mind in a house Therefore labour earnestly in thy Familie to make good the Apostolical counsell namely to keepe the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Let thy friends and allies be welcome to thy Table grace them with thy countenance and further them in all honest actions for by this means thou shalt so double the bond of nature as that thou shalt find them so many Advocates to pleade and apologize for thee behind thy backe But shake off those Gloworms I mean Paracits and Sychophonts who will feed and fawne upon thee in the Summer of thy prosperity but in adverse stormes will shelter thee no more then an arbour in winter Vndertake no suit against a poore man without receiving much wrong for besides that thou makest him thy competitour it is a base conquest to triumph where there is small resistance and can be little gaine neither attempt Law against any man before thou be sure thou hast right on thy side and then spare for neither monie nor pains for a cause or two so followed and obtained may free the from suits a great