in their stead his hoary hairs returning by degrees to black again There have been also in our Age and Countrey many Instances of such as have attained to an extraordinary Age. In Northumberland an Old Minister of Gods Word called Mr. Michael Vivon who in the year of our Lord 1657. being then one hundred and ten years of age had within two years time before three young teeth sprung up and though for the space of forty years before he could not read the largest Print without Spectacles yet afterwards he could read the smallest without them having also new hair comeâ—… upon his head and had five children after that he was fourscore years old And it is but Ao 1635. that Thomas Parr died in London who had lived in the Countrey above one hundred and fifty years In all 152. years and nine months Yea there were two Brothers and a Sister Richard Green Philip Green and Alice who lived but a while ago not far from Marlborough that were alive together and each of them above an hundred years old the last of them which was Richard dying about Ao 1685. at an hundred and fifteen years of age And a modern Historian of our own tells us that Ao. 1588. one Iames Sands of Harbourn in Staffordshire died aged one hundred and forty his wife also being 120. And produces several others that lived to see their Grand-childrens Grand-children Yea even Women though the weaker Sex yet have sometimes survived unto a great Age. The Scripture relates that Sarah Abrahams wife lived 127. years Genes 23. 1. the onely woman whose Age is recorded in the Book of God. Pliny's Note of Terentia Cicero's wife that lived an hundred and three years or of Clodia that lived an hundred and fifteen is rendred inconsiderable by examples of our own For it is recorded of Dame Hester Temple of Stow in Bucking hamshire who having four Sons and nine Daughters lived to see seven hundred extracted from her own body And the instance of holy Mistris Honywood of Kent is well known who lived to see Three hundred of her offspring alive together and both these must needs be full of dayes Yea it was but about Ao 1670. that one Mrs. Pyfield died in Ireland who had lived one hundred thirty and six years But the R. H. the late Countess of Desmond exceeds all late examples in these Countries who when she was an hundred and forty years old had a set of young teeth and was able to walk many miles who died within our memories being as it is credibly affirmed an 184. years old In all which Instances as the strength of Nature was great so the Power and Goodness of the God of Nature was greater to the honour whereof I have Collected and mention'd them not that any of us should deferr our Repentance or any Good Work upon an expectation of arriving at the like term of Life sith an hundred thousand are dead and rotten for one that reach such Longevity CHAP. II. The Causes of Old-age and Preservatives SECT I. HAving thus Described Old-age and selected some of the most eminent Examples thereof I come now in the Second place to inquire into the true Causes of it and Preservatives against it For the Causes thereof First the Original meritorious Cause is Mans Sin and Defection from God. The truth is it may seem somewhat strange that Man being created at the first in the Image of the Immortal God placed but little lower than the Angels crowned with glory and honour and made Ruler over all other creatures should have his life burdened with so many sorrows and then so soon arrive at old-Old-age and Death And some of the Heathens did foolishly charge Nature with Envy and Cruelty towards Man in causing so noble a creature to tarry so short a time in the world and to grow old as soon as he begins to grow ripe And Others as wisely concluded that Men were sent into this world only for their Punishment for crimes committed in others Bodies before And indeed if you set the Scriptures aside which resolve the Case it is somewhat unaccountable to have so short an History of so noble a creature If a curious Architect should frame and rear up a firm and stately pile of Building and being compleatly furnished the same should presently shrink and in a short time decay and fall to the ground Passengers would be apt to call in question the sidelity or skill of him that made it or exceedingly wonder by what means it came to ruine till they come to know that the Inhabitant himself undermin'd pluck'd down or fir'd his own house So in the Case before us it is matter of grief and astonishment to see the most exquisite piece of Gods workmanship upon earth to become decrepit in so short a space and to be reduc'd so soon into dust and ashes We must know therefore that Man at his first Creation being made up of a Body and a Soul was neither in his own nature so unchangeable and immortal as the Angels nor so frail and weak as other creatures below Not so unchangeable I say in his own nature for having a body that was to be continually supplied with food that is repair'd it follows that that which needs repair is liable to decay but yet while the sweet harmony wherein it was first form'd was not disturb'd the frame might well have indured for a long time especially if the Tree of Life in Eden were intended as some of the Learned thought to support strengthen and perpetuate Life But the dismal Fall of our first Parents did so crush the Body and wound the Soul that neither of them can be recovered in this Life For immediately that Death which was threatned to him by degrees seized upon his Body and fear shame and sorrow entred into his Soul. And though the divine Providence permitted Him and divers of his posterity to live many hundreds of years that the naked world might be peopled and that Religion with all other useful knowledge might be procur'd preserv'd and propagated in the world yet we date his decaying and dying state from that word Gen. 3. 19. For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return That righteous Sentence brings our hoary hairs upon us Thou turnest man to destruction and sayest Return ye children of men In the morning they are like grass which groweth up In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth Psal. 90. 3 6. If you inquire therefore into the ruines of humane nature the answer will be that Sin is the moth which being bred therein hath fretted the garment withers the man and layes his honour in the dust Every decay therefore of our Strength should mind us of our Apostacy from God by the Fall and should renew our grief for the same Whether Adam wept as oft as he looked towards Paradise is uncertain but surely when we find our Eye-sight
of Temperance and Sobriety And that both for Others sakes and for your Own. You should be examples O be not stumbling Blocks to younger people Your vices may propagate when your persons are past it and those that are Eye or Ear-witnesses of your follies may derive the practice of them to the Child that is yet unborn and altho you may recover by true Repentance yet they may stumble upon you and fall and never rise again Entail not a Curse upon your Posterity do not nourish in them that natural depravation which in equity you ought rather to cure And for your Own sake be sober be vigilant for you are upon the confines of the everlasting World a World wherein all sensual enjoyments will be for ever out of date endeavour to go off the Stage without a Blemish When some Courtiers were sent to S r Fr. Walsingham being sick and sad to make him merry God said he is serious in his Law Iesus Christ was serious in his Death the Holy Ghost is serious in his dealing with our Souls all in Heaven and Hell are serious and shall a Man that hath one Foot in the Grave Laugh and Iest Take warning by poor Noah One hours Drunkenness discovered that which Six hundred years Sobriety had concealed If his inexperience did in any degree excuse him you can make no such pretence If you have any regard to the Health and Vigour of your Bodies to the quiet and welfare of your Souls to the pleasing and honouring of God bridle your appetite and check the pleasures of your Senses In short there is as we observed before no better way to spin out your lives to make old-Old-age pleasant and Death easie than the exercise of this Vertue The instance of Cornaro a learned and rich Venetian is common that with a sparing and orderly Diet lived to a great Age with little inconvenience To deny a mans self is the way to please himself at length and by opposing the preternatural desires of the Body we contribute to the true happiness even of the Body it self And here comes in the use and exercise of Mortification wherein tho a wise man may make some steps yet the work cannot be done without the assistance of Gods Holy Spirit If ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the Body ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. Implore therefore the aid of this good Spirit who can make you mortally to hate that which you now do ardently love and will pluck up the roots of that whereof Morality doth only shave the Hair. Set the Spectacle of Death oft before you and of that endless Estate to which you are such near Neighbours and think how unsuitable a vain life is to a serious Death Be much in Prayer and if need be add Fasting thereunto that your moderation may be known unto all men seeing undoubtedly to Old people The Lord is at hand SECT VII THE Seventh Grace proper for Old-age is Charity or Love. Not that sensual or carnal Love which is proper or rather common to Youth and which hath long since dropt off like Leaves in the Autumn of their Age but that Grace which disposeth the Heart to think the best the Tongue to speak the best and the whole man to promote the Welfare of Others The Seat or chief Mansion of this is the Heart which being filled with this Grace it is diffused every way and the whole man is tinctur'd with it It obligeth a man to Think the best of every man. Charity thinketh no evil believeth all things hopeth all things beareth all things By this we are ready to account the Certain good things in Others better than they are the certain Evils in others less than they are the good that is but doubtful in others certain and doubtful Evils none And it rests not in Opinion but works by Desire whereby the Heart doth unfeignedly desire the Temporal Spiritual and Eternal good of all men Neither doth it rest there but shews it self in Endeavour and that both by Word and Deed speaking To them Of them For them to God and man what may conduce thereunto in their Lips is the Law of kindness Charity vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly is not easily provoked 1 Cor. 13. 5. Neither will Words satisfie it but doth actually help and cheerfully succour every Body as their occasion requires and his own ability extends And in this Grace doth every good Old Man and Woman excell This was the eminent Grace of the Evangelist Iohn in his Old-age for he lived longer than any of the Apostles and his Swan-like Song still was Love as is evident in all his Epistles yea some Church Historians affirm that when he could go no longer by reason of his Age into the Christian Assemblies yet he was instant to be led or carried there where the substance of what he was able to say was little Children love one another And you may find how pathetical was Paul the Aged in his tender charity to Onesimus Philem. 9. Being such a one as Paul the Aged for loves sake I beseech thee for my Son Onesimus And this Spirit did continue in the Ancient Christians in the Primitive times who loved as Tertullian tells us as Brethren and were ready to dye for one another We that did hate one another saith Iustin Martyr now do live familiarly together and do pray for our Enemies In all Ages as men have increased in Piety they have increased in Charity and come to relent of their rigour and keenness It was Age Experience and Consideration as well as a Prison that melted Bishop Ridley to accost his Brother Hooper in this manner However in some by-matters and circumstances of Religion your wisdom and my Simplicity hath a little jarred yet now I sincerely love and imbrace you You know Rehoboams Old Counsellours were for lenity when the young were stern and furious It 's true the natural tempers or painful distempers may incline some Old people to too much Acrimony yet all Aged people that are considerate have taken more degrees in Charity than young people have It was an Old man in Gibeah that had more of this Grace than all the City besides Iudg. 19. 16. For besides the advantage they have had of Gods holy Ordinances the Scope whereof is to increase our Faith and Love they have found by experience that the Life and Soul of Religion lies not in these lesser matters that have caused the greatest noise in the World that every difference in Religion makes not a different Religion so that wheresoever they see any thing of Christ these they love Their Consciousness of their own mistakes and of their own imperfections hath forced them to more charitable thoughts of others They have observed that true Grace hath lived in the midst of great infirmities yea they have found this Flower in divers persons where they thought there had been nothing but
the world and to the desire of Life When the Aged man hath made it his business to honour God to save his own soul and to serve his own generation he may with unconceivable comfort say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace I have done with this life welcome be the grave welcome everlasting life SECT VIII THE Eighth Work of old-Old-age is Laying up a treasure in Heaven Where by Heaven I understand not only the Place but the Nature of the Treasures heavenly Treasures Some of these the Aged will have need of Before Death of some At Death of some After Death 1. You should lay up for your selves a Treasure of Prayers and Promises to support you before Death comes Of Prayer I have spoken before but there are Promises that are very comfortable and very necessary for Old people which they who are assured of Gods Veracity and their own Integrity may apply to themselves as if individually directed unto them The Apostle makes that inference from that excellent Promise which hath more value in it than all the Old mans baggs and bonds Heb. 13. 5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee whence he inferrs vers 6. So that we even we may boldly say The Lord is my helper Another Promise there is most comfortable for Ancient people Isa. 46. 4. Even to your Old-age I am he and even to hoar hairs will I carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you When our feeble legs will not carry us when the pillars of the house tremble and in effect cry out we can bear you no longer then will the power and goodness of God carry us up and deliver us yea when we approach to Death and fear presents it and the grave most formidably we may then apply what the Lord spake to Old Iacob concerning his going down into Egypt Gen. 46. 3. I am God the God of thy father fear not to go down into Egypt For I will go down with thee and will also surely bring thee up again So assuredly will the Lord go down with us to the grave and as surely bring us up again and how can we be afraid with such company and with such a promise Hoard on still there is another gracious Promise Psal. 23. 4. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me More yet Psal. 48. last For this God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto death These and such like Promises left by him that cannot lye will support the sinking spirits of a poor Christian more than all the friends the cordials the extrinsick comforts in the whole world 2. At Death you will need a Treasure of Faith and Patience The reign of Sense is expired somewhat is necessary to support a dying man more than a living healthy man. What is it that makes Death terrible to a poor creature The withdrawing of all a mans outward comforts and the Appearance of all his Sins When one is dying they must leave husband wife children parents friends house all Now Faith will give us a real sight of the other world and one sight of that quite disgraces and annihilates all the comforts of this world Adieu poor house I see a far better ready for me adieu my dearest friends and relations I see those enjoyments before me that utterly eclypse you all And then when your Sins are mustered up before you their heinous nature and deserved punishment and that Satan bestirs him to represent them with the greatest Terror to the Aged dying person if Faith be dormant the poor soul is driven into the pit of despair But a lively Faith flies to Iesus Christ runs into his wounds lays hold on his everlasting righteousness and so bids defiance to Satan yea even to the law and all his sins with Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed It is related in an Epistle prefixed to Brentius's works that when a certain Senator in Suevia lay dying one like a Scribe came into his chamber with pen and paper calling to him to reckon up his sins for saith he I am sent from God to bring an account of them to his Tribunal Well saith the Sick man raising up himself as well as he could and perceiving that he had to do with his great Enemy the Devil write this down first The seed of the woman shall break the serpents head and thou mayst write all my sins under it Whereupon the Accuser of the brethren presently vanished and left the weak man in peace And you will have need of Patience also that after ye have done and suffered the will of God ye may receive the promise Heb. 10. 36. So acute or else tedious are some Distempers that they will strain all the nerves of the Soul to wrestle with them Lay up therefore by diligent reading hearing meditation and Prayer a stock of these Graces before the evil day come These are the true riches and which neither the fire can burn nor the plague infect nor time wast nor thieves purloyn 3. And lastly It behoves the Aged to lay up a Treasure which they may meet with After death to wit of Good works In this life is your seed time for these and they that scatter this precious seed shall doubtless mark doubtless they shall come again with rejoycing bringing their sheaves with them Psal. 126. 6. Faith and good works may well agree in a Christian and though they cannot cooperate to a mans Iustification for though both of them are Acts of a creature yet Faith derives not this influence from the Subject but from the Object it justifies as it apprehends and imbraces Christ notwithstanding both are necessary to Salvation Luk. 12. 33. Sell that ye have and give alms provide your selves baggs which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth i. e. This treasure is neither liable to intrinsick decay nor to extrinsick casualty What other treasure hath escaped danger but who can scale the Empyrean Heaven These the Apostle calls a good foundation 1 Tim. 6. 19. Charge the rich that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life Other riches you lay up for others yea perhaps for such as you know not but by doing all the good you can you lay up something in store for your selves What if the advantage be not at present visible men will lay out money upon a good Reversion though they never live to injoy it Here is a Reversion worth the having Eternal life Many useful things may be done in this life which cannot be done by
grow old because the nature of it is unperishable and that which never perishes can never be said to decay But when natural Heat begins to abate when no food can sufficiently supply that Radical Moisture in the Body and when the digestive faculty is weakened so that both the Senses and Members begin to feel a Decay then Old-age hath taken you by the hand to lead you to your long home SECT III. NOW touching the precise Year wherein Old-age may be said to begin it is not so material to be known as it is doubtful to be fixed But if we allow five and twenty years to the Growing part of mans life and reckon five and twenty years more to the Ripe or staid part thereof then doth Old-age ordinarily commence at Fifty years of age And there or thereabout many Learned men have fixt it and then five and twenty years more will reach the End of most mens lives or bring them to seventy five an age wherein commonly men grow every way impotent and have one foot in the Grave It 's true an universal fixed period cannot be set herein the diversity of mens natural Constitutions Imployments Diet Exercises c. causeth Old-age to come sooner to some and slower to others Some persons through the happiness of their Descent have a better stock of natural Heat and radical moisture at their setting out than others and consequently Old-age being nothing else but the cold and dry temper of the Body seizeth upon the person more slowly Some peoples imployments do not spend or impair their Vitals so much as others Some persons are nourished by more sound and vigorous Food than others are In short a Chearful Heart a Sober Diet and moderate Exercise may defer Old-age for a time but come it will at length even an House of Stone will at last decay and grow out of repair Iob 14. 19 20. The Waters wear the Stones thou washest away the things which grow out of the Dust of the Earth and thou destroyest the hope of Man. Thou prevailest for ever against him and he passeth thou changest his Countenance and sendest him away As for the Progress of Old-age there be some that make a First Second and Third part thereof but they undertake not or else agree not to determine precisely their respective periods But this is plain that there is a Vigorous and a Decrepit Old-age During the Former natural Abilities are not so decayed as to render a Man uneasie or unserviceable Abraham was an elderly man Gen. 18. 11. He was Old and well stricken in years Gen. 24. 1. being then about one hundred and forty years of Age but Gen. 25. 8. He was Old and full of years being one hundred seventy and five then he was very Old. Thus Iacob was an Old man at one hundred and seven years for Benjamin is called a Child of his Old-age Gen. 44. 20. But he lived Forty years after that Gen. 47. 28. But then he was a very Old-man his Eyes were dim for Age and he was confin'd to his Bed. In the former part of Old-age many injoy a good Consistency of Mind and habitude of Body whereby they are very comfortable in themselves and very capable of Counselling and Governing others Yea upon some accounts it may be esteemed the best parcel of our Life wherein our impetuous Passions being already spent we are furnished by great experience to be very useful in our Generation But when a Man is arrived at the latter part of Old-age to be impotent and decrepit then he grows uneasy to himself and unserviceable to others These days may be called Evil days and of these years it may be said I have no pleasure in them Eccles. 12. 1. SECT IV. THE last Period of old-Old-age is Death Some indeed have been longer ' ere they tasted of Death and some sooner there is no certain definite year wherein that last friendly Enemy comes The Antediluvians lived eight or nine hundred years Those which were born after the Flood did scarce live half so long for Arphaxad who was born after it lived but 440 years Gen 11. 13. And in the time of Peleg his Grand-child the Age of man was shrunk half in half shorter he lived only 239 years Gen. 11. 21. And in the Age of Nahor great Grand-child to Peleg it fell to 150. Gen. 11. 25. And so the ordinary term of mans life was by degrees curtail'd that in Moses time the dayes of his years were reckon'd at threescore years and ten and the strongest constitutions did reach but to fourscore years Psal. 90. 10. Howbeit there have been in all ages of the world some Instances of such as have exceeded the ordinary standard the causes and ends whereof are known only to God in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind Job 12. 10. Thus we read of many in the Primitive times of Christianity that lived on mean Food and yet overpassed an hundred years and Rivet in the end of his Epistle to his Brother concerning old-Old-age makes a Relation of the pious life and remarkable Death of Iacobus Faber Stapulensis who An. 1538. died above an hundred years of Age. Yea Eusebius assures us that Narcissus Bishop of Ierusalem attained to an hundred sixty and six years Our late Geographers also tell us of the Brazilians that they live commonly to 150. years and that free from diseases Fran. Alvarez affirmeth that himself saw an Ethiopian Bishop who was an hundred and fifty years of age And I have read that in one region of Italy there were found upon a survey Fifty four persons of 100. years of age Fifty seven of 110. Two of 125. Four of 130. and Three of 140. Yea Fern. Lopez the Portugal Kings Historiographer gives a relation of an Indian who upon clear evidence was found to have lived Three hundred and forty years and of another Indian Prince who was seen by M. D' Ottigni and had lived Two hundred and fifty years Thus Anacreon in Pliny relates of one Arganthonius King of the Tartessians and the like of Tullius Fullonius of Bononia that lived an hundred and fifty years of Cinyras who lived an hundred and sixty of Aegymius that lived two hundred And Hellanicus in the same Author affirmeth that divers in Aetolia lived two and some three hundred years In Greece Nestors age became a kind of Proverb attaining to three hundred years And Sabellicus tells of divers in Arabia who lived four hundred years Famous is the Instance of Iohannes de Temporibus who bore arms under Charles the Great An. 800. and was alive in the reign of Conrade 3. Ao 1124. having lived three hundred sixty and one years And in latter times Masseus tells us in his Indian Histories of One in the last age but one that lived three hundred thirty and five years whose teeth had several times faln out and new ones came
the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no Sorrow with it Prov. 10. 22. Assure your selves if moderate care and labour will not bring in Riches then they are not good for you and whatsoever is gained otherwise hath a Curse in it and will bring misery on the Body or on the Soul here or hereafter 4. A Fourth Cause which hastens Old-age is Intemperance that is excess in Eating or in Drinking or in lustful Embraces Any of these especially the last do bring Old-age into youthful years Sad it is that our Life being in its utmost extent so short and our Bodies by nature so frail we that have a desire to live and who for that end will be content to use the most irksome remedies should yet so commonly invite distempers by our Luxury and so shamefully dig our Graves with our Teeth and deprive our selves of the residue of our years In so much that altho in St. Hieroms time he affirmed that there were reckoned five thousand Martyrs for every day in the Year save one yet we may sadly conclude that Bacchus and Venus have had daily more Martyrs if we may so call them in one place or other of the World than Iesus Christ. In this sense doth Seneca truly say Non accepimus brevem vitam sed fecimus From whence come for the most part those pains of the Gout Stone Dropsy Convulsions and Apoplexies with such other Distempers but from Intemperance in some of the foresaid Objects A moderate use of Meat Drink and conjugal rights as it doth tend much to the alacrity of the mind so doth it no less to the Health of the Body but excess in any of them doth either suffocate Nature or else impoverish and exhaust it as it is observed of the more lecherous Creatures that they are short-liv'd in comparison of others If therefore you would arrive at a good Old-age good in respect of the comfort of the Mind or in respect of the welfare of the Body oppose and check your unruly Appetites resolve with the Grace of God Hitherto thou shalt come and no further conclude I am a Man yea a Christian and not a Brute and consequently am not to be guided by Sense but by Reason and Religion which teach me to use all these outward comforts so far as they will promote the Glory of my Maker and the present and future good of my Body and Soul. 5. Fifthly Inordinate Passions of the mind are another means to bring on Old-age such as Anger especially Sorrow For these do manifestly prey upon the Spirits and also produce such bodily Distempers as do hurry people into Old-age before their time Hence it was that Valentinian the Emperor by an excessive straining of his Voice in an angry reply against some Offenders fell into a grievous Fever which at length brought him to his End. And for Sorrow the wisest of men tells us Prov. 15. 13. A merry Heart maketh a chearful Countenance but by Sorrow of the Heart the Spirit is broken And when the Spirit is broken the Body must sensibly wast and decay For these Passions like a Torrent or Land flood break down and overthrow all before them you know a River while it proceeds with its usual stream passes harmlesly yea profitably through all the Fields and Meadows and makes no breaches on the Banks on either side but when a suddain and excessive Rain swells it up then it lays about it without mercy and tears up the Ground the Fences and Trees on every side And even so our Passions being moderate are innocent and useful but he that hath no rule over his own Spirit is like a Flood of Water broke loose or like a City that is broken down and without Walls Yea there have been Instances of such as by sudden Grief have grown Gray in a few days time and there be hundreds that carry the Badge of their great Sorrows on their Heads long before a due course of years would have brought them Let us not therefore suffer these Vultures to feed upon our Hearts nor yield our selves Slaves to these unruly Passions which war not only against the Soul but even against the Body and will ruin both except they be restrained and mortified by the Grace of God. Philosophy hath gone far in this work God forbid but that Christianity should go much further There are also other both Moral and Natural Causes of Old-age but these may suffice The curious may satisfie themselves elsewhere And by these Causes you may easily discern what are the best Preservatives against Old-age For tho no Art or Care can prevent the unavoidable access thereof yet effectual Means may be used to deferr it 'T is true Galen tells us of a Philosopher who affirm'd that there was a way to prevent it and wrote a Book of it when he was forty years old but the said Author takes notice that when he was arriv'd to eighty he was wasted to skin and bones and could not any way cure himself But the most effectual Preservatives are 1. Piety and 2. Sobriety SECT IV. FIrst serious Piety By which I mean a Course of life in the Faith and Fear of God and in holy Obedience unto him This is that Godliness which hath the promises of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4. 8. This is the best Antidote against that Poyson which hath originally infected our Nature and which makes it swarm with Distempers that hurry us to old-Old-age and Death at last This is certainly the best Means whereby to avoid that fatal Curse so early pronounc'd or else to turn it into a Blessing If thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my Satutes and Commandments then I will lengthen thy days 1 King. 3. 14. What man is he that desireth Life and loveth many days that he may see good Depart from evil and do good c. Psal. 34. 12 14. It is the observation of Hierom and of Origen before him that Abraham is the first person called Old in the Scripture tho Adam and Methuselah and many others were richer than he in years but not in Faith and Obedience I know that some of the worst of men have without this flourished long and some that have been most Religious have withered quickly and therefore do conclude that all such Outward blessings and afflictions are conditionally promis'd and threatned and yet it abides certain that the ordinary way to a vigorous Age and a long Life is the true fear of God and that which makes it short and miserable is Ungodliness And the Holy Scripture is express herein Prov. 10. 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days but the years of the wicked shall be shortned For doubtless our Lord God who is the giver of Life is also the Conserver of it and whose word we may rely upon as the best Prescription and Preservative in this case This
fourscore and four years yet departed not from the Temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day Luk. 2. 37. So that all Aged persons are not precluded from spiritual exercises And though they should become unable to frequent the Publick Ordinances of God yet they may pray and sigh and meditate in their chambers and these proceeding from a sincere and sensible Soul are most acceptable unto God. As for the external Acts of Religion they avail nothing without faith and love which lodge in the heart The immanent Acts of the Soul which are to understand to meditate to will and to desire do most perfect the same And where the Deed cannot be done God doth accept the will for the Deed. The weakest and poorest Old man or woman may have high meditations under a low roof and a large heart within narrow walls No Aged person therefore should be discouraged by their Inability for Gods Service since He knoweth their frame he remembreth that they are but dust The Lord hath said When the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them I will open Rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys I will make the Wilderness a pool of water and the dry Land springs of water Isa. 41. 17 18. In the want of ordinary supplies I will provide them with extraordinary supports the wilderness shall produce a pool of water rather than any Child of God shall dy for thirst When they cannot wait upon God as before he will wait to be gracious to them he will come to them and teach and comfort them If indeed a man be inwardly pleased that his weakness excuseth him from his Devotions he hath cause to blame himself but if he hath the same desires and holy affections with others the old Law shall stand to wit he that stayes by the Stuffe shall part the Spoil with him that goes out to battel You have a trade going in every Ship an Interest in every holy Assembly in the World. SECT X. THE Tenth and last Inconvenience in old-Old-age is That they are Terrified with the approach of Death For Death is a word hard of digestion to any man. The Philosopher counted it of all dreadfull things the most Terrible And Mr. Latimer observes of Hezekiah that he was more afraid of Death than of all Senacheribs Army Now old-Old-age is a near neighbour to it and the aspect of it alwayes before them is not very pleasant Most men saith Seneca are miserably tost between the fear of Death and the miseries of Life are unwilling either to live or dy Especially they who have had their portion in this life and have made no provision for a better This made Lewis 11 th of France to charge all about him to forbear the mention of Death The strict Account which follows it and the long Eternity which follows that makes Death a most serious matter No wonder if the hand tremble when it is going to take that Cup which will mend or end them Now the Old man is at the door of this fatal place Though a Casualty may bring Death suddenly though a sickness may bring it probably yet Old-age brings it certainly Peradventure there are fifty weeks or dayes remaining in their life peradventure but forry five perhaps but forty but thirty yea but twenty as Abraham said of Sodom nay since it is dubious every moment and no mortal man knows at what Watâ—… of the Night he shall be called the 〈◊〉 person that is but a step from death must be through fear of Death in continual bondage But the Lyon is not so terrible as he is painted neither is Death so formidable as it is by many represented Though it be against the Desires of Nature yet it is not against the Series of Nature For if we consult this we find Autumn kindly after Summer and Winter after Autumn and Death is as natural after old-Old-age And the Light of Nature taught some of the Heathens to reckon the worthy men especially that are dead to be most truly alive in that while we live in this world the Soul is imprison'd in the body and is set at liberty by Death Thus Xenophon brings in Cyrus discoursing to his Children on his Death-bed Think not O my Sons that I leave you quite and am lost when I dye perhaps you will not see me neither do you now see the most Essential part of me nor never did only by my actions you believed it was in this body and that will live out of this body as well as in it And if Pagans set so light by Death what notion should we Christians have of it that can look more clearly beyond it It is styl'd a falling asleep and what 's more welcome to an Aged person than a sound sleep And from that Expression 1 Thess. 4. an Old Toletan Council ordained that the dead should be followed with Psalms of Praise to their Graves In short 1. All Aged People are not oppressed with the fear of Death Too few there are that think at all of it Men generally put far from them the evil day and it will be an evil day to such as put it far from them Most people can think of any place in the Parish rather than the Church-yard yea I doubt it be one of the Faults of the Aged to think seldom of Death and they who think little of it are in no danger of being frighted with its thoughts 2. The Young have the same reason to be concern'd about Dying as the Old. For Youth hath more wayes to Death than Age hath And far more dye in their Youth than that dye for Age. It 's true they hope to live longer but their hopes have no good ground at all They have neither Promise nor Experience to build their hopes upon And in Young Peoples Death they being in their strength Nature receives a more violent shock whereas the Aged are more quietly extinguished like a Candle in the Socket 3. No good man need be affrighted at the approach of Death For the power and sting of Death is utterly taken away by our Saviours Death and so it can do us no hurt A Child of God doth not so much as tast Death The true Believer now hath not to do with Death but with its shadow with a toothless Dog with a dead Lyon with a Wasp without a Sting with a conquer'd Enemy What man in his wits is afraid after a tempestuous Voyage that he is drawing nigh his Haven It was a sweet saying of S. Ambrose near his end I have not so lived that I am ashamed to live among you neither do I fear to dy going to so good a Master The unprepared and the ungodly may dread Death As Aristippus told the wicked Mariners trembling in a Storm You may well
be afraid going to receive your just punishment but hoping for my reward in the other Life I am not amazed with this at all But now when a man hath set his House and Heart in order and finisht his work he may sing his Nunc dimittis with comfort and say as that holy Woman x I am one that neither wisheth Death nor feareth his might but as merry as one that 's bound for Heaven 4. There is much Folly in this slavish fear of Death A holy Care to prepare for it is far better than an unprofitable Fear For the passion of Fear is planted in us for the avoiding of things hurtful but there is no avoiding of this fate There is no man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit and there is no discharge in that War Eccles. 8. 8. That disquiet is therefore foolish that torments but profits not How can the mind be quiet at any time which is afraid of what is impendent at all times It is observed by Seneca that neither Children nor Idiots are afraid of Death and he infers that it is a base thing that Reason I add the Scripture should not work as much security in us as Folly doth in them Shall learned Old men fear that which foolish Young men do not O wretched Old man said Tully that in so long life hast not learn'd to despise Death I end this with the Observation of Iudicious Mr. Calvin He that cannot quiet his Heart in the holy contempt of Death hath profited but little in the Faith of Christ. Let it therefore be the business of each Aged person to be reconciled to Death to be dying daily by Mortifying your affections to all the vanities of this life and by meditating on the life to come Never fret at that Death which leads you to immortality Rather rejoyce that you are taking leave of a World of Sin and taking flight into a Land of uprightness O Father said an Officer to a noble Ancient Persian Minister that trembled at the approach of Death shut your Eyes but a little and you shall see God in Glory And thus I conclude this Particular that too many Old people never fear Death for they never spend thoughts about it that the young have as much reason to apprehend it as the Old that a slavish fear of it is folly in any and that no good man needs to be affrighted but rather comforted with it So that upon a just Survey of all the Inconveniences of Old-age all Aged persons may answer as Tully tells of one Gorgias who being 107 years old was asked why he was contented to live so long Why said he I have nothing whereof to accuse Old-age and the truth is it seems perverse and unreasonable that all people should desire to attain unto it and then when they have attain'd it to dislike it Difficulties and Disadvantages there are with it Whereof no Age or condition is free but they are Tolerable and Ordinable to the good of all that fear God. And so much may suffice for this fifth Point to be handled CHAP. VI. The Priviledges of Old-age SECT I. I Proceed now in the Sixth place to discourse the Priviledges and Comforts of Old-age That there is some peculiar Blessing and Dignity in Old-age is evident both by the Light of Scripture and the Light of Nature The First Commandment with promise is Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee The like Promise you will find Psal. 91. last With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation Which shews that Old-age whatever Inconveniences it is attended withall is in its self a special Blessing And on the Contrary it is threatned as an heavy Judgment unto Eli that God would cut off his Arm and the Arm of his Fathers House that is he would take away his might and the strength of his Family in that there should not be an Old man in his House 1 Sam. 2. 31. And in general that bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Psal. 55. last Whereupon holy David prays Psal. 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my days Finally the Holy Ghost assures us that the Beauty of old men is the Gray Head Psal. 20. 29. By all which it plainly appears that Old-age is a desirable Mercy in the judgment of God himself Agreeable hereunto is the Ancient Hebrew Proverb in Ben Syra to this effect Senex in domo bonum signum in domo And if that be a real good thing which all men desire then certainly there is some peculiar Goodness in Old-age for that all men desire to attain it So also we mingle among our good wishes to others this of a long life When Kings and Grandees are saluted this is the common Acclamation that they may live long and if it were possible live for ever And Antiquity is so valuable a thing that not only Families and Cities but Nations have had long and sharp disputes about the Antiquity of their respective people as the Egyptians Phoenicians Scythians And the Athenians had this Character affixed upon them that they could discourse well but the Lacedemonians could do well because an aged person coming upon a time into a great Assembly at Athens had no Respect given him but at Sparta in the like Convention they all rose up to seat him So that it grew Proverbial That Old-age dwelt most like its self at Sparta So then as there are some Inconveniences in Old-age which yet as you have seen have divers things to mitigate them so it hath many Priviledges and Comforts which do over-ballance them God hath set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him There is only this difference that all our Troubles spring from below but all our Mercies drop from above The particular Priviledges and Comforts of Old-age are these following First Old-age is Greater in Authority than any other Age. There is an Authory resulting from the Law of Nature as well as that which is conferr'd by Civil Laws the former is that wherewith Old-age is invested God himself who is the Fountain of Honour hath given them a Patent for it so that their Authority hath something in it divine and they seem to have a kind of Natural Government over others Hereby the Sentence or Opinion of the Aged may well conclude as much as the Arguments of the younger and he must have a great deal of Wisdom or of Confidence that shall contradict what a wise Aged person hath asserted That there is a certain Authority in Old-age is plain from divers Scriptures As Isa. 9. 15. The Ancient and the Honourable he is the Head. Now we know that the Head is the Seat of Rule When Moses had occasion for some Coadjutors with
abhorrs himself by reason of it It meets him in every Imployment in every Prayer and vexeth him at the heart He is like a man who lives by a bad Neighbour or that is yoaked to a froward Wife that cannot live comfortably with them and cannot live possibly without them Hence he cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death Now the young person is in the midst of these Philistines the corruption of his Nature meeting as is said before with the temptations of the World is as tinder to the sparks too easily set on fire with lust anger gluttony and such like wherewith he must be either in continual and sharp conflict or else miserably ruin'd Now the Aged person hath gotten many victories in this spiritual warfare whereby his enemies are grown weaker and he bolder and stronger He knows this bickering will not last long and sees the reward of his victory and so pleaseth himself with his Condition This made the Apostle when Aged to say 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness And is not this a Priviledge would he accept a new lease to live over his life again not for the whole world Seneca could say if some God would indulge me so far as that I might return into my cradle again I would earnestly refuse it I would never yield when I have almost run my whole race to return quite back again And for the Sufferings in the World man whether he be born to an Estate or not yet is born unto troubles as the sparks flie upward We meet them in every stage of our Life we come into the world with Cries and go out with groans and a great part of the space between is replenisht with sighs and cares and troubles Some inflicted by the hand of God and some by the hand of Man. One while pain or sickness upon the body another while wants or losses in our estates sometimes wounded in our names and sometimes in the unhappy life or untimely death of our Relations yea if we escape these and have a perpetual Sun-shine yet the cares and troubles that attend Prosperity are not few nor small So that when God surveyed the world at first he pronounced all was good but when the wisest of men had made his survey of it since the Fall he pronounced all things in it to be vanity and vexation of spirit and the Aged man can conclude it by his own experience to be a sea of storms a sink of sins and a very prison to the soul. Indeed it is a Stage whereon we have opportunity to honour God and do some service to our fellow-creatures but otherwise the best Notion of it is only a convenient Inn for Pilgrims in their Iourney And upon this account we ought to be content while we are in it and and very well content to be released out of it For what wise man but is glad to part with the most convenient Inn to be going towards his own home Alas they who are Old have seen so much of the falseness of the world of the deceits of men of the divisions of the Church of the weakness of good men and of the wickedness of evil men that they are sick of this world and could not be hired with all it can give to abide in it one day after their work is done When a man hath found something above beyond and after this world he is weary of it So that the Priviledge of Aged persons who are even past the World is really great They have escaped those rocks and gulfs of which younger persons are yet in danger They may look back with pity on younger persons who are to grapple with the difficulties which they have overcome They have also attained that which all young men desire for these would live long and the Aged have lived long They have seen an end of all perfection and that is a poor perfection that hath an end and after all they find that this is not their rest because it is polluted Although they have been crucifying the world a long time yet they cannot make it wholsome enough to feed on without much caution and jealousie And finding it so dangerous a Master and so troublesome a Servant they are glad to be rid of it and glad that they are near parting So that he who hath tried the world and yet loves it is bewitcht by it As a man that hath surfeited on any thing his Stomach riseth against it so is it with the Aged they have too long surfeited on it and now their Hearts rise against it The World and they are easily parted for it cares little for them and they care less for it Farewell think they thou false and flattering World that promised me content and never performed it that pretended to be my good Friend and hast proved my constant Snare my deadly Enemy I am now going to a peaceable holy and endless World. Hence it was that when the Physicians once told holy Mr. Dod in a dangerous Sickness in his Old-age that they had good hopes of his Recovery he answered them that the news pleased him no better than if one should tell the weather-beaten Mariner that was putting into the haven that he must turn back to conflict with the Storms again No certainly they who are almost got safely through this dangerous World would be loth to venture into it again Indeed if a man have no portion but in this Life if he have no house but Hell to go to when he leaves the world it is no wonder if he be loth to part with it but they who are dead to this world and ripe for a better would not live here alway but rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Job 3. 22. And this leads me to SECT VIII THE Eighth Priviledge of old-Old-Age which is that it is Nearer to Death than in the Course of Nature younger persons are and consequently if they be in Christ nearer to the Everlasting Life For though it is possible for the Young to dye soon yet it is impossible for the Aged to live long Their manifest Decayes are a certain presage of their approaching Dissolution and no Medicine hath yet bin found to cure old-Old-age The graves are ready for them and the Worms wait for their last repast upon them The moth of Mortality which is bred in our Nature will still be fretting the Garment of our Bodies till they be consumed Death is already got into the Aged persons Eye and Ear and in a short time will bring him unto the dust Now though this be an unwelcome Messenger to those that live at ease yet to an holy Old man and woman it is a blessed Priviledge for as looking backward
accuse it So that though we commonly say That every thing is worse for its age yet a pious Old person is the better and therefore no man needs to be as too many are ashamed of their gray hairs Forasmuch as Old-age is Greater in Authority than any other age Richer in Experience Freer from sin Proner to Piety Riper in its Fruits Worthier of Respect Further from the World and Nearer to Eternity And so much for the Priviledges of Old-age which is the Sixth point to be handled CHAP. VII The Work of Old-age SECT I. AND so I come in the Seventh and Last place to treat concerning the Work and Business of Old-age What special and proper Imployment besides their necessary and ordinary affairs their Years obligeth them unto Their labouring and travelling dayes are done but yet they have much Work to do Sith they have not yet apprehended this One thing they must do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before they must press towards the mark There is no compleat rest for the body on this side the grave nor for the soul on this side Heaven They that were Idle in the eleventh hour were checkt with Why stand ye here idle all the day Matth. 20. 6. You have been busie a great while for Time it is but reasonable you should take some pains for Eternity The shadows of the Evening have overtaken you ye have but a little time to work in It was wise counsel of the Wise man Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest Eccles. 9. 10. Behold and see how fast the sands of your glass are running hearken how fast the Pendulum of your Clock hastens The Bills of Mortality besides other Diseases contain some weekly that dye for Age and which week your Name will be called you know not But when it is called you must go no Bail is taken by Serjeant Death Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh findeth so doing And therefore to use the Prophet Ioel's words Ioel 1. 2. Hear this ye Old men and give ear all the inhabitants of the land Suffer the word of Exhortation and buckle in sober sadness to these Imployments of Old-age The First Work of Old-age is Repentance of your sins This is a bitter Pill to flesh and blood but it must be swallowed here or hereafter When it is tasted here it is only bitter-sweet there is comfort in it there is comfort after it It is like the pains of an honest woman in travel the remembrance of the loving Father supports her at present and the birth of a comely child revives her after but if it be deferr'd and plac'd on the wrong side of Death then it will be bitter bitter there is no present no future comfort Then it will be like the gnawing pains of a woman with a Cancer though infinitely sharper and infinitely longer So that it is not referred to the Old-man or any man else whether he will Repent or not for it â—…annot be avoided but whether he will repent for a time or repent for ever whether he will repent with hope or repent with despair Now Repentance may be considered in a Double respect 1. Initially at the first Conversion of the Soul to God and 2. Secondarily at the Renewing of the acts thereof afterwards It concerns Ancient people to be acquainted respectively with both This needful message then is directed 1. To such Aged persons who are yet in the state of unrenewed Nature who have never past through the New-birth nor know any thing by experience of Regeneration which was the Case of Old Nicodemus though a Master in Israel Joh. 3. 9. Now that a Fundamental Repentance or Conversion call it how you will is necessary to all that shall be saved I should think is past dispute For it cannot be denyed that we come into the world in a sinful state And it is manifest that Baptism doth not cure the Soul of that Disease but that all people in general have a strong propensity either to the lusts of the flesh or to the lusts of the eyes or to pride of life until an inward Change be wrought in the heart which is the effectual Calling of a careless Sinner to turn to God and Godliness Now if an Aged person have been a stranger to this Grace though perhaps he hath led a sober industrious just yea a charitable life and also hath complied with the outward acts of devotion in use Yet except the tree have been made good by Regeneration it cannot have its fruit unto holiness nor the end everlasting life I would therefore conjure all such Unconverted Old people to apply themselves with all speed and seriousness to this First Repentance to be renewed in the spirit of your minds to make you new hearts and new spirits or else infallibly you must dye Say not with Nicodemus How can a man be born when he is old For the Work is possible and the Method is plain Harder it may be for an Old man to become a New man than for the younger hence the Proverb An old naught will never be ought That is rarely or difficulty according to the Greek saying For that the Faculties of the Soul are enfeebled and the Habits of Sin strengthened by continuance former guilt and negligence makes men to doubt of future assistance or acceptance But since God doth call Old people to Repent sith he hath spared you alive hitherto and to them that are joyned to the living there is hope sith there be innumerable instances of Old Converts In fine sith God looketh upon men and if any mark if Any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profiteth me not he will deliver him from going down to the pit Iob 33. 27 28. Never question the possibility but set about the work Set the Necessity against the Difficulty it is Turn in Time or Burn in Eternity for Truth hath said Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven How can you imagine that a limb of the Devil should become a member of Christ a child of wrath become a child of God but by Regeneration Outward Reformation may shave the hair but this Leprosie must be cur'd inwardly O lay to heart the long time you have lived in sin and in enmity to God the short time you have to live in the world that Death makes no Converts and Sickness but a few Consider what mercies and deliverances you have received from this good God and how little true service you have done him and whether it be not now high time to turn unto him with your whole heart and not feignedly If that Holy man would not be in an unregenerate state but one hour for all the world left he should dye in that hour
give of your Repentance for the Sins of your Youth is a watchful care against the Sins of your Old-age otherwise your Sins are not forsaken but changed Withal if your Repentance be sound it is attended with a will and endeavour to make Restitution wherein you have injur'd any in their Souls Bodies Names or Estates This will be as Letters Testimonial of the truth of your Repentance you must not nay you cannot be quiet if your Repentance be sound until you have seriously endeavour'd as far as in you lies to recover the Souls to restore the Bodies to heal the Reputations and to repair the Estates which you have injur'd without which there can be no true Repentance on Earth and without which there will be no Remission in Heaven SECT II. ANother work of Old-age is obtaining Assurance of Salvation I mean hereby not only a General Certainty that some good people shall be saved for the Devils believe this and rage at it which I think is the same with Objective Certainty nor that Assurance which may come by special and extraordinary Revelation sith we find few or no examples in Scripture of such a thing but rather that the Apostle Paul himself grounds his Assurance of the Crown upon the righteousness of God which he extends to all them that love Christs appearing 2 Tim. 4. 8. Neither do I mean a Conjectural Hope of Salvation which admits both of anxiety and of slavish fear fith the Scripture represents it by Faith and full assurance and produceth Earnests and Seals for confirmation Nor lastly is this Assurance confin'd to Grace at present but extends to final Salvation Thus the Apostle 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed there is Assurance of his present State but was he certain of his Perseverance Yes that follows and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day That such Assurance hath been attained is clear enough from the Instances of Iob 19. 25 26. of David Psal. 16. 9 10. of Paul 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. and many others That it may be attained is as clear sith there is no intimation that these or the rest had any extraordinary Discovery thereof unto them but arriv'd thereat in the use of those means and by the consignation of that Spirit unto which we have access as well as they And the Apostle doth expresly comprehend the generality of Believers in this Priviledge 2 Cor. 5. 1. For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God c. That it ought to be endeavoured by all true Christians is most evident from the plain commands to that purpose 2 Pet. 1. 10. Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure c. That few do labour to attain it thinking it to be impossible or unnecessary is to be bewailed That many deceive themselves with a false perswasion of present Grace and future Glory is manifest by Scripture and daily Experience And that it is most proper and needful for Old people the thing it self speaks For you cannot deny but that you have Souls immortal Souls which being Spirits cannnot dye but must return to God that gave them and are these Souls of so small value to be left to a Hazard to an everlasting venture And it is as evident that this life is uncertain we may say as Isaac Gen. 27. 2. Behold now I am Old I know not the day of my Death and therefore it 's time for us to go about this work without delay Children desire the time of youth and youth longs to be at mans age and they then would live to be Old but old-Old-age hath no further Age to desire it hath none other to succeed it here and they are wholly uncertain how long it will last and therefore it is absolutely necessary that they should be on sure grounds for Eternity and then the day of death will be better than the day of their Birth You know how much of your life is already spent you can see the Sands that are run into the nether end of the Glass but the upper Part is covered with a Mantle you know not how few Sands are left there to run Nay you cannot but perceive that Death is approaching very near you You are filled with Wrinkles which is a Witness against you and your leanness rising up in you beareth witness to your Face as it is Job 16. 8. For as it is observed of All men that they are Mortales apt to dye and of all Good men that they are Mortificati dying to Sin so it is of all Old men that they are Morituri about to dye And for such to have Oyl to seek when they should have it to Use Evidences to procure when they should have them to produce is an unexcusable neglect Especially knowing that your last Breath wafts you into an unalterable Estate What Journeys and Presents were heretofore made to the Oracles to assure the Votaries concerning the Event of some temporal affairs and how many do now Hazard their Souls by seeking to Necromancers to know the success of their Marriages Voyages and such like and yet a miscarriage in these things is remediable there may be some alleviation in them there may be some end of them but you are lanching into the Ocean of Eternity and are at no certainty whether it be eternal Happiness or eternal Misery What an anxious and uncomfortable State must this be If you were not loose in your belief of future things you would be restless in this condition you owe your Ease to your Letâ—…argy if you were not half Infidels you would be more than half distracted Which brings to mind the course which some Eminent persons among the Heathens took they durst not dye sober but drank great Draughts oâ—… Wine saying That no voluptuous person can go in his Wits into an invisible Estate With what poor comfort must that man dye that must cry out with that Old Philosopher I dye in great doubt and know not whither I am going yet out the Soul must go ready or unready Then will the careless sinner gnash his Teeth for rage at his slothful and sinful life which he hath spent as a Tale that is told Then will he have time enough to curse all the worldly business or wicked Company that hath devoured his precious time and left his Soul to shift for it self for ever Do not we in all other cases strive to be at a point will May-be's and Peradventure's satisfie us in any material humane affairs The Tenant who is warned out of one House cannot enjoy himself until he be sure of another The Steward that was discharged of his Office Luk. 16. took present course to be provided of some other Subsistence The poorest man is uneasie when his old Suit of Cloaths is worn out till he have a
you when this life is ended Now you may feed the poor cloath the naked redeem the captive incourage learning promote Soul-saving Preaching c. Are you any other than Gods Stewards and poor Christians poor Tradesmen poor Scholars poor Ministers are Gods Assigns to whom he appoints you to do good out of his stock in your hand according to your ability and their necessity You do but draw Bills upon Almighty God by every good Work which he will most faithfully and fully pay in the Kingdom of Heaven I omit the Story of Synesius our blessed Saviour hath said enough to perswade us if we be not Infidels from that Parable of the unjust Steward Luk. 16. where he thus concludes ver 9. Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Consider now before it be too late what a sad prospect it will be for you on your death-bed to review the book of a life wherein is nothing but Blots transgressions on the one side of the page and Blanks omissions of good on the other Bethink your selves therefore which way you may yet do some good in the world Do not live do not dye to your selves poor Christ in his members begs of you to remember him Oblige him here in the Countrey and he will befriend you at the Court. Whilst you have opportunity do good unto all especially to the houshold of faith Gal. 6. 10. your opportunity will shortly be over and past yet you have something to give and some body to give unto but if you refuse or delay it shortly you will have nothing to give no body to relieve And remember Gods Counsel 2 Cor. 9. 6. He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully I urge you not to undoe your selves by doing good to others but that ye be ready willing and rich in good works according to the talents wherewith you are intrusted And this will be a good Proof that your Faith is sound when you can part with present and visible things upon the word and promise of an Invisible God for future things which are unseen And if the circumstances of your Estate will bear it let me prevail with you to make your own Eyes your Overseers and your own hands your Executors For though I would not discourage any one from making pious or charitable Bequests in their Wills by bewailing the uncertainty the abuse and loss of such intentions But the thing it self is no way so laudable or acceptable only to part with what we cannot keep it insinuates that if we could alwayes live we would never part with any thing whereby there is neither that Faith nor that Charity exercised which becomes a Christian. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due mark it is due to them when it is in the power of thine hand to do it Prov. 3. 27. You are just ready to travel into another Countrey take care to send something before you lest you lose both Earth and Heaven at once SECT IX THE Ninth Work of old-Old-age is Meditation of Death and Eternity Meditation in general is the application of our thoughts to some particular Subject which being imployed about things Holy becomes one of the parts of Inward Religion A most excellent and useful exercise and which greatly inriches the Soul It was a clear proof of the great sanctity of Davids heart that he was so frequent and familiar in this imployment sometimes on God sometimes on his Word sometimes on his Works both of Creation and of Providence c. O that we all had the Art of it the Heart of it for the heart is all Doubtless if our Love were stronger our meditation would be longer on these things for where the treasure is there the heart will dwell also I know some Constitutions of body are more capable of it than others but certainly the more the soul is sanctified that is mortified to things below and vivified to things above the more chearfully will it dwell upon spiritual things such as the Stomach is such food will it desire But among other useful Points The Aged is greatly concern'd to Meditate on Death and the endless Life after it which is to pencill out before the Eyes of his mind the time of his Departure the serious Circumstances and Consequences of it We should place our selves upon our Death-beds gasping there for breath our Friends ready to close our Eyes the dabbe of flegme ready to stop our breath and our Souls just forsaking the poor carkass When we look upon our hands and feet it should be attended with these thoughts that shortly they will be turn'd to rottenness that the worms will make furrows in our faces and feed upon our very hearts yea that we at present do breed and nourish the vermine that wait for to devour us that e're long we shall have nothing to do here our house and goods in the possession of those that would be affrighted to see us again that we must lodge a long time in the dark grave and the Soul must go into an unknown world and that unto all Eternity These are thoughts for Aged persons and not to be roving about things past to no purpose or contriving about things of this world to come This is in some sence to dy daily to wit by serious thoughts concerning our latter end The truth is this is a duty incumbent upon all Hence that saying Deut. 32. 29. O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end A Deaths-head is no unfit furniture for a young persons closet The serious apprehensions of the exceeding great change which Death will make would give a check to that wantonness worldliness and vain-glory which cleaves to us all by nature For Death observes not our humane order it is anomalous we are not called according to our Age it proceeds not according to our Registers Your considering of Death will not make you Older but Better But principally it concerns the Aged who live in the confines of the grave You should be acquainted with it for you are neighbour's to it It is one of the Spanish Proverbs That the Old mans Staff is the Rapper at Deaths-door When Cato would awaken the Roman Senate to level Carthage he brought in some green figs thence among them thereby to shew unto them how soon those their inveterate Enemies their distance being so small might be with a Fleet among them alas how small is the distance between an Old man and his grave Is it not reasonable therefore is it not necessary that we should be provided for this enemy and since we cannot escape it ought we not to be reconciled to it to be better acquainted with it yea and learn some way to overcome it And certainly the more we rightly think of it the less we shall fear it
you will be followed with great distress and of long continuance and sore sickness and of long continuance as is threatned Deut. 28. 59. You cannot reasonably expect but that at least some bodily distemper will last as long as your life yea peradventure such painful diseases as will put all your patience to the rout if the Lord be not your helper but yet you must not murmur nay you must not grudge nor make hast but indure the Lords pleasure and wait the Lords leisure I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it The sight of the haven animates the weather-beaten mariner Hitherto the Lord hath helped you and as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him He that hath put that compassion into the heart of a father hath a surpassing infinite Ocean of it in himself and withal he knows our frame he remembers that we are but dust Psal. 103. 13 14. He that hath the wisdom and power of a God and the pity of a father will be sure to lay no more upon you than he will inable you to bear and to overcome And therefore the Aged must beware of the other Extream namely the Gulf of Despondence and Dejection of Spirit Their Sins are mustered up against them their outward strength is decayed their Spirits broken with a succession of cares and troubles their distempers and pains are heavy upon them their friends and relations seem to be weary of them and an unperswadable Enemy Death stands just before them And what flesh alive can bear up under such and so many weights together But besides what hath been offered before I adde that as all these Mortifications are needful to wean us from this world from the love whereof even these can hardly divorce us so all such Discomsorts should drive the Aged person no lower than his knees even unto God who hath said Be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness Isa. 41. 10. Have not all the Saints and Servants of God that have lived to Old-age pass'd these pikes before you have they not born these burdens that you sink under There is no temptation befaln you but what is common to men Where is the faith where are the prayers that you have been laying up for such a time O miserable Old-man said the Heathen Orator that in so long a life hast not yet learned to despise Death which is not at all to be feared if it extinguish the Soul and greatly to be desired if it convey the Soul into an everlasting good condition And then for the pain in Death the same Author tells us that if there be any sense of pain in dying it is but very short especially to Old people that have prevented it and tasted it by degrees And therefore never render your life or death unquiet as many do that even dye for fear of dying that create by their melancholy fancies greater torments to themselves than Death brings with it Behold it through the glass of Gods word which represents it only as a Dissolution to wit out of a prison to go to Christ Phil. 1. 23. Going to rest Isa. 57. 2. Finishing our course 2 Tim. 4. 8. Falling asleep in Iesus 1 Thes. 4. 14. and a stepping out of this world unto our father Joh. 13. 1. and why should the prospect hereof at all deject us Yea in case you should have the honour to be called to suffer Death for Christ and his Truth yet fear it not under its most terrible Aspect for the Supports and Comforts of that Tryal will ballance yea surmount the fears and pains thereof As the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ 2 Cor. 1. 5. Strive therefore rather to adorn than to avoid the Cross considering that as it is a great honour for you in your Old-age to suffer for the Truth so it is a great shame that the Truth should suffer by you It was the worthy Resolution of Old Eleazar when he was urged to counterfeit the eating of Swines flesh to save his life No saith he it becometh not our Age in any wise to dissemble whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar being fourscore and ten were now gone to a strange Religion And so they through my hypocrisie and desire to live a little time should be deceived by me and I get a stain to my Old-age and make it abominable Wherefore now manfully changing this life I will shew my self such an one as mine Age requireth So Polycarp when he was tempted to deny Christ and to swear by the Fortune of Caesar answered Fourscore and six years have I served Christ and have found him a good Master and should I now deny him I have lived by him and I will live and dye to him Let us resolve by Gods grace to write after these Copies Doubtless if there be any going to Heaven on horse-back as Mr. Bradford styles it that is in Honour and State it is by Martyrdom Nay it is not enough that we be content and quiet under these discouragements that we who have received good at the hands of the Lord be content with evil also but we should triumph over them In all these things we should be more than conquerours through him that loved us Our rooted Faith our fixed Hope our long Experience should lift us up to surmount all these fears and troubles The veterane Soldier must not be scared with such Hydra's We are near the promised Land the news of these Anakims in our way should not affright us they are bread for us as Ioshua said When these things come upon you then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life Rev. 2. 10. And thus we are at length arrived at the end of the Aged persons Work which was the Seventh and Last thing to be treated of in this Subject The Practice of these things now only remains That we study to correct the Causes avoid the Sins obtain the Graces sustain the Inconveniences improve the Priviledges and dispatch the Work described before us Wherein we must earnestly implore the gracious Assistance of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure and who will not fail us therein unless we be wanting to our selves And O that all Younger people would learn Knowledge Temperance and Industry in their youth which will be the only means to attain to an Healthy Wealthy and Holy Old-age FINIS Books Printed for and sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns at the lower end of Cheap-side near Mercers Chappel A Present for Teeming Women to be given to them by their Husbands or Friends By Iohn Oliver Minister of the Gospel In Octavo A
instruction of my Children but the prudent Parent will conclude tho some of the best Education do miscarry and some with the worst do flourish yet I ought and will take the likeliest course to bring up my Children in the fear of God Even so in this case the old-Old-age and Death do seize upon divers pious and circumspect persons as soon or before they come upon others yet is it the Interest and Duty of all such as regard God or wish well to themselves to use the fittest means to preserve their strength and vigour until their time and work be done For it is certain that when the success answers not the means and that Distempers notwithstanding our Piety and Sobriety do overtake us then it is permitted and ordained by the Wisdom of God for the setting forth some way of His Glory and for the real Good of the party affected For an Holy and Good God never makes Exceptions to his General Rules but in Cases reserved for his greater honour and his Servants greater good For all the paths of the Lord tho never so cross and crooked are Mercy I say Mercy and Truth to those that keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Psal. 25. 10. And thus you have had some Account of the true Causes and the best Antidotes against Old-age which is the second Point to be handled CHAP. III. The Sins of Old-age SECT I. I Come in the Third place to treat of the Vices and Sins which are most incident to Old-age for the best Wine that is hath some Dregs And tho there be none of Old-folks Sins but they are found in some Young-folks breasts yet there are some particular vices which are more proper because more common to Aged pesons than to others Nevertheless as the work of Sanctification hath been deeper and the care in Education greater so far the less lyable shall the Aged persons be unto these Corruptions He that bears the Yoke in his youth will be happily fortified against them in his age I do not therefore charge every Old man or woman with the following Faults for many have better learned Christ and are as free from them as any other but for the most part Old people are propense to these Vices First Frowardness or peevishness whereby they are prone to be morose wayward and hard to be pleased easily angry often angry and sometimes angry without a cause Seldom are they pleased with others scarce with themselves no not with God himself yea they think as poor Ionah did that they do well to be angry Too apt they are to aggravate every fault to its utmost dimensions and so never want matter for unquietness Now this is both a Sinful and Miserable distemper It is displeasing to God and it is very uncomfortable both to themselves and to others It s true that Anger in it self is not evil our Blessed Saviour was once angry but it was at Sin and it was accompanied with Grief for the hardness of their Hearts Mark 3. 5. When we are angry at Sin we are angry without Sin. And it is also true that Old people by reason of their knowledge in matters do see more things amiss and blame-worthy more Sin and more evil in Sin than others do and having liberty by reason of their Age and Authority to speak their minds they are too prone to express that which others must digest with silence and withall their bodily distempers dispose them to more testiness than others whose continual health and ease makes their Conversation more smooth and quiet and lastly they discern themselves in some danger of being despis'd and therefore are tempted to preserve their Authority by frequent and keen reproofs and reflexions and so iniquum petunt ut justum ferant they require too much lest they should receive too little But tho these things may abate the faultiness of this Sin yet they are far from being sufficient to justifie the same Say that this froppishness is their Disease rather than their Sin yet the Disease is the effect of Sin and the cause of Sin and Sin it self The mind is distemper'd by it both your own and others the Body is disordered unjustifiable words are spoken the Soul unfitted for any serious devotion and the proper ends of reproof seldom attained for as the wrath of man never works the righteousness of God so it rarely cures the iniquities of men The plaister being too hot burns more than it heals and the frequency of finding fault tempts the faulty to heed it the less yea they are prone to harden themselves in evil by retorting your unquietness upon you as a Sin you live in without reformation Strive therefore against this infirmity pray earnestly unto God for a meek and quiet Spirit connive at smaller slips be not severe against involuntary faults expect not the same Wisdom or Circumspection in young people as you have in so long time attained bridle the first emotions of anger and weigh the nature and quality of a miscarriage before you let fly at it and do not kill a Flea upon the Forehead of your Child or Servant with a Beetle Learn of Plato an Heathen who being incensed at his Servant desir'd his Friend Xenocrates who then came in that he would correct him for now saith he my anger surmounts my reason Or rather go to School to your heavenly Master Christ Iesus who was meek and lowly who being reviled reviled not again and when he suffer'd threatned not Give place to any one rather than to the Devil Resolve if others cross you that yet you will not punish your self for frowardness hurts no body so much as ones self And mortifie Pride from whence for the most part these passions spring for we are apt to assume so much and value our selves so highly that we think every one should humour us and they that expect much will meet with many disappointments Say not that the cure is impossible for in all ages there have been Instances of victories in this case There was Patricius the father of St. Augustine and there was Mr. Calvin both of them naturally of hot and hasty spirits yet did so moderate their temper that an unbeseeming word was scarce ever heard to come from them yea divers of the Heathen were eminent herein and doubtless the Grace of God will not be wanting to you if you sincerely seek it which will of lions make you lambs SECT II. A Second Folly incident to Old-age is Loquacity or Talkativeness that is an exceeding proneness to speak much so that it hath pass'd into a Proverb Senex psittacus an old person is a Parrot Herein they are twice children whose faculty you know lies this way Speech is a most wonderful and excellent Faculty conferr'd only on humane nature and for their common good and it is great pity that it should be abused As our Reason begins to work so our Speech comes in
part of the Pleasures aforesaid do belong only to the brutal part of man and consequently the defect of them little concerns the Rational Creature For as a late worthy Author saith None can think God so unkind to his own Image in humane nature as in dispensing Felicity to assign the larger share to the Beast No all these sensual Pleasures are so distracting or so fulsome or so transient that the utmost fruition of them cannot make a man happy nor the want of them miserable And this is the more Evident in that the wisest men have found the greatest Pleasure in refusing those pleasures and as an Epicure hath eaten for his pleasure so many an Abstemious man hath profest that he hath forborn for his pleasure also Again as the Aged person is deprived of these Pleasures so he is freed from any Desires after them As his sensual Delights fail so his Desires to them fail also As he hath not the Pleasure of Scratching so he is free from the trouble of Itching and what man ever complains of such a want We are never molested by the want of any thing which we do not desire Neither is Old-age without it's particular Pleasures Tully tells us of divers Old-men that diverted themselves with great delight in their Studies And for those that have any smattering of Learning there is no Earthly Pleasure comparable to that of penetrating into the works of Creation and Providence of observing the Natures Causes and Effects of those things the Surface whereof only is known to younger people Furthermore the Religious Old person hath an unexpressible Pleasure in the Reflexion of a well-spent Life and upon the various Preservations and Deliverances which the Lord hath vouchsafed him out of many Temptations and Afflictions They have also the solid comfort of seeing their Posterity grow up in the endowments of Mind Body or Estate and so of a Generation after them to serve and honour God while the World stands There are also several honest Recreations in which their Years do not hinder them And however it can be no disparagement to them if they can take as much Pleasure in Reading and Meditating upon Gods Word as ever they did in any other Divertisement whatsoever This is certain that their Pleasures are more Pure more Sound more Strong and more Lasting than the frothy and unsatisfactory pleasures of Sense and Sin which are but for a Season Finally Sickness of Body or Trouble of Mind to both which the Young are equally obnoxious as the Old are able to divorce the youngest persons from all sensible Pleasures and to cloath their Faces with sadness so that this Inconvenience must not be so appropriated to old-Old-age but that any Age may partake thereof Even St. Augustine tells us that in his younger years he had contracted such sadness upon his Spirits upon occasion of his good Mothers Death that nothing could comfort him He went into the Bath hoping for some refreshment thereby but his sorrow met him when he came out again A thousand Accidents may fix such sorrow even upon young people which all the Pleasures in the World cannot remove And tho the consideration of their own and others Sins and of the Effects of them do make them often sad yet there is both a secret comfort at the bottom of it and a certain Ioy at the end of it they know what belongs to the Laughter of the Soul and have frequent tasts of the joy that is unspeakable SECT II. A Second Inconvenience which attends Old-age is this That their Strength and Beauty is decreased Those Arms and Hands which once were able and useful for any imployment are now scarce strong and steady enough to feed themselves The Legs and Thighs that have carried them many a pleasant journey yea to many an holy Exercise are grown stiff and weak and grudge to carry them up Stairs to Bed. Yea that Back which was the support of the whole building and many a Load that was piled upon it begins to bow and bend and can scarce carry it self erect Their Parts and Members in general are quite enervated and spent as if they were weary of their Imployment so that there seems to be left little of a Man but his Shape according to the Proverb Senex est non est He is old and so is No-body Like some ruinated Palace here was the stately Porch there the fair Stair-case the shape of a fair Parlour below and the shadow of an handsome Chamber above so here the Carkass of the Man remains but the Beauty is changed into wrinkles and the Strength into weakness They had a pleasant prospect in their Glass but their Flesh hath bid them farewell their Roses and Lillies are withered and a wan duskishness hath taken possession their Strength and Beauty are buried both together So that it was a Saying among the Romans Sexagenarius de ponte dejiciendus He is sixty make away with him For when a mans Strength is gone he seems to be useless He can neither defend himself nor help others He can neither fight in War nor labour in Peace Whether he be in the Temple or in the Campaign whether he be in the Shop or in the Field he is quickly weary He that could run to Sin can hardly creep to Church He that had Strength to vanquish his Adversary hath now scarce strength to wrestle with his Cough and the burden of his discourse is I have known the time that I could have done this and that Thus Milo that prodigious man of strength when coming in his Old-age to see them exercise in the Olympick Games is said to look down with tears on his own Arms and to cry Alas these now are dead Yet this Loss some Aged persons can better bear than Others can digest the decay of their Beauty O to be lean withered and deformed vexeth them at the Heart They cannot look upon themselves with Patience and they conclude that when they be so unwelcome to themselves they must be unacceptable to every body else Job 14. 20. Thou changest their Countenance and sendest them away But yet neither of these Inconveniences are chargeable upon Old-age it self For as Tully well observes the defects of strength whereof we are sensible do rather proceed from the Vices of our Youth than from the fault of Old-age An intemperate Youth transmits a weak body unto the time of Old-age and then we lay all the blame on Age. Galen in one place tells us About the 28th year of my Age when I knew there was a certain way to preserve Health I followed the same all my life after so that I was never Sick but of an Ague for a day and that seldom and thereby he was vegete and brisk at Sevenscore years of Age. And M. Valerius Corvinus was strong enough to be the sixth time Consul when he was an hundred years old Whereas on the contrary a Luxurious
they see a tempting troublesome world so looking forward they see by Faith a state of perfect Holiness and Happiness prepared for them This Faith assures them that the end of their fight is the beginning of their Victory and as they part from their labours they take possession of their honours And doth not any Apprentice rejoyce when the time of his service is near its expiration I know Nature recoils at the approach of Death in the best but Faith is then of greatest need and use and the just may be said to dy as well as to live by his faith Thereby he sees Life and Immortality just before him and one only miry step to pass and then he is well Indeed the idle man desires not to go to bed but to all that take or suffer pain saith S. Chrysostome an end of it is sweet the traveller gladly beholds his Inne the hireling often computes when his year is out the husbandman greedily expects harvest the pregnant woman waits for her expected deliverance and the Aged person for his Writ of Ease One would wonder what shift even the Heathen made to render Death desirable who had such weak glimmerings of any other life And yet even they would thus argue Death either it annihilates us or else translates us Annihilation will but reduce me into the State wherein I was and if it translate me it will put me into better lodgings my Soul can be no where so pen'd up as here it is in the Body What boast would they have made of Death had they but firmly believed everlasting life For this it was which enabled the Apostle to make this expression Phil. 1. 23. Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better For where should the Spouse desire to be but with her husband or where the members but with the head And upon this account that good Lady Falkland would usually say when she was going to bed Now am I nearer Heaven by one day than ever I was The Aged person sees a wofull wilderness behind him and the blessed land of Promise before him and therefore no wonder that with Moses he longs to be in it And the nearer the holy Soul approacheth its perfection the more earnest and almost impatient it is to attain it And one great Advantage of the Aged lies in this that the Meditation of Death which is then in view is of great use to compose the Mind to keep us in the Fear of the Lord all the day long and our Consciences void of offence towards God and men to work in us a great contempt of the World and a singular freedom of spirit and of speech It will make us neither much to fear nor much to hope or desire any thing that the world can do for us or against us and finally doth greatly conduce to keep us steady and constant in faith and holiness And if some Ancient people do not make this use of their approaching dissolution what would they or others do if they did not grow Old at all what a careless worldly and vain life would men live if they had no certain Indications of their dying Surely the nearer to Heaven the more heavenly we should be as any man when he is come to the confines of another Countrey will frame himself to the guise thereof so he that hath this hope in him doth purifie himself as he is pure and will begin the Life below which he expects to live above And the other Priviledge herein contained is this that being weary they are near to their Journeys end They have bin long toss'd upon the Sea and now they see the Haven and rejoyce that they are ready to put into it This could make Cato in Tully to say My old-old-age is herein pleasant to me that by how much I approach nearer to death so much sooner do I as it were descry land and after long sailing am ready to enter the Port. Not that a good man should desire to dye for ease only to be freed from the troubles of life all the tribulations of that blessed Apostle Paul never made him cry out O wretched man that I am but his body of death forc'd him to it But whil'st we carry these earthly Tabernacles about us even the Sufferings of this present time will make us rejoyce in hope of the glory of God. Especially when we behold that innumerable company of Angels the general assembly and Church of the first born the spirits of just men made perfect yea God the Iudge of all and Iesus the Mediator of the new Covenant amongst whom we are going to reside in perfect bliss then will our heart and our flesh cry out O when shall we come and appear before God! And this is the Priviledge of Old-age that there is but one feeble life between them and a Crown and you know that he who is shortly to be invested in some Dignity feasts himself with the hopes of it Yea this is the constant relief of the Aged man under all his bodily and other temporal afflictions that they will last but for a moment Hold out Faith and Patience the Iubilee is at hand Therefore it behoves all that are in years to lay up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life to get some unquestionable evidence of their right to the tree of life of their part in Paradise and then their thoughts of what 's beyond death will support them against all events on this side it or in it That Death is never to be dreaded saith an Heathen Poet which is followed with Immortality All your riches reputation or friends will then nothing comfort you like a lively sense of Christ in you the hope of glory He that hath liv'd to God will chearfully go to him and they who have run with difficulty will dye with ease And thus you have an account of some of the many Priviledges of Old-age for besides all these it is a Priviledge to attain to such an Age as that we may our selves see to the Education and Disposal of our Children and also to have the comfort of their piety and prosperity Thou shalt see thy childrens children and peace upon Israel Psal. last Hereupon it is recorded among and as the crown of the Blessings bestow'd upon Iob after his restoration that he lived an hundred and forty years and saw his sons and his sons sons even four generations Job 42. 16. From all which we may conclude that although every Age of mans life hath its peculiar bitterness and sweetness yet all things well weighed a quiet and honest Old-age is to be preferr'd before any other age It is the assertion of the learned Petrarch who thereupon breaks forth into the praises of it concluding them unworthy to arrive at it that are afraid of it and them unworthy to possess it that
what is your pillow or rather your heart made of that you can sleep so long in a state of Condemnation To be born in sin is sad but to live and dye in sin will prove a thousand times worse Remember that the destroying Angels began at the Ancient men before the house Ezek. 9. 6. It s true late Repentance is seldom true but yet true Repentance is never too late O then lay all business aside and set your selves about the New creature Now or never now and ever If you turn the deaf ear unto God now beware lest he deny you either the space or the grace to repent hereafter lest he answer you Ubi consumpsisti farinam c. where thou hast spent the flour of thy life there bestow the bran of it Take warning by that Penitent in story who had often determined to begin his Amendment from somâ—… eminent time as the First day of the year or his Birth day that so his Repentance might have some Remarkable date but when that Time came he was ready to adjourn it till another time Who thereupon concluded that he would make that present Day though it were obscure in the Calender yet memorable to his Soul by his turning through divine assistance unto God. Do you not perceive how you are in danger to be trapann'd by Satan who suggested to you in the time of youth that Repentance was then too early and who will now perswade it is grown too late ye have deâ—…err'd this work long enough already now you must use double diligence about it It is said of the Mulberry tree that it casts out its buds latest but then thrusts them all out in a night You are late in the Vineyard you must work the harder The whole business of your life hitherto stands for nothing if you be not new born you will cease to be in this world before you begin to live if your last change get the start of this first change you will curse the day of your birth to all eternity Now for your Direction in this great Work your present business is to get a Competence of Knowledge in the Doctrine of Religion and then searching your own Hearts to compare them with the holy Law of God. For example look your face in the glass of that hundred and nineteenth Psalm or of the Fifth Sixth and Seventh of Matthew and then through Gods help you will presently find the dissimilitude yea the contrariety between them And then fix your mind upon the Wrath of God hanging over all persons in your Condition and upon the sufficient satisfaction made by Iesus Christ for all that believe and repent and apply all this to your selves Frequent the serious Preaching of Gods word and begin to pray in good earnest Turn thou me and I shall be turned and be assured that Spirit which inclines you to the use of these means will breath life into your dead and dry bones and make you new Creatures And in case you find your selves at a loss in this affair repair to some Able and faithful Minister of Christ and be not afraid or asham'd to lay open your Condition and follow his guidance therein For if men are not content in case of an Infirmity of body to hear the Physick Lectures or to read books of Receits but will state their own case to the Physician himself and will do the like to the Lawyer in weighty cases concerning their Estates how much more need have you of a Godly Divine to direct and assist you in an affair wherein body and Soul are at stake and that for Eternity And so much for that First and fundamental Repentance so absolutely necessary for such Ancient people as have spent their lives in the service of the world and the flesh and were never truly converted unto God. But besides these Repentance in the renewed Acts thereof is a proper and necessary work for All Old people whatsoever You have lived a long time and through Omissions and Commissions have contracted abundance of guilt Trace your selves therefore from place to place from one period of your life to another and strictly reckon with your selves Study the Ten Commandments in their true extent they are called Ten words but they command ten thousand Duties and forbid ten thousand Sins many whereof you have ten thousand times failed in and in divers of them with great aggravations and then sit down and cry out O that my head were a fountain and mine Eyes rivers of tears to bewail these offences against a gracious God Upon this account did holy Augustine in his Old-age write his Confessions wherein he makes no difficulty to shame himself that he might give glory to God. And the Book of Ecclesiastes is judged to be the Poenitenials of King Solomon in his Old-age wherein he plainly confesseth his Vanity in seeking for Happiness in a vain and vexatious World and warns all young men to beware of such like folly Alas if you had fallen but seven times a day yet in seventy years those Sins would have amounted unto almost Two hundred thousand offences and can you reflect upon this without amazement nay it is a wonder that we do not as Nectarius his Accuser of old weep out our Eyes for very grief When the leaves are fallen from the trees as is aptly observed by One the birds nests are easily seen which were invisible before so when through Age our frothy vanities are wither'd we may palpably discover the sallies of Pride Wantonneâ—…s and Folly yea those nest of vermine and vipers which replenished our youthful dayes It was the sober Advice of that Statesman Sir Thomas Randolph in his old-Old-age after he had been eighteen times Embassador in forreign parts to Sir Thomas Walsingham Secretary of State It is now time sayes he for us to leave the tricks of State and to imploy our time before Death in Repentance for the Sins of our Lives And Blessed be God that hath appointed this Remedy and the Blood of Christ without which all our tears could not wash out one Sin that poor Sinners have this after-game of Recovery when they have been undone by Sin when we have eaten so much of the forbidden fruit in our youth we have need of this worm-wood in our Old-age Renew therefore daily the Acts of unfaigned Repentance and take account duly of your selves as some of the very Heathens have done sith you must give account to God very shortly and he that daily reckons with himself will have but one day to reckon for when he comes to dye But be sure you mistake not the Nature of Repentanee For it is not only a Trouble an Anger a Sorrow but it is made up of Grief and Hatred Grief for the Offence to God and Hatred of the Sins we grieve for So that Repentance is a turning to God from all sin with grief for it and hatred of it And the best Proof you can
Richer in Experience k Serus venit usus ab annis Ovid. Met. l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophocl m Experience is a sedious bâ—…t a sure Master n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 o Arist. l. 1. Met. Justin. lib. â—…1 p Ex multis memorâ—…is ejusdem rei conflatur experientia Palaeot §. 3. Freer from Sin. q Id ago senex ne videar velle quae puer volui Sen. Ep. 61. r Qui se libidinum vinculis laxatos noâ—… molesti â—…errent Cicer. s Non sentio in animo aetatis injuriam cùm sentiam in corpore tantum vitia vitiorum ministeria senuâ—…runt vigâ—…t animus gaudet non multum sibi cum corpore magnam partem oneris sui deposuit Exultat mihi facit controversiam de senectute hanc ait esse â—…orem suum credamus illi bono suo utatâ—…r Sen. Ep. 26. t One may desire the Death of this Body to be delivered from the Body of this death Mr. Caryll §. 4. Proner to Piety u Quid enim stolidius fieri posset si mens ad perfectionem non contendit quando totus corporis habitus senectute confectus ad interitum properat Cyprian w Dr. Loâ—…d Fair warning p. 162. x Haeâ—… aetas optimè facit ad studia jam despumavit jam vitia adolescentiae domita lassavit non multum superest ut extinguat si quis quaerat quando proderit quod in exitâ—… discitur aut in quam rem In hanc ut exeat melior Senec. Ep. 78. §. 5. Riper in Fruits y Senectus enim ipsa in bonis moribus dulcior in consiliis utilior ad constantiam subeundae mortis paratior ad reprimendas libidines firmior Ambros Hex l. 1. c. 8. z See Dr. Sheafe's Vindication of Old-age written by Him at 80. Dedicated to Dr. Chaderton who was 100. and published by Dr. Gouge at 65. A. D. 1639. Plutarch An. seni c. p. 519. a Ille ergo bene senescit qui bene senserit Ambr. §. 6. Worthier of Respect b Magna fuit capitis quondam reverentia cani Ovid. 5. Fast. c Credebant hoc grande nefas morte piandum Si Iuvenis vetulo non assurrexerat Juv. Sat. 13. d Nil habui antiquius §. 7. Further from the World. e Quod si quis Deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam in cunis vagiam valdè recusem nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio a calce ad carceres revocari Seneca f Nec me vixisse poenitet quoniam it a vixi ut frustra me natum non existimem ex vitâ istâ discedo tanquam ex hospitio non tanquam ex domo commoraâ—…di enim Natura diversorium nobis non habitandi dedit Senec. g Nihil de seculo desiderare potest qui seculo major est Tertul. h At senex est eò melior conditione quam adolescens cùm id quod sperat ille hic jam assecutus est Ille vult diu vivere hic diu vixit Cicero i Solenne in confinio mortis positis res humanas ex ignotâ quadam supernaturali causa fastidire P. Suav Histor Conc. Trident. â—… 8. Nearer to Death and Eternity †Of young men dy many Of old men scape not any k Pugnae finis est initium victoriae dum finiuntur labores accedunt honores Rivet de senbon l Chrysost. hom 49. in Matth. m Moâ—… quid est aut finis est aut transitus nec desinere timeo idem est enim quod non coepisse nec transire quia nusquam tam angustè ero Senec. Ep. 65. n Facilè contemnit omnia qui semper cogitat se esse moriturum Hieron ep ad Paul. o O preclaram diâ—… cum ad illud amicorum concilium coetumque profiâ—…iscar cum ex hac turbâ colluvione discedam Cicero p Ennius q Ante senectutem curavi ut benè viverem in senectute ut benè moriar benè autem mori est libenter mori Sen. ep 61. r O veneranda ante alias senectus O diu optata O nequicquam formidata mortalibus Et si nôsse coeperis faelix aetas Indignus est ad te pervenire qui te metuit Indignus pervenisse qui te accusat Petrarch lib. 8. ep â—…enil ep 2. Cap. 7. The Work of Old-age §. 1. Repentance of their Sins s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 t I repent of all my life but that part I have spent in communion with God and in doing good Dr. Donnâ—… on his Death-bed u Quidam tunc vivere incipiunt cum desinenduâ—… est si hoc judiceâ—… mirum adjiciam quod magis admireris quidam ante vivere desierunt quam incipiunt Sen. Ep. 23. w Nonne tota vita ob commissa damnabilis vel ob omissa inutilis quid restat ô peccator nisi ut in tota vita deplores totam vitam Anselm x In quantum non peperceris tibi in tantum Deus crede parcet Tertul de poen c. 9. y O that this flesh had bin compos'd of Snow Instead of Earth â—… and bones of Ice that so Feeling the fervour of my sins and loathing The Fire I feel I might be thaw'd to nothing Quarles z Quid quoque die dixerim audiverim egerim commemoro vesperi Cato in Tully a An melius est damnatum latere quam palam absolvi Tertul de poenâ—… c. 10. §. 2. Obtaining of Assurance b August Ep. 110. c Câ—…rneades Chesilaâ—…s §. 3. Prayer and Praises d Rivet ep de bona senectute §. 4. Instruction of the Younger e Plutarch f Major pars aetatis certè melior Reipublicae data sit aliquid temporis tui sâ—…me etiam tibi Sen. de br vit c. 18. §. 5. Watchfulness against several Temptations g Omne pâ—…catum impatientiae ascribendum Tert de pat c. 6. h Vir fortis sapiens non fugere debet â—… vitâ sed exire Sen. ep 24. i Atsi inutile ministeriis est câ—…rpus quidni oportent educere animam laborantem fortasse antequam debet faciendum est ne cùm fieri debeat facere non posses Id. ep 58. k Conscientia benè actae vitae multorumque bene factorum recordatio jucundissima est Cicero l Tithonus being very old was say the Poets turn'd into a Grashopper m Ne pergas quaererè quiâ—… cor durum sit si non expavisti tuum est Bern. n Exigâ—…a pars est vitae quam nos vivimus non exiguum temporis habemus sed multum perdimus Re omnium pretiosissimâ luditur Sen. de â—…r vit o Animus fuit victor annorum as Bernard saith of Humbertus p Sempâ—…r enim in iis studiis laboribusque viventi non intelligitur quando obrepat sâ—…ectus Cicero q Nemo est tam senex quise annum non putet posse vivere Cicer. r Quotidiè morimur quotidiè mutamur tamen aeternos nos esse credimus
occasion of this groundless Expectation in that rich man Luk. 12 our Saviour plainly calls him Thou fool For it is the rankest folly to expect when winter is coming that it will relent and retire again because we distast it No more will Death forbear us but when our Name is called we must go But this vain expectation of a longer life unfits us for Death it keeps the Soul secure and careless we deferr that till to morrow which should be done to day we lose the present time and dispose of the future which is not in our hands but in Gods This causes Men to procrastinate their Repentance to deferr the Good works which they have purposed to do yea the very making of their Last Will hath been protracted hereupon by many until they have bin uncapable to do it Let all Aged persons therefore be advised to set Death each morning between themselves and the ensuing night and every night make that reasonable supposition that it may arrest you before morning The messenger that you have so long looked for will not amaze you when he comes As the meeting of a stroke breaks the force of it so the Sting of death is in a great measure lost when we are first aware of it He that in this respect dyes daily will easily and happily dye at last SECT VI. THE Sixth Work of Old-age is Providence for Posterity Too many when they are going out of this World care not what becomes either Temporally or Eternally of those that shall come after them And accordingly will neither plant'a Tree nor repair an House nor do any thing for the benefit of Posterity They cry It will serve our time and so suffer all things to go to ruine because they are removing into another world themselves yea and commit or permit wilfull wast divers ways for somepresent small advantage leaving great inconveniences to their Successors whereas the very Heatheus had better principles and injoyned their Old men to plant trees c. which might be usefull to another Generation Thus a man may be benefiting others still after he is dead and gone and God may be praised for your care and kindness by them which succeed you And another sort there are that in stead of leaving any Blessing or benefit do lay up a Curse for their Posterity by leaving them Estates which they have got by Fraud and Injustice or some unconscionable course which is the ready way to melt away the rest how justly soever obtained You cannot invent a more compendious and infallible means to undoe all your Posterity than by transferring to them Goods or Estates indirectly gotten for God is righteous and will not prosper unrighteous dealings Those riches will perish by evil travel and he begetteth a Son and there is nothing in his hand Eccl. 5. 14. But if you have any care or concern for your Posterity lay up a stock of Prayers for them and leave them as is aforemention'd wholsome and good Rules concerning Piety Equity and Charity Leave them an Account of your own Experience in all things material that so if they have any brains they may cheaply learn what you have dearly bought And especially leave them a Copy of your own good Example which will be a constant Monitor and Check to them in the whole course of their conversation But these having bin touched before that which remains for the Peace Comfort and good of Posterity is a Prudent and seasonable Settling of your outward Estate It is strange to see the great backwardness of many Aged persons to this work as if making their Will would either lessen their Estates or shorten their Lives a gross and groundless Opinion whereas the neglecting of this affair hath a train of very ill consequences particularly many of the most tedious Suits of Law are occasion'd thereby mutual Love among Relations spoiled the poor overcome by the rich the simple by the cunning the Orphan by the Guardian and very often the whole Estate squandred away in trying for it What a folly is this to neglect that which would both quiet your own minds and preserve quiet among them that come after Ten lines discreetly written would prevent ten thousand lines when you are dead When the Lord therefore sent a Message of Death by the Prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah he commanded him to set his house in order Isa. 38. 1. as if that work must of right go before his death The Aged person then ought to present this Message daily to his Soul Man Woman set thy house in order For since it is uncertain in what place or in what moment Death waiteth for us it behoves us to wait for it in every place and every moment and consequently to set not only the heart but the house in Order And in the doing of this work let Reason and Iudgment over-rule Passion and Affection If need be advise in Law the neglect whereof renders the Testaments of many persons nothing but Bones of Contention and so the sparing of a small Fee at present proves the spending of many in a short time But however weigh your Purposes in a good Conscience and remember that you are only Deputies under God whose you are and your whole Estate that it be so Devised as may agree with his Revealed will Think with your selves what judgment wise and impartial persons will pass upon your Disposals when you are in the grave Pray therefore unto God on this occasion that he would first Direct and then Establish your Purposes which is the likeliest way to bring them to pass And dispatch this affair Timcusly while you are in health and strength For you can never do it as you would nor perhaps as you should when you are in the power of those that stand waiting for your Estate They who are so weak that they must be beholden to their Relations for every Refreshment they have need of cannot have the liberty or opportunity to order their affairs in an impartial manner What if upon the alteration of your circumstances you revise your Will and alter it every year Is it not much better to be at that trouble than either to deferr it till you can make none at all or such as must savour greatly of your present weakness Do not imagine that the Expedition of this will hasten your Death For what influence or efficacy can this have to procure any such effect It were easie to produce those that have never bin without a Will written and sealed for Thirty or Forty years together It affords a man great satisfaction in case any sudden sickness seize upon him that he hath nothing of any earthly affairs to trouble him nothing to do but to bear or to be relieved of his distemper For when our inward State is fixed and our outward State is settled yet we shall find it work enough to grapple with the disquiets of a disease and with the pangs of Death
SECT VII THE Seventh Work of Old-age is Mortification And the Object hereof is double 1. That which is Evil in it self 2. That which is Lawful in it self The Religious Old person hath work in both these 1. One great work of Old-age is Dying to sin to all sin The time past of our life may suffice us to have walked in lasciviousness lusts excess of Wine revellings banquettings c. 1 Pet. 4. 3. We have sinn'd enough already yea much more than enough it is high time to undo that which hath almost undone us We are dying it is necessary that our sins dy before us and that by Faith in the death of Christ and Repentance from dead works for want of which course our Evidences prove litigious and snarled with inextricable doubts It is not enough that we want strength or opportunity to sin but our wills and desires towards it must be dead also Sin is only asleep or benumbed in us if we have not used Gods means to crucify it It 's not sufficient that we leave it except we loath it Go through-stitch therefore with this work do it quickly do it sincerely it is Kill or be Kill'd and necessity makes the Coward resolute Dread not any Scriptural severities necessary in Mortification Some Devils are not cast out without Prayer and Fasting and Hippocrates observes that Old-age is the fittest for the use of Fasting The wounds that sin hath made must be searched to the bottom and doubtless it is never crucified no more than Christ was without pain How justly doth the Scripture still stigmatize sin with the name of Folly to weave a Webb that must be unrav'led and to make us spend our lives between sinfull joyes and painfull sorrowes And though Old-age doth not mortify sin by it self yet cooling our lusts and passions it proves helpfull in that work and provided we be truly thankful unto God for that advantage and that we use other necessary means to that end we may comfortably acquiesce in that blessed effect and rejoyce that the things which are displeasing to God are become unpleasant to us But we must not be content to be only passive in the decayes of sin we must be active in that work If ye through the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. And as All sin must be the Object of Mortification so especially all Youthful sins For as Chrysostom says An Old man acting juvenile sins is far more ridiculous than young persons that commit those sins To have our hearts burn with Lust or Revenge when our veins are freezing with Age the soul rampant and the body dying is monstrous And yet we know how S. Hierom himself complains of scalding motions that were ready to invade his withered body And the Scripture gives us a sad Instance hereof even of Solomon the best and wisest of men alive that had done more for God and God for him than any man in the age he lived in that he when he was between Fifty and Sixty years of age should be so far inslaved to his strange wives as to be carried by them to worship strange gods For it came to pass when Soloman was Old that his wives turned away his heart c. 1 Kin. 11. 4. Whereby he set in such a cloud as hath drawn his very Salvation into question Let it be a warning to all Aged people to see that their Corruptions be not asleep but dead as far as is attainable in this life that the Old man as well as the outward man perish and which will be a good proof thereof that the inward man be renewed day by day That our Thoughts our Words our very Behaviour and Attire proclaim that Sin and we are parted never to meet again It was a good answer of a Lacedemonian to one that asked him why he wore his Beard so long Answ. It is to mind me that I do nothing unbeseeming my hoary hairs A light behaviour in a grave person is foolish and loathsome For as dead flies cause the ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking saviour so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour Eccl. 10. 1. 2. The Other Object of Mortification proper for Old-age is The World and all the innocent but charming vanities thereof Not that they are bound actually to forsake the World either the needful cares or the lawful comforts of it But to wean and abate their desires of it their delights in it their cares about it This should be every Christians work but it should be the Aged persons care in a more eminent measure For they are ready to leave this world and ascend into another and every one takes off their mind from an house they are leaving The world also is forsaking them the pleasure they have formerly taken in meats apparel building is much decayed the things which did formerly ravish are now grown insipid and doth not this call aloud to them to real Mortification you should most readily consent to part with them and say Farewell my gold and all my gayeties I meant not to injoy but use you I can be happy without you It is the absurdest sight in the world to see one gaping and grasping after this world when he is going into another Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand Phil. 4. 5. Your loyns should be always girded about and your lights burning and ye your selves like unto men that wait for your Lord Luk. 12. 35. I write unto you Fathers Love not the world neither the things that are in the world 1 Joh. 2. 14 15. Abate your love to things below and increase your love to things above Nothing can overcome love but Love love of earthly things but the Love of heavenly things as nothing can fetch out fire like fire O when we do love all these things for God we will willingly leave them all to go to God for whose sake only we valued them Otherwise you will find it an hard pluck to leave them even like the plucking the Skin off your hand whereas the heart that is mortified to them can part with them as easily as you can draw the glove off your hand How readiâ—… did 〈◊〉 gâ—… up into the mount and dye what little noise or dispute did Iacob or David or Paul make about leaving â—…he world They were dead to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that said I am ready to be offerâ—… had said before the world is crucified to me and I unto â—…he world So that the Aged person should be mortified to Life it self he should be very well content to dy It was a sad Confession of Caesar Borgia that ambitious Grandee when he was near his end that he was prepar'd for every occurrent but Death which was the only thing that he should have been most ready for But 't is Grace not years that makes us dead to