workes and in very deed the best men haue some let spot or want euen in their very deuotions goe to prayer when the best men haue prayed they had need to pray againe that God would forgiue the faults in their prayers and therefore there is an Angell that powreth sweet odours into the prayers of the Saints to shew that they yeeld no sweet sauour to God without fauour in Christ Goe to loue a Reu. 8. 3. Peter loued much but yet hee did fault in his loue when hee heard of the passion as he did afterward fall from b Mat. 16. 22. his loue when the passion was hard at hand We desire to be c Luc. 22. 57. but conformable to the Angels d Mat. 6. 10. They will be done in earth as it is in heauen but the Angels are not without blemish in his sight and though there were no other thing yet the very corruption of our flesh it selfe doth infect that which of it selfe is pure as a muddie ground doth the cleane water and as an vnsauery caske doth the good wine that is put into it This serueth to condemne such as relie vpon their owne merits especially such as thinke Gods law too strait for their holinesse stand for supererogation aboue law supposing they are so farre from need of mercy that they haue satisfactions to spare for others ouer and aboue their owne discharge for when the Lord saith he will shew mercy to the best he insinuateth e Luc. 17. 10 that when wee haue done all wee can we are vnprofitable seruants and that reward is giuen not according to our deserts but according to the worthines of him that doth bestow it our merit is the mercy of the Lord and as long as God is manifold in mercies man is manifold of deserts indeed we are ready to stand too much vpon our good actions and therefore the Psalmographer teacheth vs to speake twice against our selues f Ps 115. 1. Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the praise A good man doth that for which hee came not so as hee can boast but so as God accepts it while he pardons his weaknes so that our righteousnes consists rather in forgiuenes of our sinnes then perfection of our vertues and when God rewardeth vs hee recompenseth vs according to his owne honour not according to the basenes of our owne hearts or the estimation wee haue of our owne worth Againe this serueth for the comfort of those which are determined to keepe the word of God which enforce themselues to obey it and to walke in the name of the Lord their God for euer yet grone vnder the burden of their sinnes and when they would doe good euill is present with them cals at their doors craues entertainement and of force will bee their tennant I say this is their comfort to know that God will shew mercy si faciunt pracepta etsi non perficiunt if they keepe his commandements in truth though they fulfill them not in perfection God accepteth that which his children doe willingly though weakely he takes the will for the worke and measuring the deed by the desire and the desire by sincerity will shew mercy hee will shew it it shall appeare and shine as Saint g Tit. 2. 11. Paul speaketh of the grace of God as if the Lord had reared it vp in the midst of the firmament like the sun that all the world might see it To thousands The Lord is mercifull and righteous and our God is full of compassion h Ps 116. 5 I the Lord thy God here the Lord is mercifull visiting the sinnes here he is righteous shewing mercy to thousands here our God is full of compassion visiting sins to the third and fourth generation not that he confines himselfe to three or foure discents for when he had executed vengeance vpon the posterity of Ham to the sixt and seuenth generation yet his wrath was not turned away but his hand was stretched out still and shewing mercy to thousands not that hee ties himselfe to any set number but making comparison of iustice and grace he sheweth that hee is more prone to mercy and that this mercy doth outgoe his iustice as that other Discipel did out run i Ioh. 20. 4 Peter as they posted to the sepulchre Iustice is Gods left hand mercy is his right now God is right-handed he vseth his right hand more then his left therefore that is the greater of the two if his wrath like Nilus hath ouerflowed a while at last like the flouds in k Ex. 15. 8. Exodus it stands still as an heape or else like Iorden it is driuen backe or is like the waters about Ierusalem which might be dryed vp with l Ps 1 14. 3 the tramplings of an army m Es 37. 25 but his mercy is as the fountaine of the gardens n Can. 4. 15 a Well of liuing waters and the springs of Lebanon the one like the garments of the Gibeonites worne out o Ios 9. 13. in a few discents the other like the p Deu. 29 5 garments of the Israelites in the wildernesse which did not weare the one like the wings of the Eagle in q Dan. 7. 4. Daniels vision pluckt off the other r 1 King 6 27. like the winges of the Cherubims neuer pulled in but euer stretched forth the one like Å¿ 2 King 4. 6. the widdowes Oyle which ran a while and then ceased the other like t Ps 133. 2 Aarons oyle for as that rested not on Aarons head but ran downe vpon his beard and went down to the very skirts of his garments So Gods mercy resteth not on the head on the good father but discendeth to his children to the next generation and so along still to the lowest borders of his religious issue Gods mercy died not with Abraham but stretched it selfe to his righteous seed from generation to generation as the kindnesse of the Athenians to that same good and iust Aristides dyed not with him but extended it selfe to his posterity for when hee died so poore that he left not to bury him according to his place and desert they respecting his children gaue his sonne Lysimachus one hundred Minas that is 240. pounds and married his daughters at the charge of the City This serueth first for the comfort of those good parents which haue a great charge of children and small meanes to leaue them who doe not see the riuers and flouds and streames of hony and butter themselues whose children inheriting the wind are like enough to be filled with pouerty this I say is a comfort to thinke that though they cannot make their sonnes and daughters plenteous in goods though their hand did not get much though they did not heape vp riches for them though they did not lay vp golde for dust and the golde of Ophir as the flints of the Riuer yet
require by vertue of this precept resteth in the soule you may dissemble with men you may set vp Idols in your heart and conceale it from them for I haue walled in the heart and mans eyes cannot be let into it but deceiue not your selues see you doe it not for I know the Anatomy of the heart and can gage the very bottome of the thoughts your doings are not behind my backe but before mee before my face in my sight I am all eye all hand all eare all foot I see worke heare all and am euery where I view all things as one and each one thing as all being whole together without diuision change or abatement Thus you see the streames into which this fountaine diuides it selfe now come to the waters and drinke raste of euery one as they present themselues in order to your view Wee must haue one God and he must be Dauids God a Ps 31. 14 I said vnto the e Lord thou art my God this God shall be our God vnto death therfore we must 1. loue him aboue all 2. feare him aboue all 3. trust in him aboue all for whatsoeuer we loue feare or trust in most that is a god to vs for the first loue him aboue all our Sauiour Christ said vnto Peter three seuerall times b Ioh. 21. 13. Simon Ioanna louest thou mee that his three-folde confession might wipe away the shame of his three-fold deniall or as Bernard c Mat. 26. 70. saith to teach thee that thou must loue God plus quam tuos tua te more then thy kinred more then thy substance more then thy selfe 1. More then thy kinred Great is the loue of children towards their parents it was a strange thing that Sarah d Gen. 18. 11. old Sarah when it ceased to be with her after the manner of women e 21. 7. should giue children sucke it was as strange that a childe should giue sucke to the parents yet Moses witnesseth the one the French Academy reports the other for when a father was condemned to die of famine his daughter gaue him sucke with her owne breasts which being made known to the Magistrates she obtained pardon for her fathers life here was loue much like the naturall loue of the Storke which feeds the dam when shee is old because the dam did feed her when she was young greater is the loue of parents towards their children magis discendit quā ascendit amor of the children the Poet said filius ante diē patrios inquirit in annos but the parents praied offred to the gods to preserue their children that they might ouer liue them therfore called superstitiosi the child is many times sicke of the father and weeps because his father liues so long whereas the father is ready to dye for sorrow that his child doth dye so soone When Iacob supposed verily that his sonne Ioseph was dead he would not be comforted but said f Gen. 37 35. surely I will goe downe into the grane vnto my sonne mourning and Dauid shewing his fatherly affection when hee heard of the death of Absolon wept as hee went and thus hee said g 2 Sam. 18 33. O my sonne Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee o Absolon my sonne my sonne but this notwithstanding if our parents if our children stand betwixt vs and our God wee must not regard them nay in this case our holy carelesnesse must make them our footsteps God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him yet loue it selfe speakes of hate in this respect and exhorts it h Ln. 14. 26 If any man come to me hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters hee can not be my disciple in this case odium in suos is pietas in Deum and if they lye in his way as he is going to God he must tread and trample them vnder his feet for loue vnto God forget his blood as i Gen. 29. 18. Iacob forsooke his kinred for loue he had vnto Rachell This serueth to reproue the father which maketh a God of his child as father Hely did he himself was a good man but his children of disposition vnlike himself the white Halciones hatch black young ones k Esa 5. 2. the vine in Esay brings forth wild grapes these children were young twigs that liked not vnder the old tree weeds that waxed out of measure noysome and fruit vpon which a bad aire falling it did quicklie rotte and fall from the tree and because their cockering father doting on them gaue them but light admonition for heauy sins and small l 1. Sam. 2. 23. 24. 29. rebuke for great offences Why doe you such things for of all this people I heare euill reports of you doe no more my sonnes for it is no good report I heare hee is said to honour his children more then God on the other side it serueth to reproue the child which maketh a god of his father Elisha was somewhat faulty this way who being too much wedded to his parents would first go m 1 King 19. 20. kisse his father and mother when he was called to the seruice of God more blameable was that disciple who being called to follow Christ would stay till his father was dead n Mat. 8. 21 Master suffer me first to goe and bury my father when the matter respecteth faith and religion and seruing of God o Mat. 23. 9 call no man your father vpon earth which should haue superiority ouer your faith or hinder you when God calleth for there is but one your Father which is in heauen 2. Loue God plus quam tua more then thy substance we may roue a riches but God must bee our standing marke Crates otherwise a wise man in this was reckoned but a Philosophicall foole to throw his mony into the sea with these words Ego te mergam ne mergar à te I will drowne thee lest thou shouldest drowne mee The Cappuchines are but Hypocrites who neither take nor touch siluer but start backe when it is offered as p Ex. 4. 3. Moses did from his rodde when it was turned to a serpent the prodigall man is blame-worthy who comming to his wealth before he comes to his wits runneth beyond his pale and liuing without compasse maketh his owne hands his executors and his owne eyes his ouerseers supposing he onely knoweth the value of the world and that others ouerprise it wee may haue riches as the Egyptians had their bondmen for vse onely and vse them as trauellers doe their third legge to helpe them along to their iourneies end but the immoderate loue of them must be left to the heathen which know no other heauen os homini sublime dedit whereas other creatures looke downewards to the ground God hath giuen man a contrary countenance that
thoroughly sifts them out 1 Pet. 2. 25 then ministers the quantity of the punishment according to the quality of the offence this is the right visitation Among vs are some visitations non morum sed nummorum visitationes But God visits not the purse but visits the sinne he will not spare the poore for pitty nor the rich for bribes hee will not commute the penance or respect any externall thing whither it be comelines of body excellency of wit nobility of stocke antiquity of descent the soule that sinneth shall die and there is Rō 2. 11. no respect of persons The sinne of the Fathers vpon the children Men are dull vpon the spurre and doe not easily bend when God bids them bow therefore God threatneth to extend his rigour to their posterity hee will lay vp the sorrow of the father for his children but Iob. 21. 19. doth this stand with the iustice of God to punish the childe for the fathers offence how then is the Scripture true euery Gal. 6. 5. man shall beare his owne burden how is the prouerbe true euery fat shall stand on his owne bottome if it be so let that prouerbe which was out of date be renewed againe the fathers haue eaten Eze. 18. 2. sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge The Ciuill law to fetch this point from our first originall saith Partus sequitur ventrem the birth followes the wombe that is the child shall be as the mother if shee be free her child shall bee free though shee marry a bond-man and according to the lawes of the Realme the child shall be as the father but when father and mother are bond both as ours are then there is no question but the children are bond The whelps of wolues though they can doe no hurt with hunting yet already doe sport themselues in biting and delight in bloud the brood of serpents like the disciples of the Pharisees yonger in yeeres Mat. 22. 16 but like in malice are shorter in stature but aequall in poyson and who will blame him that shall kill these whelpes and destroy the young serpents though they haue yet no strength to hurt and cast forth their poyson non prius nati quam damnati And though children being young bring forth no bad fruit in the boughs yet are they infected at the roote but leaue this originall and goe on if the father be a traitor to his Prince doe you maruaile if his children doe smart for it if the husband hath publike notice of his wiues adultry shall hee not giue her a publike discharge shall he smother the fault which shee is not ashamed to set abroach the disease of marriage is adultry and the medecine is deuorcement shall he put away the mother and retaine her children which he knoweth to bee an adulterous generation now God is the husband of his Church he marryed Israell to himselfe but she in ioyning her Hos 4. 12. selfe to Idols went a whoring from vnder her God God therefore Hos 4. 12. Esa 50. 1. forsakes her and giues her a bill of diuorcement and therefore if her children feele the smart God bids them reason the case with their mother and not lay the blame vpon him pleade Hos 2. 2. with your mother with an ingemination pleade with her Againe God may punish the sinne of the parents on the Children yet the cause of punishment may be in themselues as if any being sicke of the plague infect other and they dye euery one of them is said to dye of his owne plague God will not haue this prouerbe vsed in Israell the fathers haue eaten sowre grapes Eze. 18. 3. the Childrens teeth are set on edge but if they eate sowre grapes as their fathers did no maruaile though their teeth be set on edge When God takes away his grace they eate sowre grapes and drinke their owne poyson then are they as shippes cast vpon the rockes dashed in pieces or sunke in the sandes when God not giuing them his grace they want all their tackling then are they as a house which falles of it selfe because God as a Sampson Iud. 16. 29. hath withdrawen the pillers then are they as olde lame men which sinke of themselues when God will not lend them his grace as a staffe to vpholde them This God doth visit the iniquitie of the fathers on their Children not by taking away any thing they had but because he will not supply that they wanted this is no iniustice in God for euery good gift commeth from him grace is his he may giue it to whom hee will he may withold it from whom he please it is lawfull for him to doe with his owne what he list and hee many times withholdes Mat. 20. 15 it from the Childe when he considers the sinne of the father and for that the father ran further and further into wickednes he giues ouer the Children so that they sell themselues to worke wickednes that filling vp the the iniquitie of the fathers they might haue their punishment cast into their bosome And this is that wich Hosee saith concerning Israell because Hos 2. 5. the mother played the harlot and shee that conceiued Hos 4. 13. them did shamefully therefore their daughters shal be harlots that they might be punished for their owne faults but mediately for the sinne of their parents which caused God to giue ouer their of-spring that so they might giue head to their lusts and bring a speedy destruction vpon themselues This must teach both parents and children each of them a seuerall lesson Parents to haue a greater care then other of discharging their duty to God for the neglect hereof brings a plague on themselues and on those which come out of their loynes and if God accomplish not his iudgements assoone as a sinne is committed hee can well worke them vpon the ofspring of such as seeme to haue escaped his hand I haue seene saith Eliphaz the foolish well rooted and suddenly I cursed his habitation saying his Children shall be farre from saluation and they shall be Iob. 5. 3. 4. destroyed in the gate iudgement shall finde out the Children though happely sometime it passe by the father his bloud be on Mat. 27. 25 vs and on our Children say the Iewes to Pylate concerning the bloud of Christ cruenti plane genitores saith Saint Augustine qui ante facti sunt paricide quam parentes O cruell fathers which were paracides before they were parents but though this wish had not been yet this cruell crying sinne had come home to their Childrens doores and been powred into their bosomes Wee haue a prouerbe happy is the Childe when the father goes to the diuell for example the father not so much as rouing at God makes the world his standing marke he neuer thinkes of compassing heauen but as Satan came from compassing the earth to and fro and from
Num. 17. 7. 8. Aarons rodde layd forth brought forth buddes brought forth blossomes and bare ripe almondes therefore say not the rodde causeth blewnes chiding discourageth breaking is violent the yoake is heauie but with the birch bend children in youth like the birch least you bewayle them in age for their wilfull irreuerence and stubborne disobedience you parents many times iarre and snarre you men and wiues sometime bestow blowes each on other leaue off reserue them for your children they will doe your sonnes and daughters more good correct them make them know themselues they will be a ioy to your hearts they will be your glory and as the Apostle speaking of the faithfull saith g Heb. 11. 16. God was not ashamed of them to be called their God so you neede not be ashamed of them to be called their father but let them run riot and take their owne swinge dote vpon them and displease them not they will grieue your hearts and assure your selues that so many sorrowes shall afflict you as a due punnishment in age if a 1. Sam. 4. 18. with Elie you doe not breake your neckes before as you suffered vices in them in their youth they wil proue like a generation of vipers which rend and teare their mothers sides and the dishonour which they will doe vnto you will be as a sword passing thorough your hearts thus hauing stept a little aside to shew the cause of childrens disobedience I returne to the charge Honour thy father that is thy master for he is paterfamilias the father of his houshold and therefore b 2. Kin. 5. 13. Naamans seruants call their Master father and on the other side the Master as c Mat. 8. 6. the Centurion calles his seruant sonne for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth sonne as well as seruant and we may say of seruants God hath made them little lower then sonnes as Dauid said of man d Psal 8. 5. thou hast made him a little lower then Angels but a little lower and God accounting seruants as sonnes saith e Col. 3. 24 they shall receiue the reward of the inheritance The Master hath a care of his seruant to giue them meate in due season and though he doth not say by and by when his seruant commeth from the field f Luc. 17. 7. 8. Goe and sit downe at table yet afterward he saith eate thou and drinke thou Aâ—d g Pro. 31. 15 the wise and worthy woman for her part riseth while it is yet night and giueth the portion to her housholde and the ordinary to her maydes if God doth visit the seruants with sickenes the Master doth not shut his doores vpon them or send them to an hospitall but keeping them in sickenesse vseth the best meanes he can for their recouery a 1. Sam. 30 13. not dealing as the Amalekite who left his seruant because he fell sicke but like the good Centurion who comming vnto Christ in the behalfe of his seruant saith b Mat. 8. 6. Master my seruant lyeth sicke at home of the palsie and is grieuously payned but speake the word only and my seruant shall be healed Againe he alloweth them lawfull times of honest recreation and will not weare them to the backe as though they were made for nothing but his seruitude he will pay them their wages at their time concluded on and not find or frame excuses to discarde them empty in a word he will so vse them that if opportunitie serue they shall feele the sweetnes of their seruice and his bounty In regard of the soule he is a Seraphim to kindle their zeale and reckoning his seruants as much his as hee is his owne hath a care that they walke with their God and doe not transgresse the limits of honesty like that noble man who had for his Impresse two bundles of ripe Millet bound together with this Motto seruari et seruare meum est for the nature of the Millet is both to garde it self from all corruption also to preserue from putrifying those things which lye neare it thus doth the good Master and therefore his seruants honour him but if he should be of a contrary disposition c Psa 123. 2. yet the eies of seruants must looke to the hands of their Masters and the eyes of a mayden to the hand of her Mistresse a good seruant must be subiect to his bad Master as farre forth as he may doe him seruice with cleane hands and with an honest heart and this is that which Saint Peter wisheth when hee saith that seruants d 1. Pet. â— â—8 should be subiect not only to good and courteous Masters but also to the froward for then a cleane napkin doth wipe a fowle mouth This honour consisteth in reuerence in token whereof e 2. Sam. 9. 11. Ziba doth acknowledge Dauid his Lord and himselfe his seruant in obedience in witnesse whereof the Centurion saith f Mat. 8 9. I say tomy seruant doe this and hee doth it in diligence and therefore g Gen. 2 54. Abrahams seruant when he nath suffered his eies to sleepe and his eie-lids to slumber and the temples of his head to take a little rest will not for all intreaties admit for any longer stay but like an arrow out of a bow hasteth to dispatch the businesse whereabouts his master sent him in faithfulnesse which caused a GeÌ„ 24. 33 Abrahams seruant to preferre his masters businesse before his owne necessity which made b GeÌ„ 39. 9 Ioseph true to his master notwithstanding the inticements of his mistrisse which maketh many seruants hazarde their own liues for their masters safety This serueth to condemne such seruants as will be haile fellow well met with their masters secondly such as being bid to doe any thing will giue their master leaue to doe it himselfe or at least murmur and grumble reason the matter and answere againe Thirdly eye seruants which will doe good seruice but yet no longer then their masters eye is vpon them such a one is that seruant in the Gospell who c Mat. 24. 49. in his masters absence doth reuell and take on as though hee would throw the house out at the window such a seruant did that fat man meete withall who being asked why being fat hee did ride vpon leane horse answered I feede my selfe but trust my man to feede my horse Fourthly such as are treacherous to their masters and by discouering them or their secrets doe bring them into danger but here a question may be moued how farre forth a master or his secrets may be concealed We read in Chronicles that when Richard the third that vsurper did pursue the Duke of Buckingham to put him to death for tyrants vse to cut downe the staires by which they climbe vp the Duke in extremity did flie for succour to one Banaster his seruant vpon whom hee had bestowed great meanes to enrich him
lighted and their life at an ebbe before the tyde be full others like flowers are gathered while they be fresh and being like a sentence interrupted before a period begin like some summer fruite to rotte assoone as they are ripe death writes them c Dan. 5. 3. as he did the Chaldean tyrant a letter of Summaunce to appeare that night before him It is a curse of God vpon the bloud-thirsty and deceitfull man d Ps 55. 23 he shall not liue out halfe his dayes it was a punishment of God vpon Elie for cockering his sonnes and vpon his sonnes for their disobedience e 1. Sam. 2. 32. 33. the multitude of thine house shall dye when they be men there shall not be an olde man in thine house for euer it was a plague of God vpon Israel that though they brought vp their children f Hos 9. 12 yet God would depriue them from being men a plague vpon the wicked g Iob. 36. 14. that their soule doth dye in youth a Iob. 22. 16 that they are cutte off before their time b Gen. 38. 7. like Er and Onan as not worthy to liue vpon the earth and on the other side it is Gods blessing if he increase the length of our dayes and yeares of our life if we multiply our dayes as the sand if death demande not his due till the crowes feete be in our eyes if we dye c Iob. 42. 17. with Iob being olde and full of dayes and goe to our graue in a full age d Iob. 5. 26. as a ricke of corne commeth in good season into the barne This serueth first to confute that heathen who said optimum est non nasci proximum quam cito aboleri the best thing is neuer to be borne and the second best is to dye quickely for though this life be ouer spread with sinnes and cares and crosses which like a filthy morphew make it lothsome to all iudicious eyes yet all these are but accidentall life it selfe is a blessing and the longer we liue the more experience we haue of Gods fauour a greater loathing of the sinnes which our youth delighted in and larger time of repentance Againe this teacheth that we must not hasten forward the end of our dayes and bring our selues out of breath before our race be ended for this is to throttle and choake the blessing of God let therefore the thred of thy life be drawne out by Lachesis till 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be sent to cut it in sunder let not the spirit resigne ouer it borrowed mansion till naturall moisture of it selfe doth soake away till like a Sise or wax candle it be consumed to the socket and the last drop of moisture quencheth the last sparke of glory surrender not thy selfe when a conceit takes thee let the landlord take it at his pleasure doe not like a coward run away but then depart in peace when God saith returne againe thou sonne of Adam and then willingly pay tribute to Nature when of themselues the naturall passages doe close together like an empty bagge neither loue this life for delights in it e Ec. 1. 2. for vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie yet loue it to serue God in it neither hate this life for the miseries of it yet hate it so far forth as it keepes thee in subiection to sinne Againe come not presumptuously into places where some bodies are contagiously sicke lest thou loose this blessing and come vntimely to thy graue come not within the lists of destruâ—ction if f Gen. 19. 20. with Lot thou canst haue a Zoar to saue thy selfe fly as much from him whose disease would infect thy bloud as from him whose cruelty would spill it Lastly bestow cost as long as thou maiest to continue this blessing by vpholding this ruinous house of thine it is against the course of Nature and a way to tempt the very God of Nature wilfully to hinder our health or not seeke meanes to continue it or to recouer it God sendeth seuerall diseases and hath appointed seueral Medicines as remeâ—ies to incounter theÌ„ therefore honour the Phisition g Es 38. 21 with Ezechias lay a plaister vpon the boyle say not man hath his set period as well as the sea it boundes which it cannot passe say not life and death is not in our owne handes for some seeke death in misery yet finde it not others meete with it at feasts and gaudees where they would fainest forget it say not when the glasse is run doe what wee can wee can stay no longer and the clocke will stricke when the minites be past say not let death seâ—ke vs yet it shall not finde vs till our time be come and therefore away with Phisicke what shall meanes doe for then a â—ope vpon thee try euery knife eate Colloquintida thy belly full freqâ—ent places where the ayre about thee doth infect and where the breath of one body is poyson to another but in matter of hope where the end is not knowne a 2. Chr. 16 12. vse meanes with Asa though thou rely not vpon them though many times they auaile not Daies though some mens liues be long yet the Lord saith not long yeares long monethes but long dayes and Dauid measuâ—eth their length not by a goade or an ell but by an hand b Ps 39. 5. thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long to shew how shorst this long life is and howsoeuer we patch and peece these poore cottages of ours yet they will come in manus domini and shortly fall into the Lords handes Let old men in their arithmeticke deduct their night for sleepe which is like vnto death being the customer of mans life taxeth the nights to his owne vse and they shall finde halfe their time stricken off at one blow let them deduct their prime dayes for c Ec. 11. 10 childehood and youth are vanitie another part is cut off let them deduct the dayes of sortow which are rather to be tearmed death then life and all their daies are gone for life and misery are twines Hipocrates twines borne together and dye together The Lacedemonian in Plutarch hearing the Nighttingale sing sweetly tooke her into his hand and hauing stripped her of her feathers sayd tantum vox she was nothing but voyce such is the life of him that can sing the merriest note if you strip it of sickenes strip it of cares strip it of sorrow d Gen. 5. 27. Mâ—thusalâ—h liued longest of all our forefathers yet he liued not a thousand yeares but grant he had yet a e 2. Pet. 3. 8 thousand yeares to God are but as one day but we who commonly exceede not threescore yeares and ten liue not an houre to that day and therefore Salomon as though our dayes were not worthy the title of time mentioned not a time to liue but f Ec. 3. 2. a time to be
borne and a time to dye as though death did border vpon life as though our cradle did stand in our graue Hee sayd something to the purpose which sayd that life was smoake or the shadow of smoake or the dreame of the shadow of smoake but I say of him as one sayd of another in another case non dixit vt est dixit vt potnit hee made life as short as hee coulâ— noâ— so short as hee should hee shot nearer the marke who being demanâ—ed what life was made an answere answereles for he presently turned his backe and went his way and indeede we fetch but here a turne and God saith g Ps 90. 3. returne againe our mortall life is but a liuing death the â—aâ—th receiues vs like a kinde mother into her entralls when we haue a while troden her vnder foote and all our time in respect of eternitie is shorter then the time betweene the drinking of the â—emlocke and death of him that drinkes it mine a Ps 39. 5. age is euen as nothing in comparison of thee saith the Prophet and euery man liuing is altogether vanitie First therefore affect not a kinde of eternitie here vpon earth old men as they are children for simplicitie so would they be for yeares Lysicrates in his old age dyed his white haires blacke that he might sâ—eâ—e young still The b Num. 32. 5. children of Ruben and Gad hauing much cattle requested Moses leading the people toward the land of promise that they might be left in the land of Gilead and not goe ouer Iorden so carnall men hauing many beastly affections and worldly men whose portion is in this life say as Peter when Christ was transfigured c Mat. 17. 4 it is good to be here and therefore with thâ— Gadits d Num. 23. goe to building and make their prison as strong as they can but when they haue done what may be done yet within a few daies like the spider and her webbe wherein shee thought to haue lodged as in her freehold they shall bee swept away their daies shall soone suffer eclipse the night will come when their candle shall be put out and they shall goe to their long home though many times against their will e GeÌ„ 19. 26. as Lots wife went out of Sodome as f Luc. 16. 3. the vniust Steward went out of his office though with the Crabbe they goe backward from death and are pulled from life with more violence g 1 Kâ— 2. 28 then Ioab from the hornes of the Altar Secondly haue this life in contempt euen for this that it lasteth not a Mat. 20. 6 Here wee may not stand still here wee can not rest b Re. 14. 13 that is reserued to another life c 1 Pet. 2. 11 here we are pilgrims and strangers and therefore not in our Countrey to rest our selues but in our iourney to walke our selues if wee feele any pleasure it is soone dashed with some mishappe and like a calme continues not long without a storme nay our sweet is tempered with sowre and we finde a mixture of both but say that our life were a Paradise our ioyes exquisite and our pleasures without composition yet how can wee sing our songes in a strange land how can this but coole our delight and make vs lesse esteeme it to consider our life is short our delight vanish and though we spend our time in pleasure yet sodainly we goe downe to the graue Thirdly we haue here no abiding place therefore seeke the place where we shall haue d Heb 9. 15 a perpetuity rather then this from whence wee must shortly goe of necessity respect that where we shall haue an euerlasting habitation rather then this where like freshmen we haue but as it were a yeere of probation In purchasing you regard not so much three liues as the fee simple not so much a lease determinable by yeeres as land which goe to you and your heires for euer then set not so much by this life which shall vanish away like a scrolle as by that where you shall receiue the charter of an euerlasting being not so much by this day in which the sunne setteth as by that day which knoweth no euentide nor hath any sunne going downe where thou shalt haue no more Sunne to shine e Esa 60. 19 20. by day nor Moone by night where the Lord shall bee thine euerlasting light and thy God thy glory Thy daies The day to come f 1 Pet. 3. 10 is the day of the Lord but the dayes present h are our dayes A man reckones of that g Ps 90. 12 which is his owne though it be but of small value and hee of great ability Naball a man of great possessions and exceeding mighty yet reckones of his bread and other small commodities a 1 Sam. 25. 2. 11. Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh and giue vnto men whom I know not whence they bee but if it bee dainty then wee set the more by it as the poore man did by that b 2 Sa. 12. 3. one little sheepe which he had bought in Nathans parable but if further we can neuer recouer it if once it be gone from vs then how great is our griefe to leaue it or loose it Now time is ours c Luc. 19. 42. this day and nihil nostrum nisi tempus nothing so properly ours as is time it is also rare and dainty for whereas of other things a man may haue d Iob i. 2. 3 many at one time he can haue but one time at once and if this be once past behind e Ec. â— 5. 6. 7. there is no holdfast to pull it backe againe The Sunne and the wind and the riuers all these three returne to their places In the three parables f Luc. 15. 6 9. 31. the man doth finde his lost sheepe the woman her lost groate the father his lost sonne but losse of time comes neuer againe but is like a bird let flie at large out of the hand or a word which babled out cannot be recalled If wee haue but a short time to enioy any thing we take all the benefit we can reape in that time as if a lease bee shortly out of date we rip vp the grounds eate vp the grasse cut downe the copses and take all the liberty the lease will afford Certaine hawkes in colder countries are most eager and earnest to take their prey when the day light there is of least continuance euen g Re. 12. 1â— the diuell him selfe is most busie because he hath but a short time Now time is ours and it is but a short time we haue he that is young may thinke he is old enough to die he that is strucken in yeeres sees his set period before him and may thinke himselfe too old to liue longer the palme tree is full of blomes the mappe of age is