Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A39567
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Fair warnings to murderers of infants being an account of the tryal, codemnation [sic] and execution of Mary Goodenough at the assizes held in Oxon in February, 1691/2 together with the advice sent by her to her children, in a letter sign'd by her own hand the night before she was executed, with some reflections added upon the whole : printed for the publick good.
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1692
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Wing F105; ESTC R31491
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18,323
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but Unhappiness But as to this I 'm less concern'd if you shall but make a good use of it endeavouring to humble your selves under that mighty Hand of the Just God which falls so heavy even upon you thro' me Consider this your Affliction is righteous with God since you also were born in Sin and that it may by your due Improvement be a means of greatest good to your Souls That which is my greatest Trouble with reference to you is that I have not only conceiv'd and brought you forth in Sin but have neglected the means I should have us'd for the changing of you from Darkness to Light and bringing you from under the Power of Satan unto God And tho' I have indeed brought you to Baptism therein professing to give you up to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit to be his true and faithful Servants and to engage you by that Solemn Vow against the World the Flesh and the Devil Yet I have not instructed you about that Ingagement nor call'd upon you to perform it Had I consider'd how much I my self stood oblig'd to God in my Baptism and by my farther Resolutions upon sometime hearing of my Duty from Mr. Birch I had never fallen into those Depths of Sin which have brought me into the Depths of Misery that at present cover me 'T is now my last time to call and your last time of hearing me call in the Land of the Living this Call is accented to you with Groans and Sighs from the deepest Bowels of a Dying Parent 'T is a Call to which God and all good Men witness to be your Duty yea to which your own Consciences will witness to be so If you diligently listen to them and do not stifle and harden them by sinning against them 't is a Call to the performance of what I have laid you under the most Solemn Vow and Oath to Almighty God to perform in your Baptism 'T is a Call of both of you so soon as ever you come to understand your selves to sign or take upon you your parts of that Baptismal Covenant which you are brought under according to the Direction given you in Page 155 of the Reverend Mr. Allein's Sure Guide to Heaven Which I herewith send you that you may have all the Blessings of that Covenant for your Heritage in this Life and the alsufficient God for your everlasting Portion If you take not upon you this Covenant so soon as you ripen in Understanding but shou'd go on to neglect it to your Lives end I testify to you both that your Baptism will prove no other than a strong Band to tye you faster to everlasting and aggravated Misery And take notice this Call to you to this your Duty is from one who feels every Sin cut deeper into her Soul by its having been acted against such a Vow so early laid upon me so reasonable so beneficial a Vow A Vow which had I kept would have kept me from those Sins which now as Spears pierce my Heart and are the poysoned Arrows that drink up my Spiritis A Vow which if kept by you will sweeten the bitterest Miseries of your Life yea the most harsh and terrifying Embraces of the most painful and linguering Death A Vow which ought to curb all your sinful Inclinations and to constrain you to all vertuous and religious Conversation in the World A Vow which greatens all the Sins that the World count little tho' they will not so account them I 'm sure when they come either to repent of or suffer for them eternally In short it is the Vow upon you in force of which I conjure you both deeply to consider and diligently to observe this my Dying Charge that you may live eternally Let not the Devil cheat you of your Youthful days with the Promise of a long Life to come wherein you shall serve God and save your Souls Let him not cheat you with the fair out-side of Profit Pleasure Ease or Esteem in Sin no nor with the hopes of Secresie Impunity or the hopes of an after and late Repentance This last believe me is most difficult to attain most dangerous to trust to And as to Secresie and Impunity in Sin both which were promis'd me by the Father of Lyes behold how I enjoy them whose Crimes are brought forth and punish'd in the sight of the Sun and then depend on them if you can or dare 'T is a Mercy I bless the God of Grace for that I enjoy'd them not Believe Gods Word which tells you a Companion of Fools shall be destroy'd Be you so wise for your selves as to be Companions of those that fear the Lord whilst you shun all idle Company or loose or profane with more care because more dangerous than Persons infected with the Plague The former will corrupt your Souls the latter do but threaten the corrupting of your Bodies I charge you as you will answer it at the Tribunal of the great God that you get and labour to understand the Catechisms I herewith send you Two Questions at least every Week out of them that the Elder of you teach it to the Younger whilst you are together Hence shall you learn what God would have you be believe and do the Ten Commandments Lords Prayer and Creed being there Thus shall you not be destroy'd for lack of Knowledge which want highly greatens my present Misery I farther charge you that you read some part of Gods Word daily diligently and reverently in your Bibles since according to that Word you must finally be Judg'd I charge you to keep the Lords Day holy to the Lord spending it in publickly hearing Gods Word where most soundly and affectionately Preached And in privately reading and meditating on that Word and in Prayer because God has promis'd great Blessings to those who keep that day from polluting it And because your religious Conversation all the Week depends much that I say not altogether upon this I charge you that you pray to God devoutly and fervently on the Morning and Evening of every day at least confessing the Sins of your Natures and the Sins of your Thoughts Words and Deeds begging Gods Pardon and his Renewing Grace that you may amend and grow fitter every day you live for Heaven when you dye Beg also in your Prayers Gods Protection Provision Guidance and Blessing as those who are sensible that on him you depend for Life and Breath and all things Renounce particularly in your Prayers the Black Siâ—s for which I dye and pray to God that he will not farther visit them upon you yea Watch and Pray that you enter not into Temptation to them Be content with what Condition God shall assign you in this World Besure you Love your Neighbours as your selves do no body the least Injury in Thought Word or Deed yea Love your Enemies even those I charge you who you may think had the first hand in your poor Mothers Death whom with all
the World I do now heartily forgive Set a Watch before the Door of your Lips against all Swearing Lying Idle Talking or Foolish Jesting Slandering or Censuring any that you offend not with your Tongues See that you be diligent in whatsoever Imployment God shall assign to you for the gaining a Livelyhood in this World obey those that shall have Rule over you as Masters Mistresses c. in all things Lawful for the Lords Sake And beg time from them yea Redeem time by your Diligence from their Business wherein you may serve God every day Shun all unjust ways of getting tho' for the Supply of mere Necessity In a word get Gods Commands into your Heads and hide them in your Hearts that you may not sin against him Remembring always you are not of your selves sufficient so much as to think any good thing as of your selves but believe it upon my sad Experience who fail'd and fell by trusting to my own strength for performing the good Resolutions I took up Without Christ you can do nothing That all your Sufficiency is of God whose Spirit and Grace you must therefore beg as you would do Bread when you are ready to starve of your Parents Since Christ hath told you if Parents tho' evil give good Gifts to their Children how much more will not your Heavenly Father give the Spirit to them that ask it and continue asking it Oh Children would you live happily and dye so take the Advice of your Dying Mother Would you not have it to say at last How have we hated Instruction and despised Reproof Wou'd you not have God laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh Oh then take my Advice as here given you Would you be Blessings to your Generation the Love of Good Men the Delight and Care of Heaven Read then over and over Ponder and Practise my Advice Bind these my Precepts on your Heads Hands and Hearts an Ornament of Grace they will be unto you even as Chains about your Neck and Bracelets on your Arms. Oh what a Peaceful Happy and Joyful Life had I lead if I had ever chosen these ways of Wisdom these ways of Pleasantness which I mark you out Oh what an Honourable Death should I have dyed what a Sweet Flourishing and Blessed Memory should I have left behind me whereas now Woe is me my Life is going out like the Snuff of a Candle cut off in the midst of my Years the Proud Waters are come in unto my Soul Oh what would I now give Ten Thousand Worlds surely if I had them that I had lead my Life as I am persuading you the Dear Fruit of my Womb to lead yours Oh had I my past Life again would I barter it away for Toyes for Vanity or sinful Pleasures Should the World or the Devil again impose upon me as I find they have done No surely No Yet alas had I kept the Precepts I have recommended to you from my Youth upward as exactly as I would beg of you to keep them or as you would wish you had kept them did you stand in my present Circumstances yea allowing these Precepts to contain a perfect Rule of Life yet would there be one thing lacking and chargeable upon me even a Satisfaction for the Guilt of my Sin in and from Adam Nor can my present Prayers Tears Penitent Confessions Promises of future Obedience c. expiate that Guilt much less attone for all the Violations of Gods Laws thro' my past Life Oh no I must have the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus to cover my naked Soul withal before the Barr of God in order to my Acceptance and Salvation Where 's any room then my Children for that vain Conceit think you that Persons may be too diligent exact or abounding in the Way and Works of God When you have done all must you not own your selves unprofitable Servants But oh how much short of the whole will you fall when you do all you can of whatever I have counselled you Believe me then for 't is undoubted Truth never any repented of too much Diligence in Gods Service whilst they liv'd much less when they came to dye Oh that I could draw forth the present earnest Pantings of my Soul before you Sure they would put your Souls into the like or better motion Hear Children the Prayers of your Dying Parent for her own Soul which she puts up with infinitely more Earnestness if it were possible than she could pray for her Release from the present Chains she wears the Dungeon she lyes in the Shame and approaching Death she is to undergo Yea hear the Prayers and pray them whilst you live which your Dying Mother makes for you not for Riches Preferment Esteem Ease or Plenty in this World No let the World enjoy the Gods they dote on May you my Children who are born with Souls naked before God and so ought to be asham'd have the Cloathing of Christs Righteousness to cover your sinful Nakedness May you who have Souls expos'd to the Wrath of God for the Sin of your Natures and the Sins of your but as it were newly begun Lives have Christs Righteousness as Armour against the second Death Armour of Proof to keep off all furious Discharges of Gods Law upon you May you who have Souls miserably poor by Nature void of all saving Knowledge and Grace which are the true Riches have your Souls made Rich by Christ Jesus with his Gold try'd in the Fire Rich in Faith Rich with all the Graces of his Holy Spirit dwelling richly in you Rich in the Love of God manifested to your Souls and Rich thro' Christs Purchase in your being united to him having a sure Reversion of Eternal Glory These mighty Blessings may you seek after may God give you them early Had I look'd after them as I advise you now to do I might once more easily have attained and secured them I might have had the Use and Comforts of them thro' my Life Oh that I may not now fail of these Blessings at Death Alas that I have driven it to this doubtful Point God and Christ waited on me with these Offers ever since and are ready always to bestow them upon you if you are but ready to receive them Well shall I shew you the way wherein you are to seek these Blessings wherein seeking ye shall find yea wherein only seeking I hope my self to find them why truly 't is in the way of Repentance and Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ The World think they can as easily Repent and Believe almost as I can write the Words but alas they 'l find themselves desperately mistaken if they don't alter their Minds mistaken to their endless Ruin Oh how hard is it for me to believe my Heart which was but some Weeks ago in deep Love and League with Sin and with this World to be now absolutely unalterably irreconcilably set against all Sin and set fixedly to mortify