Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	spirit_n	young_a	youth_n	82	3	7.9265	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41668	The young man's guide through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly Canaan shewing him how to carry himself Christian-like in the whole course of his life / by Tho. Gouge ...	Gouge, Thomas, 1605-1681.	1676 (1676)	Wing G1387; ESTC R32454	122,357	176

frequent the means of grace I mean the Ministry of the word that being the ordinary instrument whereby the Spirit of God who is the principal Author of grace doth convey grace into the hearts of sinners Whereupon the Apostle Peter affirmeth 1 Pet. 1. 23 That we are born a new not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God Where by being born a new is meant such a thorow change in us whereby we are brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace and so are made new Creatures having an infusion of new and holy habits or supernatural graces put into our hearts which blessing is ordinarily wrought in us through the Ministry of the Word Acts 2. 41. We read of three thousand sinners who had grace wrought in their souls by one Sermon Yea Acts 10. 44. It is said Whilest Peter was preaching the Holy Ghoss fell on all them that heard the Word And therefore O Young man as thou desirest true saving grace frequent the Ministry of the word take all occasions of hearing the same hoth in season and out of season And for thine incouragement know that as graceless and prophane hearts as thine have been sanctified by the Spirit of God as they have been attending upon the Ministry of the Word And who knoweth but thou maist find the same effect of the Word upon thy soul whilst thou art waiting upon it 3. Beware thou neglect not the day of grace There are certain seasons of Grace when the Lord makes tenders and offers of grace to the Souls of poor sinners Yea there is no man that lives in the bosome of the Church but probably he hath his critical day a certain time for grace which if he neglect it is a question whether ever it will be offered to him again Happy therefore and thrice happy are they who observe those seasons of grace and know in their day the things that concern their everlasting peace Now it may he God speaks home to thy Conscience now he warms thine heart and puts thereinto good purposes and resolutions It will be therefore thy wisedome carefully to observe and improve the same to thy Souls advantage not suffering them carelesly to pass away lest if thou lose the benefit of those blessed motions thou lose life and salvation for ever Luke 19. 41 42. Our Saviour tells the Jews they had a day of grace which because they slighted and neglected they should never enjoy it again the means of grace and salvation should be no more offered unto them God being a just God is it not just that he should reject them for ever who have for a long time rejected him that he should turn a deaf ear unto them crying unto him on their death beds for grace and mercy who would not hearken unto him calling upon them in the day of his merciful visitation Whilest therefore the day of grace lasteth whilest God stands knocking at the door of thine heart by the motions of his Spirit and admonitions of his Ministers speedily open to him embrace his motions be willing to follow the dictates of his Spirit in ways of obedience Thou knowest not when thy day of graee will end Though some mens day continueth to their old age some to the day of their death yet some mens day of grace may end in their youth and younger years Thy first day may be thine only day for Heaven loyter out that and thence forth it may be night with thee for ever Therefore O young man how doth it concern thee to take the first and present season Now hearken now accept and submit to mercy now give thy self unto God be his faithful servant to obey and serve him with all thy heart and strength or the day may be lost and thy soul lost for ever Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth thou maist suddenly be taken from the means of grace or the means of grace may be suddenly taken from thee The Sun of heavenly light which now shineth may set and thou be left in darkness The gate of mercy now opened to thee may be shut against thee The things belonging to thy peace may be hid from thee There is a time coming and we know not how near it is in which as Christ saith many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13. 24. Oh what woful yelling what pitiful crying and earnest knocking will there be then at the gate with Lord Lord open to us But all in vain having slighted and neglected their day of grace when they should have got Oyle into their Lamps and grace into their hearts 4. Be earnest with God in prayer who is the God of all grace that be would be pleased to vouchsafe unto thee his holy sanctifying Spirit which may quicken thy dead soul infuse the grace of life and make thee partaker of his holiness whereby thou maist become a new Creature Beg of God that he would not put thee off with the things of this world but together with his outward blessings or whether thou have them or not that he would bless thee with spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus and that he would inrich thee in the Inner man with his saving and sanctifying graces What the Apostle Iames saith of Wisdom is true of all grace If any one lack it let him as●… of God that giveth to all men liberally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not and it shall be given him Jam. 1. 5. O young man may grace be had for asking Ask and ask again never keep silence nor let fall thy suit till thou hast obtained And in thy Prayers plead that gracious promise Isa. 44. 3. I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and flouds upon the dry ground That is where there is no sap of grace nor moisture of goodness upon such saith the Lord will I pour out my water my living water my grace shall flow down upon him and his soul shall be as a well watered garden Go therefore thou poor sinful soul who never yet to this day hadst one drop of grace within thee go thou to the Throne of Grace go to the Fountain of Grace lament thy sinful barren heart before God and plead his promise of pouring the spiritual water of grace upon the barren thirsty soul say unto him Lord make good this good promise unto me behold the dry and barren heart upon which no dew or rain from above hath ever fallen pity this hard and parched soul a drop Lord a drop from the fountain of living water God of grace give grace unto me and effectually work it in me And know for thy comfort that if God hath given thee a sense of the want of grace and an heart to pray for it it is an hopeful sign that he intends to bestow it on thee 5. Stir up in thy soul an earnest longing desire after grace To that

unprofitable yielding little profit to those who have most of them Matth. 16. 26. What will it profit a man though he gain the whole World and lose his Soul As he assuredly will who sets his heart more upon gold than upon Grace and Godliness and seeketh more earnestly after worldly things than after an interest in Christ after the light of Gods Countenance and the assurance of his loving favour Suppose a man have an affluency of this Worlds goods yet what profit or priviledge hath he above him that enjoyeth but a competency A little will be enough to a prudent mind and enough is a feast When thou hast the most what wilt thou have more than for Food and Rayment out of all thy store For what 's over and above thou must be Accountant to thy Lord and Master at the Great Day how and where thou hast bestowed it for him Obj. It may be thou wilt reply that the rich may have daintier Diet and more costly Apparel than the poorer sort of people A. To which I answer That the rich have no greater priviledge or profit thereby because the pleasure of eating and drinking consisteth not so much in the daintiness of the fare as in the goodness of the stomack He who feedeth on his course fare with an hungry appetite taketh more delight in his Meat than he who is glutted with often feeding on his delicious fare Neither hath the rich man any more benefit by his costly Apparel than the poor man by his plain habit which keeps him as warm as the finer and richer But how many rich Misers are there who though they have abundance of this Worlds goods yet have not the heart to use them but spare from their own backs and pinch their own Bellies to fill their Purses What profit or benefit have such by their riches but only the beholding them with their eyes Besides no outward riches can make us better in the best things They cannot make us more acceptable to God neither can they make us more rich in Spiritual Grace more Vertuous or Religious they cannot assure us of Gods love nor of our future happiness they will not profit us at the day of death being then like Iob's Friends miserable Comforters adding to our grief neither will they benefit at the day of Judgment but rather increase our Bills of account how we have gotten how we have used and spent them Thus you see how unprofitable riches are to the owners and possessors of them 5. Consider how riches are not only unprofitable but also hurtful and pernicious to those who setting their hearts upon them do inordinately seek after the same Hurtful they are not in themselves and in their own nature but through our corruption whereby we are apt to abuse them unto evil 1. The immoderate seeking after riches will both keep us from the performance of Holy and Religious Duties and distract us therein 2. It will expose us to manifold temptations as 1 Tim. 6. 9. and put us upon the committing of any sin for the obtaining a little worldly wealth 3. It will hinder us from attaining unto Heavenly Happiness and like the Camels bunch keep us from entring into the strait Gate These considerations seriously weighed will be a special means to take off thine heart from an immoderate seeking after worldly riches CHAP. XXV Sheweth the danger of bad Company and the advantage of good Company IV. BE careful of thy Company especially whom thou makest thy bosom and familiar friends for that is a matter of exceeding great concernment to thy Spiritual Welfare This I shall branch into two Heads 1. Avoid the Society of wicked and prophane persons 2. Desire and imbrace the Company of the Godly I. Avoid the Society of wicked men which hath been the bane and ruine of thousands of Young Men. I do not say that all manner of Society with graceless and prophane persons is sinful and unlawful and that thou oughts not to come at all into their company nor to have any intercourse and commerce with them in buying selling and the like But thy care must be to avoid all intimate society and familiarity yea and all needless and unnecessary conversing with them 1. For first It is exceeding dangerous without a just Warrant and Calling to be much in the company of wicked and prophane men especially such as are Scoffers of Religion and Traducers of good men who by their loose Conversation and continual railing against Religion and the Professors thereof will take off thine heart from all love and delight in holy and Religious exercises and work in thee a distast and contempt of the ways of Godliness There is a secret and bewitching power in prophane company to impoyson and pervert even the best disposition sin being of a contagious nature more infectious than the Plague and the Soul much more catching of the contagion of sin than the body of any infectious disease It is a thing of great difficulty ordinarily and intimately to converse with wicked men and not to be tainted with their sins For besides that they are apt to infect others we are very apt to receive the infection having the seeds of all sins remaining in us Ioseph though he were a Vertuous Young Man yet living in the Kings Court soon learned to swear ordinarily by the Life of Pharaoh Gen. 42. 13 14. Common experience telleth us how many hopeful Young Men who have blossomed fairly and brought forth some good fruit yet by frequenting the company of wicked and lewd persons have proved very prophane and debauch'd The Philosophers do well observe that all waters both in colour and taste do participate of the nature and disposition of those grounds through which they pass In like manner men do participate of the disposition and manners of those with whom they frequently and familiarly converse 2. It is not for the honour of Gods Children to hold intimate society and 〈◊〉 with wicked men men being generally reputed to be of their temper and disposition with whom they ordinarily and intimately converse according to that old Proverb Birds of a feather will flock together The company in which thou delightest sheweth what courses thou lovest and what spirit thou art of If therefore thou delightest in the company of lewd and prophane persons thou hast cause to suspect that thine heart is not right The beloved Disciple Iohn makes it a sign That we are passed from Death to Life if we love the Brethren 1 Joh. 3. 14. And 't is Love that makes their company delightful And what sign is it in thee that lovest and associatest with the haters of the Brethren Search and consider if this do not mark thee out for one whose Soul abideth in death Therefore O Young Man as thou desirest to keep up the credit of Religion thine own Reputation with the godly and the hopes of thine own uprightness with God beware of evil workers and as much as possible keep