Selected quad for the lemma: end_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
end_n	day_n	hour_n	minute_n	1,570	5	11.3251	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50625	A sermon preached at the funeral of Alexander Fraiser of Doores, Knight and baronet, principal physician to the King of Great Britain &c. who died at Whitehall, April 28, 1681, in the seventieth and fifth year of his age, and was solemnly interr'd amongst his ancestors at Doores the 28 of July following / by John Menzies.	Menzeis, John, 1624-1684.	1681 (1681)	Wing M1728; ESTC R28826	15,772	25

all die but we shall all be changed And yet there be great Divines both ancient and modern among whom is the great Augustin who hold that the Statute of death shall be executed on them also And whereas it is said 1 Cor. 15. they shall not die The meaning say these Authors only is they shall not so die as to remain under the power of death as others do being presently to be restored to life again However all agree that a change is to pass on them equivalent to death Hence S. Augustin on Psal 38. to us the 39. Quid hic certum nisi mors what is certain in this world but only death Speras pecuniam incertum est an proveniat Expects thou to be rich its uncertain if it shall be so Speras filios incertum an nascantur Hopes thou for children its uncertain if thou shalt have any Nascuntur incertum an vivant an proficiant Has thou children born its uncertain whether they shall live or if they live whether they shall prove dutiful and towardly and so he concludes turn to what hand thou wilt all is uncertain only it is most certain we must die But alas how few do practically believe this great truth of the necessity and certainty of death how sew serious thoughts are spent upon it It is said of Caesar Bergia base Son to Pope Alexander the sixth who designed to make himself Lord of Italy in order to the obtaining which ambitious design neither Father nor Son refrained from any villany but while one night they designed the poisoning of others the stroke through the mistake of the cup-bearer falling on themselves of which the old man died instantly the young man by strong antidotes and the vigour of youth did live yet was sore sickned graviter decumbens sayes Guicciardin lib. 6. In which sickness he confessed to some about him he had foreseen all the difficulties which stood in the way of his designs and had considered how to remove them yea and what to do in case of his Fathers death whom he knew to be an old man but upon his own death or sickness he had not so much as once reflected How many do split on the same rock Hence is that unlucky Proverb in the mouths of many I thought no more on such a thing then on the day of my death A sufficient evidence many meditate little on death on the certainty thereof and uncertainty of the time of it Fifthly when the Psalmist prayes to be taught to number his dayes he prayes to be taught duly to consider the work he has to do in his dayes that his work may not be undone when his dayes are done or that the work may not be then to do which would have required his outmost solicitude all his dayes when his dayes are drawing towards an end And surely great is the work which is committed to every one of us to do faithfully to serve God in our Generation To mortisie all our corrupt lusts to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of the stesh and spirit to be just and dutiful in all our relations to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling and to promove the salvation of others so far as lies in our power and to improve all our time and all opportunity for the honour of God May it not be said as one did in another case Ars longa vita brevis How few alas be there who seriously mind the work which God requireth of them Else time would not be lavished in idle and unaccountable work much less in that which is manifestly the work of the Flesh and the Devil But Sixthly and lastly not to add more when he prayes that God would teach him so to number his dayes he prayes that he may be helped to consider how much depends on the right or ill improvement of his time Namely his blessed or miserable estate to all eternity As it is appointed once to die so after death to come to judgement Heb 9 27 And then to receive according to what we have done in the body whether good or bad 2 Cor 5 10 They who obtain mercy to numbeer their dayes aright how comfortable will it be to them that they have done so when they shall hear the Angel swear by him that lives for ever that time shall be no more But desperat then will the state of them be who made no due improvement of their time It 's said of Saul though otherwise a valiant man when he heard that on the morrow he should die he was quite dispirited 1 Sam. 28.20 He fell straight all along upon the ground and was afraid and no wonder for the wrath of almighty God and that to the outmost will be the portion of ungodly sinners to all eternity Now as is said in Verse 11 of this Psalm Who knowes the power of his Wrath as is his fear so is his wrath We cannot have so deep apprehensions of it as it is The branching forth of these few particulars wherein the right numbering of our dayes does consist may sufficiently discover that the duty is both great and necessary Surely a greater work then that of Pambo which he was so many years in learning how to do according to the Word Psal 39 1 I said I will take heed to my wayes that I offend not with my tongue That was but one branch of many comprehended under this of numbering our dayes As the Lord commanded Moses to number all the stations of the people of Israel in the Wilderness Numb 33 2 as they are accordingly written down in that Chap. So the Lord would have us to number all the periods of our lives duly to consider our time past and to come and what improvement hath been or ought to be made thereof and so much of the first thing proposed the nature and necessity of this duty The second thing proposed was that we have need to be serious in imploring the Divine assistance that we may be helped to the right performance of this great duty so did Moses here So teach us to number our dayes So did David Psal 39 4 O Lord teach me to know mine end and the number of my dayes the need of this might be made appear upon many accounts As first this is a great work and therefore we have need of great assistance for it A man may be able to number how many hours yea minuts hath been since the Creation of the World how many miles the circumference of the Earth doth contain how many degrees the Pole is elevated above our Horizon what is the position and distance of Stars and a thousand such like curiosities and yet not know how to number his dayes aright this is Divine Work and therefore we have need to seek grace from above to do it As David in a like case Psal 143 10 Teach me to do thy will for thou art my God Secondly This is a work from which

make some Improvement of all by way of Application As to the first the nature of the duty So to number our days take this Negative This is not curiously to be enquiring into the period of our life or manner of our death making use of Genethliack Arts or casting Horoscops Some have been too curious that way consulting with Sorcerers yea with the Devil and using unlawful methods and it 's an observe concerning these not more common then true that ordinarly they make unhappy ends as did Julian the Apostate This is not the numbering of our dayes for which the Man of God here prayes He did not prie into Secrets which God thought not fit to reveal it 's enough for us that our times are in Gods hand and that all the dayes of our appointed time we wait till our change come To open therefore Positively a little of this Mystery I will endeavour to branch it forth into a few particulars First then when the Psalmist prayes that God would teach him so to number his dayes he prayes to be helped to a due and serious consideration of the frailty of his Nature Psal 39.4 Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my dayes what it is that I may know how frail I am O what a poor frail Creature is Man The contexture of mans body indeed is curious Andacis naturae miraculum as one termed it the Master-peice of bold Nature or rather of Divine Providence yet the Vessels are so many and the matter so thin and tender the conveyances so subtile that they are easily obstructed by a little Sand a little humor Yea sometimes the whole Machine has been disordered by a little vapour Neither is it so only with them who have the more weak and creasie bodies experience having often made it appear that bodies which seem'd more robust as if they had been made of Cedar and Iron yet have been very quickly shattered and blasted so true is that of the Prophet Isaiah 40.6 7. All flesh is as grass and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it surely the people is grass O how small a thing will take away the life of man a Gnat a drop of a Gargarism yea an Hair and which may seem strange a Thought an Apprehension if it can but raise a violent Passion of Grief Anger yea of Joy O how would the serious consideration of this humble us so as we should neither be proud of Beauty nor presume of Strength Secondly When he prayes to be taught so to number his days he prayes to be helped to a due consideration of the shortness of his time Psal 89.47 Remember how short my time is and Psal 39.5 Behold thou hast made my dayes as an hand breadth mine age is as nothing before thee An hand breadth is a small measure But as if that had been too little to shadow forth the ●●●tness of our time it s added our age is as nothing before God not so much as a drop to the Ocean or a point to the circumference of the vastest Circle In this Psalm the ordinary age of old men is reckoned to be seventy or eighty years but what is that to infinite immense eternity It is said ver 4. A thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past and what is a day when it is past but as nothing In ver 5. and 6. the shortnesse of our time is compared to the stream of a floud when it is gone to a sleep when it is past and to the grass of the field which in the morning groweth up and flourisheth and in the evening is cut down and withereth How little distance of time is betwixt its greenness and withering its growing up and cutting down What poor creatures are we we grow up in the morning of our Childhood we seem to flourish in the high noon-tide of our Adult-age but then suddenly e're we be a ware comes the declensions of old age wherein one infirmity overtakes us after another untill the sickle of death cut us down root and branch O what manner of persons would we be in all holy conversation and godliness were this duly considered But thirdly when he prayes to be taught to number his dayes he prayes that he may be helped duly to consider the uncertainty of his time here on earth although it be said in ver 10. of this Psalm that the years of a mans age are seventy or eighty the meaning is not that every one shall arrive to that age nay for one who cometh that length many hundreds die within that measure Yea the little time that we have we have no 〈◊〉 certainty thereof hence it is Prov. 27.1 Boast not thy self of to morrow thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And Jam 4.13 14. Go to now ye that say to day or to morrow we will go to such a city and abide there for a year and buy and sell and make gain whereas thou knows not what shall be to morrow For what is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away We cannot make sure reckoning of one day one hour one minute more of our lives what unexpected contingencies have men in greatest health and security been surprised with You may have heard how a Roman Consul was brain'd by the fall of a Tile as he rode in triumph how Aeschylus the Philosoph was knock'd in the head to death by the fall of a Tortoise from the claw of an Eagle or how Anacreon the Poet was choaked by the kernel of a Raisine entring into the wrong passage of his throat Doth not our Saviour bring in a man making such a foolish reckoning with himself Luk. 12.19 20. Soul take thy case thou hast much goods laid up for thee for many years Whereas God said to him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee and then whose shall those things be Were the uncertainty of our time thought upon seriously we would not delay repentance and preparation for death nor make such bold adventures upon sin Fourthly when he prayes to be taught so to number his days he prayes to be helped duly to consider the certainty of death Our time is uncertain but death is most certain there is a stature of heaven upon it Heb. 9.27 It s appointed unto men once to die Hence in ver 3. of this Psalm it is said thou turnest man to destruction and sayest return ye children of men Yea Ps 89.48 the Psalmist is peremptory What man is he that liveth and shall not see death I shall not here stand to debate what shall become of those who shall be alive at the last day whether the sentence of death shall be executed upon them I know it is in reference to them the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.51 We shall not

we are exceedingly averse people love not to think of death and of the end of their dayes they will rather spend their thoughts upon any subject then that yea some Princes have prohibited any to speak of death within their Courts But that could not stave off the approach of the King of Terrors It only makes men more unfit to die We have need therefore to implore the Divine assistance that this aversion of our hearts from and unfitness for this work may be done away Thirdly we have many diversions from it people are so taken up with fitting their Affairs in numbering their Money in fitting their accounts in making their bargains in doing their worldly business that they hardly find time to number their dayes There is need therefore of grace to help them to overcome these difficulties Fourthly this is a duty wherein the most eminent Saints ought still to be making a progress Have we come Davids or Moses's length in the work there is yet a greater perfection to be endeavoured in this Divine Arithmetick therefore there is still need with this holy man in my Text to be praying So teach us to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Now only remains the third and last particular propounded in the Doctrine That the right numbering of our dayes would be a choice mean to make us wise unto Salvation so much the Text clearly holds forth So teach us to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom And in another Book of Moses Deut. 32 29 O that they were wise that they would remember their latter end the neglect whereof gave occasion to that grievous lamentation Lam 1 9 She remembred not her latter end therefore she came down wonderfully This briefly may appear in these things First The right numbering of our dayes would make us frugal of our time and take heed how we bestowed it and believe me that is an high point of wisdom Eph. 5 15 16 Walk circumspectlie not as fools but as wise how so Redeeming the time They who are careful to redeem time shew themselves indowed with the wisdom which is from above But secondly they who rightly number their dayes will surely mind the interest of their precious Souls And that is wisdom indeed For what is a man profited Math. 16 26 if he gain the whole world if he lose his Soul will not such a man be found a fool at the latter end Thirdly they who rightly number their dayes will be serious in the study of holiness and that is truly wisdom Deut 4 6. Keep my Commandments and do them for this is your wisdom in the fight of the Nations And Fourthly they who rightly number their dayes will see so clearly both the shortness and uncertainty of time and consequently the vanity of all the things thereof that their great work will be to take hold of eternal life which is to be wise for the time to come And thus I have spoken a little to the three particulars propounded for opening of the Doctrine I would now only lest I prove tedious make two words of Improvement And the first shall be of regrate May there not because to fear that few among us have learned so to numberour dayes Men may seem to be very perfect in other things and yet very defective in this great point Men may be very skilled Arithmeticians in the most abstruse operations of Algebra and yet have no skill so to number their dayes A man may be a skilled Astronomer may understand the Theory of the Planets and be able to calculate Eclipses exactly and yet alas not have skill so to number his dayes A man may be a skilled Merchant perfect in book-holding and the measures he ought to keep in Trading and yet be a dunce in this Art of numbering his dayes A man may be a ●●illed N●●igator and able to reckon his Tides and the declinations of the Magnet from the Pole and yet have no skill to number his dayes A man may be an able States-man and know how to take his measures as to politique Affaires and yet alas be wholly unacquainted with this mistery of numbering his dayes aright A man may be an understanding Country-man and know how to observe his seasons and yet not know how to number his days as he should But I must use this freedom learn what we will if we learn not to number our dayes we are undone for ever Yet that few have learned this Divine Art might be made appear by many sad instances As first be there not many who never once thought of numbering their dayes never once considered what this matter imported or how defective they were therein Must not such be great strangers to this mistery Secondly many make little account how they lavish their time in Carding Dicing Whoring Debauching O but the man that numbers his dayes how precious will time be to him remembring the strict account he must give of every minut of it A third instance may be the little time people reserve for Spiritual Duties some bestow more time in looking on a Glass then on a Bible some take more pleasure in hunting a Partridge or an Hare then in bowing their knees in Prayer or in taking the Kingdom of Heaven by violence Fourthly there is little serious mourning for ill bestowing of our time and that appears by our being so ready to repeat old sins and turn back to folly whereas they who are serious in numbering their dayes will so bewail from their hearts the loss of time that they will carefully watch against the evils by which they formerly abused their time The fifth and last instance shall be the little proficiency we make in growing in grace and holiness This is the end why the Christian numbers his dayes that forgetting the things that are behind he may reach forth to these that are before and press toward the mark the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus These few things alas may convincingly demonstrate that many professing Christianity have not learn'd this great art of numbering their dayes aright The second word of improvement shall be by way of exhortation Let us all be exhorted more seriously to mind this great duty of numbring our dayes And to quicken us hereunto let me point at a few things as first the faithful performance of this duty is a good and solid Character of a serious and real Christian and on the contrary the habitual neglect of it is an undoubted evidence of an ungodly soul The Philosoph made this a difference betwixt a man and a brute that a man can number and a brute cannot Whatever be as to that yet a sound Believer hereby is solidly differenced from a brutish formal Professor the true Believer has learned to number his dayes not so the brutish hypocritical Professors The serious Christian is held forth in scripture as one that redeems his time and how can this