Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	age_n	young_a	youth_n	136	4	8.7368	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13752	Thrēnoikos The house of mourning; furnished with directions for preparations to meditations of consolations at the houre of death. Delivered in XLVII. sermons, preached at the funeralls of divers faithfull servants of Christ. By Daniel Featly, Martin Day Richard Sibbs Thomas Taylor Doctors in Divinitie. And other reverend divines.	H. W., fl. 1640.; Featley, Daniel, 1582-1645.	1640 (1640)	STC 24049; ESTC S114382	805,020	906

the young man and he is altogether given to jollitie and merriment hee forgetteth God and the dayes of darknesse and his latter end Well Solomon giveth him the bridle as it were and suffereth him to follow his owne way by an Ironicall concession or figurative speech declaring not what young men ought to doe but what their course is and what commonly they doe Rejoyce oh young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheare thee in the dayes of thy youth and walke in the wayes of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know this there is the cooling-card that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement In the words we will consider two parts First what young men doe Secondly the Medicine of God to heale young men of their default That that young men doe is this They give over themselves to an inordinate carnall joy Thi●… Joy is set out from the time of it the dayes of their youth From the cause of it their hearts cheare them From the kindes of it they walke in the wayes of their hearts and after the sight of their eyes Secondly the Medicine with which Solomon would heale young men of this inordinate carnall Joy is this Know saith hee that for all these things God will bring thee into Iudgement that is It is a most divine and infallible truth that every one should know and acknowledge that whatsoever sinnes they commit in their youth without repentance they must undergoe the dreadfull Iudgement of God because of them Thus as briefly as I can I have opened the words unto you Though I might insist on many doctrines yet notwithstanding I will only handle these two The first shall be that which ariseth from the first part of the Text what young men doe what their fault is For as I said it is an Ironnicall concession not declaring what young men should doe but what they doe The Doctrine is thus much That it is the sinne of young men to rejoyce inordinatly and carnally in the dayes of their youth to walke after their hearts and the sight of their eyes Wee reade concerning the old world that they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in mariage altogether sottish and sensuall till the wrath of God came in the flood and swept them away Now lest any should suppose that this were the fault of old age only the Scripture sheweth that all flesh had corrupted their way before God Gen. 6. 11. Isa. 22. 14. Let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall die It is thought by learned Divines that this speech was not so much the language of Age as of the youth in Israel Hence Solomon giveth a caveate to the young man Eccles. 12. 1. to bridle and restraine him from his jollitie and carnall mirth Remember now thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth while the evill day come not nor the yeares draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them And the Apostle Saint Paul 1 Tim. 2. 22. instructeth Timothy to flie the lusts of youth that is in carnall pleasures and pastimes in voluptuousnesse and sensualitie and the like And Tit. 2. 6. Exhort young men that they bee sober minded that is that they leave this drunkennesse of understanding in being overcome with sensuall carnall objects and pleasures Iob in the first Chapter of that booke when the young people his Sonnes and Daughters met together to feast hee was afraid lest they should be misguided in this kind therefore the holy man in a godly care and thoughtfulnesse for their welfare sacrificed to God to make attonement for their sinne Let us a little consider the reasons of this Doctrine whence it is that young men should be so much misguided in their youth The first cause is naturall corruption that they have drawne by propagation from their Parents A spirituall leprosie and maladie and disease which as it prevaileth for the most part against age by covetousnesse so it getteth ground of youth by sensuallity and voluptuousnesse This dams up the eare against reproofe this hardens the heart against instruction and makes many young men the souldiers of Sathan in sinne Againe in the second place Men in their youth forget the day of their reckoning and judgement they are not mindfull of their latter end Deut. 32. 22. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end This Precept is neglected both by youth and age but especially by those of younger yeares For they feele their bloud runne warme in their veynes and they are full of spirits and vigour therefore they suppose that the Grave and the house of darknesse is farre off from them Againe in the third place Young men are not broken by afflictions the fallow ground is not poughed up by the pressures of afflictions which through the grace of God are great meanes to tame nature and to subdue the pride of it and to bring it to a right frame and temper Before I was afflicted saith David I went astray And Ephraim saith of himselfe Ier. 32. I was as a Bullocke accustomed to the yoke thou chastisest mee and I was chastised I was ashamed because I bore the reproach of my youth But young men are free from aches and paines and sicknesse and sorrow much more then old age and this is the reason why they are more licentious Lastly young men want true joy in God therefore they betake themselves to carnall joy For sure it is that a man cannot live without joy and contentment if hee have it not from the Wells of salvation hee will drinke it out of watery and slimie places Now because men in their youth cannot take in the spirituall joy of that cleare fountaine therefore they drinke in the muddy waters of carnall joy The use of this point is in the first place an Admonition to all young men to take notice of these maladies and spirituall diseases in themselves The first degree of our healing is to see that we are sicke and till then Christ Jesus the Physitian of our soules hath no commission to doe us good Let young men observe in themselves first their carnall joy Solomon here sheweth that they rejoyce inordinatly This may appeare to them first because they rejoyce not where they ought they solace not themselves in God in whom is the fountaine of joy nor in Christ Jesus in whom is the spring of Joy nor in the sacred Word where there is the Cisterne of Joy Even as a bone when it is out of joynt out of its place it must needs be a disordered bone so the affections when they are misplaced are disordered and then our Joy and any other affection are misplaced when they are not set upon God and Christ. Now if young men would deale uprightly with themselves they should perceive that for the most part

is a great increase of their torments the very conceit and thought that they shall never end it is a great increase and aggravation of the torment You know there is no griefe and sorrow or miserie in this life but time will either deminish it or take it quite away either the tormented or the tormentor will die but in hell there you have them tormented day and night for ever and ever neither the tormented or the tormentor die but they live to endlesse woe O! saith a godly Father in his meditations if a wicked sinner in hell did know that he were to continue there no more thousands of yeares then there are sands upon the Sea-shore or no more millions of Ages then there are piles of grasse upon the ground yet this would be some comfort that at last they should have an end but this word never it breakes the heart that after they have continued there so many thousand yeares and millions of ages they are as farre from the end of their torment as at the first Secondly we might note here againe the extremitie and strictnesse of those torments the straitnesse of them there is no mercy shewed Take him and bind him hand and foot and cast him into utter darknesse And againe the gate is shut after the sinner is once cast into hell there is no getting out againe the gate is shut The straitnesse of these torments may bee exceedingly layd downe to us in the Parable of the rich glutton who in hell roaring in everlasting flames lift up his eyes and saw Abraham a-farre off and Lazarus in his bosome hee desired Abraham to send Lazarus but to dippe the toppe of his finger in water to coole his tongue a small request hee askes not to bee delivered from his torments or for a flaggon of water but for a droppe yet to see the strictnesse of those torments it was denied him Dives had before the world at will what his heart could desire but Lazarus comes to his gate full of soares and hungrie yet hee refused to refresh him with crummes from his table see the just judgement of God against the mercilesse wretch Dives refused to give a crumme when he asked he is denied one drop So that as Saint Iames speakes Iam. 2. there shall be judgement mercilesse to them that yeeld no mercie Beloved all you that have the wealth of the world remember this example when the poore distressed members of Christ come to your gates shutte not up the bowels of compassion open your hands and your hearts to relieve them for as I said before there shall bee judgement mercilesse to those that shew no mercie But I come to the last thing that I will but only name that is the reward of the godly that everlasting eternall felicitie in heaven The time will not suffer mee to speake largely and particularly of the reward of the godly which is a great incouragement and comfortable to the servants of God I will only speake in generall The Prophets when they speake of the Kingdome of Christ they set it out by good things there is no need of their good things Nation shall not rise against Nation they shall breake their speares into mattocks The wolfe shall dwell with the lambe and the Leopard with the Kidde They shall eate of the tree of life and the hidden Manna there They shall bee made pillers in the Temple of God There they shall be cloathed with long whiterobes Which places take us by the hand and bring us to some conceit of those joyes How then doth it stand every one upon now while wee have time to labour to have interest in those joyes Thrice happy is that man or woman that comes to enjoy those joyes It is spoken of Christ that hee the joyes of heaven being set before him hee susteined the crosse Saint Paul accounted all but dung that hee might winne Christ and come to those joyes And Ignatius saith that breaking of bones fire and gallowes quartering of limbes come what will so I may come to those joyes I would wee had all the like zeale after those joyes Our coldnesse in seeking those joyes come from a base esteeme of them for if wee did esteeme them wee would labour exceedingly after them Many things for use might be inferred hence As first here is comfort and incouragement to all the Saints of God the servants of Christ that take paines to live a godly life However here they indure afflictions and mockings and reproaches and scoffes of the world yet Christ hath a great reward for them Let them rejoyce great shall their reward be Give me a man then that hath buckled with the sinnes of the times that hath studied the advancement of Religion give mee such a one as hath incouraged those that are feeble that hath provided for the Lords Prophets that hath reformed the abuses of the Lords day as Nehemiah what will inflame his zeale more then this that Christ his Saviour sees it and regards it and will reward him And lest hee should faint before the reward come he saith he will come shortly This comforted Elias in the Wildernesse and Ieremiah in the Dungeon and Iob on the Dunghill so that they were more then conquerours through Christ. Secondly is it so that Christ will come to Judgement and hath his reward with him here is terrour to all the wicked workers of iniquitie Behold saith Malachie Mal. 4. 1. The day of the Lord commeth it shall burne as an oven and all the wicked and ungodly of the earth shall bee as stubble and straw and fuell for the furnace of Gods wrath What a wofull and heavie day will this be to all the wicked and ungodly Me thinkes they might conceive the terrour and they shall crie out at the last day when hee shall come to reward them is not this he whose lawes wee have contemned whose sides wee have pierced whom wee have nayled to the Crosse whose Ministers wee haue reviled whose servants wee have reproached And this shall strike great terrour to the hearts of all wicked men when Christ shall pronounce against them Goe yee cursed Whither to the divell and his place of torments Then they shall crie to the mountaines to fall on them Oh that some wilde beast would follow them and teare them in peeces but it will be too late their part and portion is in that Lake that burnes with fire and brimstone Lastly this should stirre every one up to fit himselfe to prepare for this judgement And let us continually therefore lift up our hearts to heaven and as the Apostle speakes waite for the appearing of Christ to Judgement Then all teares shall bee wiped from our eyes there shall bee no more sorrow and mourning there we shall sit with the Saints and sing with the Angels Halelujah halelujah all praise and honour and glorie and might and dominion and majestie bee to him that is upon