Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	country_n	great_a	time_n	6,961	4	3.2259	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52818	A spiritual legacy being a pattern of piety for all young persons practice in a faithful relation of the holy life and happy death of Mr. John Draper / represented out of his own and other manuscripts containing his experiences, exercises, self examinations and evidences for heaven ; together with his funeral sermons ; published by Chr. Ness.	Ness, Christopher, 1621-1705.; Draper, John, d. 1682.	1684 (1684)	Wing N464; ESTC R29558	57,400	206

Days Job 7.1 and 14.13.14 A few Days are the number of his Life Psal 39.4 Yea the Days of an Hireling who is hired only for some few Days to do some Jobb of Work which requireth haste and is but for a Spurt not lasting Nay Sometimes the Hireling is hired but for one single Day as Matth. 20.1 2 c. where the Parable calls Man's Life but one particular Day consisting of twelve Hours And what a poor part of time is one Day especially when the Sun Sets at the Noon of that Day Amos 8.9 This makes it a very short Pilgrimage indeed as was that of this Young-man III. REASON The Third Demonstration is drawn from Scripture Metaphors which Illustrate the swiftness of Man's Life in its Passage through the World all implying the shortness of that Passage for the swifter that the Motion of the Runner is the shorter is the time wherein the Race is run I might Re-assume here the Philosophical Allusions of Man's Life As First Plato's Game at Dice is soon play'd out Secondly Seneca's Flash of Lightning soon vanisheth Thirdly Pythagoras's Stage play is soon Acted Fourthly Symonide's shewing his Face soon shewed his Back and was gone Fifthly Epictetus's Voyage is very short and all the former are short none of them long abiding So likewise the Theological As l. James's Vapour soon Evaporaeth 2. David's Smoak soon Dwindleth 3. Job's Shadow soon Vanisheth 4. Hezekiah's Tent is soon taken down 5. And both Job and Hezekiah's Shuttle hath both a swift and a short Motion c. 6. The Prophet's Grafs soon withereth and his Flower soon fadeth The Time for all these is but a short Time as saith the Apostle The time is short 1 Cor. 7.29 But to insist only upon those three great Metaphors that Job seriously plays upon all together a Post a ship and an Eagle Job 9. 25 26. to shew the swiftness and thereby the shortness of his own Life or Pilgrimage The Improvement of these three Points must stand here for a Third Application The First Simile The First Metaphor Resembleth Man Riding Post My Days an swifter than a Post c. which Allusion hath a fourfold Congruity First As the Post-Boy is one that Rides upon Swift Horses spurring them End-ways and sparing no Horse-stesh Riding always upon the Speed with Haste Haste Haste for His Majesties Service from City to Country and from one Kingdom to another carrying always Matters of Great Concern along with him So every Man is Riding Post in this Life carry'd in the Chariot of Time which is drawn by the swiftest Horses even such as be Winged Horses like Pegasus and so Flee faster than any Post according to Job's Phrase My Days are swifter than a Post They flee away c. They run faster and outrun the Post Oh that Men would consider the great Concern of the Pacquet they carry and the Tendency of their way c. Bethink your selves 2 Chron. 6.37 as the Hebrew Reading is and consider 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuagint Reads Psal 119.59 Make a Dialogue with your own Hearts commune with them upon your Beds as David did Psal 4.4 Excutite Excutite Zeph. 2.1 Shake your selves from Sluggishness as Sampson did Judg. 16.20 Consider and better consider Hagg. 1.5 7. do it not to half part Secondly The Post Rides Night and Day without either stop or stay making no long Meals any where but takes a Bit and away c. So Man's Life is ever in motion it makes no stands at any place or time but every Moment he is yielding some little unto Death his Life is passing towards it while he is sleeping in his Bed He is ever Riding Post be it Winter or Summer time or be his way and weather fair or foul in Prosperity or Adversity Oh that there were such an Heart in Men Deut. 5.29 to consider their latter end Deut. 32.29 Seeing every Year Month Week Hour and Minute you are riding Post to your Graves They that do not Remember their latter end are to be lamented because they will come down wonderfully Lament 1.9 Thirdly The Post is Betrusted with Matters of weightiest Moment sometimes the saving or sinking of a Kingdom depends upon the Posts Carriage or Miscarriage he therefore in such a Case is commanded to Ride upon pain of Death and dare not loiter or linger carelesly till he come at the end of the Stage and till his Pacquet be carefully delivered So Man in his Riding Post is betrusted with a concern of Infinite and everlasting Consequence to wit his Pretious Soul which is a Jewel of more worth than the whole World Christ who is Truth it self saith so and he is best able to know the worth of Souls because he alone paid the price of Souls Matth. 16.26 and 20.28 Oh consider how everyone of you are Riding Post with this Pearl of great Price in your hands take heed of scattering it or trucking it away for Trash and Trifles you Ride upon pain of Death be not careless your Life Spiritual and Eternal lies at Stake how can you be too careful beware of Spiritual Slumber until your pretious Pacquet be delivered upon a Dying Bed and you then be able to say with the Proto-Martyr Stephen Lord Jesus Receive my Spirit Act. 7.59 or better with your Blessed Redeemer saying Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Luke 23.46 Thus David was careful to deliver his Pacquet into Right hands both Living and Dying Psal 31.5 c. Fourthly Some Posts Ride longer Stages than others and some shorter with their Mail and Errand yea some are stopp'd and Robb'd of their Charge c. Thus no Man knows the length of his Post-Stage We know that it is but short in General but alas we know not how short it may be in particular We are bid not to Boast of to Morrow for we know not what a Day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 Jam. 4.13 Matth. 6.34 We know not what lies hid in the Womb of Time one Big-belly'd Day may dismount us as young as we as strong as we have been dismounted yea some we see daily are unhorsed assoon as thy set out dying in their Child-hood God call'd from Heaven to Abraham saying Stay now thy striking Gent 22.10 11. and he may call upon any one of us this or the next Moment saying Stay now your Riding God indeed gives to some enough of Riding Post they are weary with Posting weary of the World and the World as weary of them they live undesired and die unlamented But all must wait till their change come Job 14.14 The Second Allusion in Job 9.26 is a Man Sailing in a Ship Mark the Gradation The Second Simile First A Ship is swifter than a Post and thence Job riseth higher there but an Eagle is swiftest of all the three A Ship passeth swiftly before the Wind and stoppeth stayeth not till she come to the Shore some one Port she is Bound for and rests not strikes not Sail