Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	child_n	express_v	parent_n	1,196	5	9.0833	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

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

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