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
a Conscience sprinkled with Christs Blood a Life full of good Works and Almsdeeds will be more comfortable in the review than Lands and Lordships and bags full of Money â—et us be wise in time Let us make to our selves friends of the unrighteous Mammon that when these things fail we may be received into everlasting habitations There be dead at London within twelve Moneths twelve worthy Ministers of the Gospel and Judge Hales that upright Judge that scorned to take a bribe the Honour and oracle of the law is dead also pray that these deaths of righteous men â—resage not evil to come Thus with due respects to you both I commend you to God resting Yours J. H. Losco February 15. 1676. Because I have nothing to write to you about worldly matters I would give you a word of spiritual advice which as it is not to me any trouble so I would hope it is neither unprofitable nor unaceptable to you That which I have thought fit at this time to impart to you is the sinfulness of sin the danger and damnation that accompanieth every sin every disobedience which without true and sincere repentance and amendment of life will be the eternal ruin of the Soul One actual sin is enough to destroy a man as is apparent in Adam Lots Wife Ananias and Saphir a And many others in scripture and how much more then will a course of sin a way of wickedness as the love of the world a form of godliness hypocrisie an unregenerate estate if continued in undo a man everlastingly Yet how little is this laid to heart What favourable thoughts do most people entertain of sin As if it were at light matter not to be so much dreaded since Christ died for sin what need we so much fear to live in it Seeing God is merciful why may not we take liberty to live as we list As if the Son of God came down from Heaven not destroy the works of the Devil but to establish the Empire of sin as if God were not as just as merciful whose most pure and holy nature can never be reconciled to sin Sin is the transgression of law And the great Lawgiver who is able to save or destroy will never suffer sinners to trample on his authority and cast his Commandments at their heels and hold them guiltless Sin provoketh God the God of patience to anger And the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against sin in all ages What strange confusion and horrid destruction hath sin introduced into the world it cast thousands of lapsed Angels out of Heaven into the dreadful Tophet where they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness to the judgment of the great day This viper stung our sirst Parents outed them of Paradise brought in sorrow sickness a thousand diseases and death into the world drowned all the Earth with a flood turned Sodom to ashes brought on Jerusalem such calamities as were not inflicted on any Nation under heaven And which is more what is it but sin that kindles the flames of Hell fire and which yet further declareth the hatefulness of sin it crucified the Lord Jesus Christ without shedding whose blood no remission How much then is every one concerned to get out of a state of sin to commune with our hearts and trye if we be converted And to see that no iniquity have Dominion over us Let us Judge our selves that we be not â—udged Make sure our eternal estate live we not in sin lest we dye in sin and be damned for sin let 's follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. We are all in good health blessed be God to whom I commit you and with all due repescts to you both rest Yours c. J. H. Losco July 24. 1677. WE are all well praised be God I have nothing of outward matters to present you with which makes me fill my paper with better things The going out of the old year should minde us of puting off the old man and the coming in of the new year that we put on the new man that we purge out the old leaven of corruption that we may be renewed in sincerity and true holiness We are one year nearer to our grave and eternity then we are the fast year at this time have we got one years growth in grace What progress have we made in sanctification in mortification this year What corruptions have we subdued Have we put off our worldly mindness lukewarmness formality in worship Are we become more holy humble heavenly have we added one Cubit to our spiritual stature It is not unlikely but we can tell whether we decline and go backward or whether we go forward and increase in riches and our outward estate And the Soul is more excellent then the body and grace then gold Let us take a view of the state of our Souls and observe what mercies we have received this year from how many evils and calamities we have been preserved and sad breaches which have been made upon other families which we and ours have been freed from that so we may be thankful and give to God his praise Let us review our sins of the year past how many ways we have miscarried and offended God that so we may be humbled and renew our repentance How oft have we received the sacrament of the Lords supper So many obligations we lye under the vowes of God are upon us and tyes to better obedience Thus oft reflecting on our selves is a good way to know our spiritual estates A Christian should be no stranger to his own heart and state in reference to eternity self-judging discovers our selves to our selves encreaseth grace inlargeth comfort weakeneth corruption keepeth peace with God and our own consciences casteth out sin prevents mistakes which are dangerous in soul-affairs prepareth to every good work If we were as the Apostle saith Gal. 6. 14. Crucified 〈…〉 of the earth would affect and afflict us less and our hearts would be more above where our treasure is or should be So wishing you a good new year especially that your souls may prosper I commit you to God and with all due respects to you both remembered I am Yours Truely J. Hieron Decem. 28. 1676. My very good friend I Understand that you and your whole family are in great sorrow and heaviness through your Wises miscarriage of a child and truly I and our family do grieve with you for so we are commanded to weep with them that weep and be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love But I pray be wise and take heed lest you over-grieve and so offend God by immoderate sorrow which you may easily do and so provoke his wrath against you and bring a heavier cross upon you Let them that weep be as if they wept not 1 Cor. 7. 30. If it should please God to make a greater breach among us by taking from any of us a dear friend we
ought to submit to Gods will with patience and silence As we see in Job who beside the loss of all his cattle had all his Children at mans estate taken from him by a violent stroak yet how religiously he behaved himself under the hand of God you may read in his story So let us humble our selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt us in due time 1 Pet. 5. 6. What said the prophet to the King of Judah asking how shall we do for the hundred Talents The Lord is able to give the much more then this 2 Chron. 2. 25. 9. Gods hand is not shortened He can abundantly recompence a greater loss then this But I would not have you too earnestly set your hearts upon any outward blessing nor too eagerly desire issue but with submission to Gods will so far as may be for his glory and your good and comfort For though Children are an heritage from the Lord as it is Psal 127. 3. that is when God giveth them in love and blesseth them not when he giveth them in anger as he gave Israel quails Psal 78. 30 31 and gave to Ephraim Children Hos 9 13. for the murtherer Better it is to be barren then fruitful in Children that may be crosses to fathers and heart breakings to Mothers by their wickedness Prov. 17. 25. or by the evil of the times If Popery should come in or the sword of war should rage in the land we know not what evil may be in the earth But such times have been and we know not what may be when it shall be said Blessed are the barren that never bare and the paps which never gave suck Luk. 23. 29. Let me give you wholsome counsel which if God give you hearts to embrace it will be to your comfort And it is that which you find Lam 3. â—9â— 40. Wherefore doth a living man complaint a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our wayes and turn again to the Lord. Leave off grieving for the affliction and inquire into the cause of it as Rebekah did being with child she inquired of the Lord why am I thus Gen. 25. 22. Go you and do likewise pray to God as Job 10. 2. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me Search your hearts and ways Have you wrastled with God in prayer for the fruit of the womb and for a blessing on it Have you set up prayer in your family or neglected it If not then have you robbed God of his due and no marvel if he deceive you of your expected comfort You know or may know that family prayer is a duty commanded of God and put in practise by all Gods people And those are no Christian families that do not call upon God nay the wrath of God hangs over them Jer. 10. 25. pray turn to all these scriptures and weigh them well Eph. 6. 18. Luk. 18. 1. Jos. 24. 15. Job 1. 5. Act. 10. 2. Gen. 18. 19. And mark this one Instance Jsaac had a promise that his seed should be as the Stars of Heaven for multitude yet his wife was barren and without issue Twenty years until he prayed more earnestly and then Rebekah conceived and bare twins Gen. 25. 22 As blessings are obtained by prayer so are they sanctified to become blessings indeed by prayer 1 Tim. 4. 5. It is sanctified by the word and prayer Every creature is so our meat our labours our enjoyments our relations are sanctified to us by prayer Otherwise the curse abides on them Prov. 3. 33. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked Tit. 1. 15. To the pure all things are pure but to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure These things I pray lay to heart and resolve to reform and amend whatsoever is amiss as you would have Gods blessing and favour both here and hereafter And consider whether this neglect of family-prayer he not the thing which troubles M. and the grief of it be not the cause of her miscarriage For I really believe she hath in all other things as much content as her heart can wish a loving Husband a loving relation and fulness of all things that the earth affords but she cannot be satisfied to live in a family where God is not worshiped she with Mary in the gospel having chosen the good part which shall not be taken from her Therefore I earnestly desire she may be gratified in this one request if you think I speak reason resolve to put this advise in practise and begin presently and continue to the end They that call on the name of the Lord shall be saved pray let this Letter be read to or by your whole family So praying God to open your ears and heaâ—ts to hearken to the counsel of the word I leave it and you all to the blessing of God and with my love to you all I rest Your faithful friend I. Hieron Losco Feb. 21. 1679. THis is to let you know that your Aunt W. dyed yesterday after about ten dayes lying sick Thus we part with our loving Neighbours and Friends one after another till Death at length knocketh at our door And what better use can we make of every such occasion than to consider our selves and seriously to mind our own latter end Let us put this question to our Souls Soul art thou ready to depart Art thou in such a posture as thou wouldst be to appear befoâ—e the Tribunal of the great Judge Hast thou on the Wedding garment Take heed thou be not found naked to thy shame O put on the Lord Jesus Christ his Righteousness by Faith to Justification his Holiness to Sanctification Every one would have comfort and hope in Death but then we must lay up a good foundation of it in Life No man is like to find that treasure at or after Death which he never laid up in his Life time For what a man soweth that shall he certainly reap He that soweth to the flesh or to the world shall reap corruption damnation eternal O that we were wise O that we would consider the end of our wayes Whither are we going Heaven or Hell is before us To which of these doth my present way lead Resolve this Question ere you sleep because Time tarries for no Man Life is uncertain and upon this moment depends Eternity Time is irrevocable When once it is past it cannot be recalled not if you would give thousands of Gold and Silver for one day or hour longer Let every passing peal you hear ring every Grave you see opened preach to you this Doctrine Be ye also ready Those to whom those Skulls and Bones you see turned up belong were in their time as good Men as you perhaps What we see them to be now others will see us to be shortly The fashion of this World passeth away but Godliness Grace Holiness endureth for ever Choose with Mary that good part which shall