Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	fill_v	young_a	youth_n	21	3	7.7913	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70554	Early piety, exemplified in the life and death of Mr. Nathanael Mather, who ... changed earth for heaven, Oct. 17. 1688 whereto are added some discourses on the true nature, the great reward, and the best season of such a walk with God as he left a pattern of.	Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.; Mather, Samuel, 1651-1728.	1689 (1689)	Wing M1097A; ESTC R20873	63,808	161

safe Time for us to adjourn our Piety unto The Young Man allots upon Old-Age as that which he may very seasonably grow sober in But Young Man what if thou should'st never arrive to Old-Age at all That is the Hap of multitudes multitudes every day The Sons of Job were all of them Young Men but they died suddenly seven of them at once We have that Warning often repeated unto us in Job 21. 23. One dyeth in his full strength Young Persons of both Sexes are liable to the Stroke of Death We read in Luke about the Funeral of a Young Man the Son of a Widdow We read in the same Evangelist about a young Woman which lay a dying when she was but about Twelve years of Age. The Arrest of Death likewise falls upon young Persons of all Estates The Son of Jeroboam was a Gracious Youth but he dyes The Sons of Eli were Vicious Youths and they dye too So does the young man Absalom after his Brother Amnon As young as thou art and as lively and as lusty too 't is possible thou may'st like Eutichus fall down dead before the Congregation be dismissed Hast thou a lewd Dream of an Old-Age to reserve all Virtue for Alas there are more die before Twenty than after Sixty Years of Age. A Child once being observed to become a very prayerful and pensive Child gave that Account of it I was in the Burying-place t'other day and there I saw a Grave shorter than my self Let the youngest of us all go to such a place and see whether there be not Graves of our Dimensions there And what if now thy Death find thee before thy Peace be made with God What if thy Death find thee a poor Unconverted Unregenerate Creature before the Lord It may be written on thy doleful Grave It had been good for that Person that he had never been Born. Infinitely more than a thousand Ages of Woes and Plagues must be the Portion of such a miserable Soul. Fourthly The young Man has many Conveniencies to excite and assist his Remembrance of the Lord. There seems to be a sort of Correspondence between Youth and Grace Youth seems mightily adapted and agreeable to the Exercise of that lovely thing A quick Wit is one Prerogative of the young Man Well how can he lay it out better than by doing like that young Man in Psal 119. 9. Taking heed unto the Word of God The Young man has a Tenacious Memory What can he do better with it than fill it with Divine Treasures Warm Affections are stirring in the young man where should he set them but upon the things which are above The Spirits of young men are mettlesome why should they not be fervent serving the Lord The Bodies of young men are vigorous why should they not be a living Sacrifice unto God There is a brave Courage in Youth how can it better show it self than by overcoming the Wicked One Youth is a merry Age let it then rejoyce in the Lord. O nothing is more comely or natural than that young Men should remember God. Prop. IV. All the three Persons in God are to be distinctly considered by us when we remember him Not only our Creator but also our Creators is to be remembred First We are to remember God the Father Him we are to remember under that consideration in Eph. 1. 3. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Remember Him as the Fountain from whence all does proceed and to which all must Return Remember Him as the first cause and so the last end of all things Remember Him as the Father of thy Lord and go to Him for a Fathers Blessing in His Name O remember Him and let the outery of thy Soul be Let this Father be my Father for evermore Secondly We are to remember God the Son Him we are to remember under that Consideration in Act. 5. 31. A Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance unto Israel and Remission of sins Remember Him as the Saviour in whom all fulness dwells Remember Him as the Jesus who delivers from Wrath to come Remember Him as a Redeemer able to save unto the uttermost and go to Him for that Salvation entreat Him to be thy Prophet and thy Priest and thy King for ever Thirdly We are to Remember God the Spirit Him we are to Remember under that Consideration in Psal 143. 10. The good Spirit that leads into the land of Vprightness Remember Him as the Quickner of them that were dead in Trespnsses and Sins Remember Him as the Comforter of all that mourn Remember Him as the Inhabitant of the Contrite and the Humble Heart and seek to be led by Him World without end Thus are we to Remember our Creator in the dayes of our Youth VSE I. Let them that have not Remembred their Creator in the days of their Youth now in the days of their Age be ashamed of it and afflicted for it There are two sorts of Aged People to be now treated with There are some that are Converted unto God but late They squandered away most of all their Youth before they turned their feet unto the Testimonies of the Lord. It becomes these Persons now as they Remember their God so likewise to Remember their Sin You make that your daily Prayer in Psal 25. 7. Remember not against me the sins of my youth Be assured that God's dealing with you will in many regards be quite contrary to your dealing with your Sins If you love them he will hate you If you slay them he will save you If you would have God not Remember them O then do you remember them your selves 'T is said in 1 Cor. 11. 3. If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord. Well then every one of you like Pharaoh's Butler now say I remember my faults this day O Remember all the lying all the idleness all the profuseness and profaneness of thy Youth When Paul was a young Man he had an hand in Abusing and Murdering an Eminent Minister of God but he Remembred it with sorrow all his dayes O! said he many Years after When the Blood of Stephen was shed I was consenting to it Come now and sit down in the Dust this day before the Lord come and lament it and bewail it that you so long lay out from God and that you so long did the things for which the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience Be able to say My Soul has this in remembrance and is humbled in me But perhaps there are some of you that never yet were Converted unto God at all As they said in Jer. 8. 20. The Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not saved thus may too many confess Our youth is past and we are not Renewed Surely 't is Time 't is high Time for you to Remember your God yet at last before you go hence and be no more Let this encourage you That

a Leaf of Grass in the Field which might not make an Observer to be sensible of the Lord. He apprehended that the idle Minutes of our Lives were many more than a short liver should allow That the very Filings of Gold and of Time were exceeding precious and that there were little fragments of hours intervening between our more stated businesses wherein Thoughts of God might be no less pleasant than frequent with us The Elegant and Excellent Meditations of Sir William Waller had particularly affected him unto a commendable Emulation of them and hence he did attempt to make even the more common and more trivial occurrents of humane Life the occasions of Great Thoughts within him He would with the Chymistry of Occasional Reflections Distill sublime Spirits from earthly Bodies and from the view of mean things fill his nobly imployed Mind with Lessons and Prayers which only the Father of Spirits was a Witness to Some of these his Occasional Reflections I find in his private Papers and one or two for a taste I will bespeak the Reader 's acceptance of Jan. 8. A. M. Being about to rise I felt the cold in a manner extraordinary which inclin'd me to seek more warmth in my Bed before I rose but so extream was the cold that this was not feasible Wherefore I resolved to dress my self without any more ado and so going to the Fire in my Cloaths I soon became warm enough Turn this O my Soul into an useful Meditation There is a necessity of my rising out of my Bed the Bed of Security which I am under the power of and to live unto Christ and to walk in the Light. In order hereunto I must put on my poor Soul the Garments which are to be had from the Lord Jesus To awaken me out of my sleep and my security I am to set before me the Sun the Gospel of the Sun of righteousness doth inlighten my Mind and tell me that I was before muffled up in darkness and that if I continued therein I should starve and perish I am also taught That when Men are convinced of their miserable condition they will rather endeavour to Ease and comfort and cherish themselves by something in themselves than put on the spiritual Garments which the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for them An Evil to be by me avoided Again another time Upon Water taken from the Fire I saw a lukewarmness quickly seize like the frame of Spirit which many Pretenders to Religion have after a glorious and affectionate Profession of it Of this sort were some among the Laodiceans of old which is exceedingly displeasing to the Lord Jesus Christ Whence it is that he saith I will spew thee out of my mouth Let me endeavour to beware of this hateful and odious frame of Spirit and let the contrary thereto be my desire my endeavour Once more Among some Gentlemen that were sitting in a Room illuminated with a Candle one beginning to read unto us there was another Candle brought unto him for his assistance in it Which afforded me such a Meditation as this That those who are to be Teachers of others have need of as much light again as ordinary Christians have They if any need a double Portion of the Gifts that are in other Men and the helps of Knowledge that other Persons have they much more should be furnish'd withal It was not because they had better Eyes than him whose Office it was to Read that they needed but one Candle when he had two provided for him but the Work incumbent on him and expected from him was the occasion of it But I design little more than a Confirmation with an Illustration of my History for which a touch or two upon every Article will serve I am now to add That this Young Man had a Principal regard unto the Scriptures for the Subjects of his Meditations and he was very expensive of his Thoughts on the Book of God. He was daily digging in the sacred Mines and with delight he fetched thence Riches better than those of both the India's and he could say O how I love thy Law it is my Meditation every day Even in the time of his mortal Sickness he was very angry at himself if he had not heard a Portion of the Bible read unto him from day to day Once when he was near his End a good part of a day having pass'd before he had enjoyed his Meal of Scripture he said unto his Sister with some impatience Alas what an ungodly life do I lead pray come and read my Bible to me and read me the forty ninth Psalm Indeed he read the Scripture not cursorily but very deliberately and considerately and as an effect of his doing so he could give such an account of the Difficulties in it as the most not only of Christians but of Divines too would judge an Attainment extraordinary Not long before he dyed he had read over all the large and great Annotations on the Bible lately published by Mr. Pool and some other Non-conformist Ministers but having dispatched those two noble Folios he said unto one that was intimate with him Thus have I read the Bible but I have now learnt a better way And that way was this He would oblige himself in reading to fetch a Note and a Prayer out of every Verse in all the Bible to dwell upon every verse until it had afforded at least one Observation and one Ejaculation to him He imagined that an incredible deal both of Truth and Grace would in this way make its impression upon his Mind besides what Exercise of Wit it must have call'd for and so most certainly it would have done but before he had made much Progress in it the Chariots of God fetcht him away to that place in which a Jesus is a Bible to the there perfect Spirits of the Righteous Such a thinking Person was he and yet after so many kind of Thoughts in the day he could not rest a Night quietly unless he compos'd himself for sleeping by thinking a little more He knew that no better a Man than one of the Moral Heathens propounded a Nocturnal Self-Examination as a part and cause of no little Wisdom and that much more a sober Christian should endeavour to maintain a good understanding of himself by such Nightly Recollections Wherefore before the Slumbers of the Evening this Young Man would put three General Questions to himself with divers particular ones that were subordinate thereunto The Questions were Question 1. What has God's Mercy to me been this day Here he considered what favours God had newly smil'd upon his inward or his outward man withal Question 2. What has my Carriage to God been this day Here he considered what frames and words and works and what snares and sins he had newly been concerned with Question 3. If I dye this night is my Immortal Spirit safe Of this he judged by his Closure wit● God as his best

O my God my Soul is cast down within me therefore will I remember thee Are there Distresses on us that cause Dejections in us We should then Remember that God who can do what he will then Remember that God who has bid us hope in him And when we Remember him we should still joyfully say My help is in the Name of the Lord. Finally Such a Remembrance of God as will procure an Interest in God such a Remembrance of God as will maintain a Communion with God This is the Remembrance that we are to endeavour for Prop. III. To Remember their Creator is a thing that Young Men are very particularly oblig'd unto Indeed Young Men are apt to reckon this the most improper and unpleasant Address that can be made unto them Do thou Remember thy Creator They judge it fitter only for elder Men to hear of such a serious thing But the Voice of God is even to Thee and Thee O Young Man Do thou Remember me There are two Arguments here set before us evincing this to be a most reasonable thing Argument 1. 'T is thy Creator certainly The Young Man be he never so young has cause to Remember him It was but a rational Proposal in Psal 95. 6. O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker If God be thy Maker it becomes thee to be his Servant Thou art wholly beholden to God for all the Powers of thy Spirit for all the Members of thy Body Whom shouldest thou then first use them for but the Lord alone It was a sharp Rebuke to Belshazzar in Dan. 5. 22. The God in whose hands thy breath is him thou hast not glorified Even so thy Breath and Being is from the Lord and shall it be said of thee Him thou hast not Remembred this were a very vile thing indeed It is a similitude used if I mistake not by some of the Ancients If any Man could be so ingenious as to make an Engine able to think or speak he might justly expect the first work of that Engine should be to acknowledge the maker of it Thus Young Man it was but lately that thou camost out of the Hands of God the first rational Action of such an one surely should be a Religious Action It cannot be too soon for thee to Remember him in whom thy living and thy moving and thy very being is Argument 2. The Evil Dayes are coming of which thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Old-Age is not a Time for the Service of God to be begun in or to be delayed unto Youth Youth is the only Time. First Old-Age is not a proper Time for us to defer the Remembring of God unto It is an unworthy thing to deal with the God of Heaven so It is an absurd as well as a wicked thing The Lord complained of this in Mal. 1. 13. Ye brought that which was torn and the lame and the sick thus ye brought an Offering should I accept this of your hands saith the Lord In like sort Young Man is it suitable that the Devil should have the Prime of thy Strength And that God should be put off with a few lame and sick Devotions after all Is it suitable that thou should'st wast all thy very Marrow and Spirit upon thy cursed Idols but bring unto God a few Torn crazy Howlings at the last Should I accept this of your hands saith the Lord There is a Story of one who did attempt to Repent in Old-Age after a Dissolute and ungodly Youth but heard such a Voice from Heaven as that Des illi Furfurem cui dedisti Farinam The Devil had thy Flower and dost thou think to bring thy Bran to me In thy Youth wilt thou continue a Traitor and a Rebel against the God of Heaven And wilt thou imagine to be received and protected by him in the Age when perhaps thou hast none else to go unto When thou art scarce able to sin at thy usual rate shall that be the only Time for thee to leave it off Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth was there ever any thing so Disingenious Secondly Old-Age is not an easie Time for us to defer the Remembring of God unto Young Man wilt thou not look unto the Lord that thou may'st be saved Until thine Eyes are almost out Until those that look out of the Windows be darkned Wilt thou not lay hold on Eternal Life until thy Hands are shaking with a Palsie until the Keepers of the House do tremble Wilt thou not Run the Race that is set before thee until thy Feet call for a Staff until the strong men do bow themselves Alas these things will not be easie then Know that thy Sin will then be stronger If it be hard for thee to part with a Lust now what will it be then An old Tree and an old Lust are not easily pulled up by the Roots It is said in Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may you also do good that are accustomed to do evil An old Custom and an old Disease are not easily cured We read of a Devil dispossessed with a wonderful Difficulty in Mark 9. 25 26. The Spirit cry'd and rent him sore and he was as one Dead What was the cause of those terrible convulsions We are told the foul Spirit had been in that Person of a Child An unclean Spirit a drunken Spirit a profane Spirit that has dwelt in a Man from his Childhood unto Old-Age O 't is not easily driven away It is said in Heb. 3. 12. Exhort one another to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Deceitful Sin tells the Young Man To morrow to morrow will be soon enough to leave thy evil wayes But the Heart grows harder and harder still To morrow than it was to day Know likewise that thy strength will then be smaller The Philosopher truly called Old-Age the Winter of life We commonly say of Old-Age It is it self a Disease and attended with a thousand more Then it is that Pallor in Ore sedet Macies in Corpore toto A pale a lean and a feeble State of Body comes upon us and then also the Mind grows more heavy and listless It is as much as the Old Man can well do to encounter the manifold Infirmities of his Age And wilt thou never obey the Lord until thou canst not enjoy thy self When David said unto Old Barzillai Come thou over with me The Old Man answering in 2 Sam. 19. 34. How long have I to live can I discern between good and evil Can I taste what I eat or drink No let Chimham go Thus our David our Jesus when he says to an Old Man Come over to me the reply may be Alas I have but a little while to live the Force of all my senses is abated let the Young man go over to the Lord. Thirdly Old-Age is no