is a sore affliction to your Wise family and relations it impoverisheth your Estate causeth a neglect of your business and calling it unfits you for holy duties though you do not altogether lay them aside If you regard iniquity in your hearts God will not hear your prayer he heareth not sinners that is not such as live in sin for in prayer we are commanded to lift up holy hands 1 Tim 2. 8. Lay all these together in the ballance of the Sanctuary Weigh your Actions Do I well to turn from my Righteousness and commit Iniquity Do I well to forsake God the fountain of living water and to dig to my self broken Cisterns that can hold no water Do I well to grieve the holy spirit to bring an evil report on the holy ways of God Do I well to run the hazard of damning my Soul To encourage sinners in sin to harden the wicked and offend the godly to undo Wife and Children and make sad the hearts of my friends will it not be bitterness in the end I conceive you to be under a sore temptation The hand of Joaâ— of Satan is in all this you are discontented and pressed with heavie burdens of debt and some outward concerments and the Devil draws you to the Ale-house as a diversion and to drive away sorrow But this a sinister course a remedy worse then the disease as to be sure all remedies are of that enemyes prescribing Will any wise man hearken to the counsel of an enemy consult but your own reason Is spending your money and wasting your time laying aside care of business the way to lesson or encrease your debts If there were no sin in it it might divert your mind a little for the present Just like impenitent sinners who are convinc'd of the necessity of Repentance but because Repentance and Godly Sorrow is bitter to the Flesh they defer and delay from time to time and singer as Lot did in Sodom till a shower of Fire and Brimstone overtook them to their eternal undoing Be not so unwise as to make light of Eternal Happiness by giving way to Alehouse mirth and merryment which is a poor remedy and to be sorrowed for with bitter tears Prov. 14. 13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness Now if you will hearken I will give you advice and the Lord shall be with you Repent and be converted and return to God from whom you are deeply revolted bewail your backsliding forsake your evil courses Enter not into the path of the wicked Prov. 4. 14 15. Pray lie at the Throne of Grace beseech God with importunity beg pardon for what is past and Grace to keep you from the path of the destroyer for the time to come Break off from all ill company Say as Psal 119. 15. Depart from me ye wicked I will keep the Commandments of my God It may be said he that hath drawn you into the snare will discourage you from recovering your self by Repentance by telling you it is too late your sins are too many and too heinous to be forgiven but believe him not he is a lyar he is a murderer of Souls Believe the Word of God the God of Truth which assures to repenting sinners that there is hope in Israel If we confess and forsake our sins we shall find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Isa 1. 16 18. 1 Joh. 1. 7. Psal 130. 4 6. I will heal their backsliding Hos 14. 4. Jer. 12. This course if you will follow to set about it without delay then shall you obtain forgiveness through the rich mercy of God in Christ Read and consider well the parable of the prodigal Son Luke 15. and doubt not of Gods favour and reconciliation and so the worst and most dangerous of your debts are discharged And for your Money-debts you may find a better way of cure for them than the company of good fellows in an Alehouse You have secret Prayer a sweet solace for a Soul in trouble Psal 119. 4. you have good Books to read you have Godly Ministers of the Word you have Christian Neighbours whose Society and Counsel you may make use of you have Wife and Children to delight and recreate your self in their company you have Friends and Relations not far distant who are able to give you advice if you will make known your case unto them and not smother your grief by reserving and locking it up in your own breast which is not a good way This is to keep the Devils Counsel till you sink under your burden with despair Take need of it I know your Brother loveth you dearly and is not so far off but you may have his help at hand and assistance to manage your Estate so as to clear all your Debts in a 〈◊〉 time make him of your Counsel and take his Advice I am no Counsellor in Worldly affairs I pray you regard what I say from God concerning your Soul and let your Brother be of your Counsel touching your outward Estate And so I commend you to God praying that you may duely weigh what I have said that my Counsels and Reproofs be not as Water spilt on the ground but rather as good seed falling on good ground that by Gods Blessing it may bring forth good fruit even true Repentance in you and amendment of Life c. Your Loving Friend for the Salvation of your Soul J. H. BEcause I have no Worldly good thing to present you with I now and then let a word of Spiritual Counsel drop from my Pen. I desire to commend to you one Scripture which I pray you to meditate on frequently Deut. 4. 9. Only take heed to thy self and keep thy Soul diligently Is there any thing in this World of equal concernment If the Soul be safe all is safe It shall go well with the Body if the Soul be saved If the â—oul miscarry we are undone for ever Shall we be careful of the Health of the Body and careless of the Immortal Soul Shall we keep our Money safe our Lands and Evidences of Estates and not keep our Hearts diligently Prov. 4. 23. Let us preserve our Money our Estates as charily as we can Death will strip us of all we must carry nothing away with us no more than we brought with us into the World Naked we came and naked we must return as to the Body But Spiritual treasure Soul riches will accompany us beyond the Grave to Eternity Our works shall follow us i. e. The reward of them O let us labour to be found in Christ to be made new creatures to be rich in good works for as we sow so shall we reap I was hungry and ye fea me or I was hungry and ye fed me not c. According to one of these will the doom pass at the great day Blessed is the servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing At that day an upright heart
death by the hand of his Brother At other times and in other cases his Carriage was commendable Psal 39. 9. I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it If you say this is not to the purpose this cometh not home to the point what comfort can you afford me touching my Sons Salvation or what ground of hope Here I confess I am at a loss and must say as the King of Israel to the poor Woman crying Help O King If the Lord do not help thee whence shall I help thee If the Word yield thee no hope or solid ground of Comfort I should but proffer flattery and visions of my own heart if I should offer to give Topicks of Comfort out of my own Invention You are not without hope that God might give him Repentance to recover himself out of the snare of the Devil if your intelligence be not to the contrary There is place left for hope Adversity often opens the eye that sin had shut as we see in Josephs Brethren who had lain in their sin above twenty years without remorse till Affliction awakened them The like we see in Manasses when he was in affliction he humbled himself and besought God who was intreated of him though he had been a prodigious sinner So the prodigal Son by straits and other awakening afflictions came to himself and returned to his Fathers house And the example of Rochesters Repentance is remarkable You cannot say you were sure his Repentance was true neither are you sure of the contrary So you are between hope and fear let that keep you from despair But suppose the worst to use the words of Bildad to Job If thy Children have sinned against him and he have cast them away for their transgressions by the way this was a harsh censure if it should be thus yet here is this Comfort that he dyed in his Youth not a sinner of an hundred years old but â— young vain ignorant seduced person to use your own words Anâ— so his punishment will be less than if he had lived to gray hairs and aâ—l his life had walked in the way of his own heart and so had served divers lusts and pleasures You have parted with some Children before now these you make no question but are in Heaven you have others living I know not how many they will strive to be a Comfort to you I hope by walking in the fear of God And it is a rare thâ—ng and not often seen that aâ—l a Mans Children where thâ—y be numerous do make good proof but one or more of them go astray I mean where Parents are Godly and careful Corruptions too often prevails above Education Imitate David not in his immoderate mourning for Absalom but in his moderation touching Ammon he was comforted concerning Ammon seeing he was dead And at the death of the Infant Now he is dead saith he wherefore should I fast Can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Which of you by taking thought can add to his stature on cubit Put away excessive grief from your heart and rejoyce in hope of Glory to come Be thankful for the work of Grace in your own heart that God is yours Christ is yours all things are yours Life and Death things present and things to come Now the God of Peace fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing to whose Grace I commend you and rest Your unfeigned Lover SIR OUT of a deep sense of your Affliction and tender commiseration of your great loss in parting with your dearest Daughter I write these Lines to testifie our compassion and fellow feeling of your sorrow which to do is every Christians Duty much more the Duty of near Relations The same which Job calls for from his Friends Job 19. 21. Have pity upon me have pity upon me O ye my Friends â—or the hand of God hath touched me That you are full of heaviness â—nd have great sorrow of heart for the loss of so sweet a Child I make â—o doubt nor do I at all blame you for it so that you mourn modeâ—ately and after a right manner 1 Cor. 7. 30. Let them that weep be â—s though they wept not but I desire you may sorrow after a Godly sort â—ith Godly sorrow which worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be reâ—ented off but the sorrow of the world worketh death 2 Cor. 7. 10. That you may mourn aright you are to look up to God and see his and in this stroke Ezek. 24. 16. Son of man behold I take away â—he desire of thine eyes with a stroke And remember God is wise the â—nly wise God And wise Agents act for some end some wise and â—reat end God doth nothing in vain but the skill is to find out the â—nd of Gods chastisement He is a wise man that can do that can know the meaning and understand the Errand of Gods Rod and see his Name written upon it Mich. 6. 9. for this let us search the Scriptures which make known to us Gods mind and our Duty in such cases Let us consult the Word make it the men of our counsel as David did Psal 119. 24. and pray with Job Job 10. 2. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me To understand Gods meaning in his correcting us and the chief end he aims at though some other ends God may have which for brevity sake I omit read Job 33. 17. where you may see Gods end is to open mens ears to instruction to with hold man from his purpose namely of sinning against God to hide pride from man Job 36. 8 9 10. If they be holden in cords of affliction he sheweth them their work their evil works their transgressions that they have exceeded i. e. gone beyond the bounds which God setteth in his Word He openeth their ear to discipline and commandeth that they turn from iniquity To the same purpose you find in Isa 27. 9. By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin Agreeable hereunto hath been the practice of Gods people to humble themselves under Gods afflicting hand Lam. 3. 39 40. Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sin Let us search and try our wayes and turn unto the Lord. Micah 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Psal 38. 18. I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin Where this Duty is neglected God complaineth of them Isa 9. 13. This people turneth not to him that smiteth them neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts Jer. 5. 3. Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved i. e. for their sins they have refused to return Ch. 44. 10. They are not humbled to this day To the right performance of this Duty gracious Promises are made 2 Chron. 7. 14. If my people shall humble
I am certain there is in this case You know August saying which is good divinity The sin is not forgiven except restitution be made of that which is taken away And now I have done only let me give you an account why I take on me this boldness to be thus plain with you Surely it is because I honour you as not only a Gentleman but a Christian one who have good things in you and a Conscience bearing witness to the truth and will not rebel against the light when it shines out but will yield an obedient ear as David speaks Psal 141. 5. Let the righteous smite me c. Prov. 28. 23. He that rebuketh c. Levit. 19. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother c. By warrant of these and other Scriptures I have adventured to deal plainly with you in this matter assuring you that my hearts desire and Prayer to God for you is that you may be saved And if it please God to open your eyes and touch your heart then it will never repent you that you hearkened to the counsel of a poor Minister but you will bless God for it as David did for Abigails advice 1 Sam. 25. 32. that you may make reparation for what is past and be kept for the future from work of this sort Let the Devils Servants do their Masters drudgery for such it is Rev. 2. 10. but keep you your self pure To conclude in the words of a wise Man but no Christian i. e. of Gamaliel Acts 5. 38 39. I say refrain from these men and let them alone for if this counsel or this work be of men it will come to nought But if it be of God you cannot overthrow it lest haply you be found even to fight against God Now craving pardon for this tediousness and prolixity and your candid interpretation I take leave and commend you to God resting Your Worships to be commanded John Hieron Losco Cozen IT is now a long time since I saw you But to me no little grief I hear an evil report of your lewd and ungodly course of life that you lead to the great dishonour of God the grief of your Friends the danger of your Immortal Soul and the ruine of your Family whom by wasting and your unthrifty courses you must needs bring to Poverty here and hazard their Eternal Salvation hereafter by your ill example and neglect of honouring and worshiping of God in your Family as every Christian is bound to do Now I pray you consider your wayes whether is Alehouse haunting keeping company with Drunkards casting off Prayer and all Family Duties the way to Heaven or Hell Is this to walk as the Gospel teacheth Soberly Righteously Godly in this present evil World Is this to follow the Example and Godly Education of your pious Friends who brought you up in the fear of God Is this to walk according to the Vow of your Baptism in which you were dedicated to the service of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and in which you promised to forsake the Devil and all his works the vanities of the World and the lusts of the Flesh Pray think how great a sin Perjury is to be forsworn by breaking a solemn Vow made to God in the face of a Congregation which God will require at your hands And how fearful a sin is Apostacy to fall away from your holy profession which sometime you made Read and tremble at those Scriptures Prov. 14. 14. 2 Pet. 2. 20. 21. Heb. 10. 29. Will the pleasure of sin for a season make you amends for the loss of Heaven and Eternal Happiness Can your good fellows and companions in wickedness save you from the wrath of God and the vengeance of eternal fire Will they or can they comfort you in Sickness at the hour of Death or day of Judgment Did the rich man Luk. 16. 28. think that his Brethrens company would be any solace to him in Hell Why then doth he request so earnestly that a Preacher might be sent to warn them that they might turn and escape the place of torment Lay these things to heart and remember your self in time before it be too late And as with the prodigal Son you have run away from your Fathers house and from your Duty so return with him to your Obedience Confess and bewail your sins to God as he did and forsake them and you shall find mercy as he did But do it betime without delay defer it not lest your heart be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin or least death come upon you unawares And if you dye in your sins Hell follows after Abandon the Alehouse and all wicked company set up Religion in your Family pray not only once on a Sabbath day I marvel where you learnt that but every day morning and night and break off all your sins by Repentance and pray for a new heart for why will ye dye Ezek. 18. 31. Despise not this Counsel but receive it as sent from God least it witness against you in the great day when every one must give an account of himself to God And it may very well be the last which you may ever receive from Your Vncle which pityeth your poor Soul and all yours Octob. 20. 1680. BEcause I pity your Conditions I thought good to give you some directions in Writing which you may read and consider and have them ready by you and your Son may ponder them as Mary kept the sayings of Christ and pondered them in her Heart because words of Advice only spoken in the Ear are soon forgotten and become as water spilt on the ground And what I write shall be words of Truth and Soberness taken out of the Scripture of Truth or agreeable thereunto And therefore you ought to give the more diligent heed to them In the first place I shall direct my words to you and your Wife and pray you to consider your waves and search and try your Hearts and see whether God hath not laid this affliction on your Child for the Parents sin◠for though it become not others to judge uncharitably of them who suffer such things according to our Saviours caution Suppose ye that those Galileans were greater sinners than all the Galileans I tell you Nay Luk. 13. 3 5. Yet it is our Duty to humble our selvés under the mighty hand of God to judge our selves to commune with our own hearts to see Gods name written upon his Rod Micah 6. 9. To hear the Rod and who hath appointed it Gods Rod hath a voice it calleth to us if we were wise enough to know the meaning of it to understand its errand Job 3◠31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more Imitate Rebekah Why am I thus And she went to enquire of the Lord. Gen. 25.