if 't were possible Hence therefore some are unwilling to dye because they must by that be deprived of all those delightful Objects and stript of all those conveniences in which they at present find so much Comfort 2. Some are afraid to dye or unwilling at least and they are such as have not the advantages of the former but yet have some tolerable conveniences and enough to counterbalance all their Troubles or Miseries in the worst sense and many pleasant intervals of Comfort And they never considered enough of a future state to think whether there might be any thing better in another world and therefore they would not leave this for an Vncertainty If they have the mishap to meet with troubles yet they are not lasting and a new Enjoyment wears off the memory of a late bad accident But now if they should be displaced from such a state whose circumstances they have so long reviewed examined and approved and immediately be lodged in another Region with which they are utterly unacquainted this would be such an astonishing thought as the most rigid Stoick with all his Philosophy could not easily mitigate and the Venom of it would work so powerfully that in a little time it would draw on that very evil which their fear was intend to prevent 3. Others are afraid to dye from the remembrance of an ill spent Life they are men who have lived in an open Rebellion against that sacred Majesty which governs the Universe but especially inhabiteth Eternity but yet have not lived so long or sinned so much as to wear out all Sense of a Deity or erase the natural Apprehensions of good and evil But their memory is tenacious enough to mind them of what they did and their Conscience tells them what 't was when done and when upon a review of their past actions they can only draw a sad Catalogue of Error and Folly or wilful Transgression and repeated disobedience and yet at the same time their own hearts tell them that those faults must be accounted for to a Soveraign Judge who is infinitely just and will neither be byassed or perswaded to pass any sentence upon any Person otherwise than the Merits of his Actions shall require When by looking backward he shall see little or nothing that he dares own and yet looking forward he can have no prospect of anything that he would willingly suffer in a word where there is no remaining hope of any thing but a fearful looking for of Judgment 't is in this case no wonder if men be unwilling to dye for to such men death is only an inlet to damnation which is the most amazing consideration that can be next to the being in actual torment But yet I say if there were none of these accidental reasons to bring men out of love with death yet even that principle of self-preservation which is connatural with our being would engage us to use all possible lawful means for our continuance here in this state and condition 'T is true an active faith a firm hope and an ardent love will supersede all natural or accidental objections and the zeal of a sound Religion will prompt a man to hazard his life unto the Death as Act. 21. 13. says St. Paul What mean ye to weep and to break my heart I am ready not only to be bound but to Dye for the Name of the Lord Jesus And the vast number of Martyrs that have so willingly submitted to the Tyranny of Persecutors doth fully convince us that many in the World did not think life the most valuable blessing But yet ordinarily speaking this willingness to lay down our lives tho for Religions sake is a sort of Violence to our natural temper and constitution and 't is what no one can and would do if he were not first perfectly transformed and altered from what he was Nay in short this natural aversion that is lodged in the very original of our frame is abundantly manifest in that petition of our Saviour himself Jo. 12. 27. Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour i. e. the terrible apprehensions of his approaching passion did so dismay him that tho he came into the World on purpose to suffer yet he desired that if possible it might be passed by Mat. 26. 39. Let this cup pass from me or at least that the time might be deferred for we are so partial to our selves and so fond of our Ease that an Evil which we fear is as pungent as that which we really feel And we have been told of some who have made their lives extreamly miserable only by antedating their misery and suspecting that in time they might be so I don't mean that this respected our Saviour for he soreknew all consequences and he knew that he should rise again and be glorified at the right hand of God But this respects men who can see no further than to what is before them But yet what Notions soever men may have of things what projects soever may divert them what thoughts to distract them or what care soever they use for their Preservation certain it is that no man can continue long in this World Our fears in this life don't set the other life at a greater distance nor do our enjoyments here give us a surer Inheritance in this Life but whatever our worldly circumstances are our time here is but and can but be short for as for man his days are as grass c. p. 1. To collect and repeat to you the various Epithets and Emblems by which the Writers of all ages have represented the Shortness and Uncertainty of our Life is not so very material The Aegyptians had their Hieroglyphicks and the other Heathen their Maxims and the Scriptures have their Allusions and Parables their Representations and Similitudes but I will go no further than the Text which is very sutable to the sad occasion of our present meeting Mans Life is as grass The Season of the year tells us how soon it is withered that which is green and prosperous in the morning and but lately refreshed by a gentle Dew from the kind Heavens is e're noon cut down and by Night utterly altered from what it was the Verdure of it is gone and no Art can recover it again So the Flowers of the field are beauteous and gay more gorgeous than Solomon in all his Glory Mat. 6. 29. and yet as soon as they are pluckt from their Stalk they begin to fade and in a very little time degenerate into a loathsom Rottenness Nay which is seemingly a less cause for any considerable alteration the very Temperature of the Heavens if but a little unseasonable robs both Grass and Flowers of their Beauty a rough wind or a great rain makes both to fade and after Once such an accident happens it is for ever irremediable and the Place thereof shall know it no more i. e. they never grow in the
He is cut down like a flower and his days were but as the grass One storm one little accident hath rendred all these advantages useless His Estate is lest behind him his Ancestors are no more to be accounted to him now that he is laid with them in the Dust and of all his Friends tho they all lament his Death yet none can relieve him All our most pious respects to our dearest Friends are superfluous as soon as the Soul is parted from the body and tho Nature and Civility and Religion allow and command that we perform the charitable Office of a Burial Yet Reason and Sense and Prudence and Religion tell us that the passionate demonstrations of kindness which the tenderness of the Female Sex doth easily afford as well as the nearness of the Relation doth so readily prompt are neither justifiable nor commendable I will lament my Friend as I am a man but yet not so as thereby to give the world any temptation to suspect that I am no Christian I may be sorry for the loss of my Friend but I must take care that I be not sorry as if I had no Hope Nature forces me to grieve but Religion shall give it its just Limits that my grief may not be inordinate And since the all-wise God hath been pleased at this strange rate to cut off this young Gentleman just as we do the tender grass since he who was a flower for his many desireable qualifications is also like a flower withered I advise that all that hear of this dreadful accident do think upon it for their improvement in Holiness Many men are so fond as at any extraordinary accident to attempt to measure Providence and cast about them to see where should be the cause of the great thing that God hath done The Disciples themselves were not free of this fault Jo. 9. 2. Master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind But this is a fallible and withal a presumptious way to judge of the methods of Gods Providence Certain we are or we are Atheists that God hath a determinate end in all things that happen in this lower world but it is not proper for us that we should be able to square his Providence with the various chances of the world It rather obliges us to adore his goodness in preserving us and his mercy in sparing us and that we who are as much grass i. e. as srail and equally mortal as this young Gentleman should yet be continued alive when he is denied the further Priviledge And therefore to make this Text and this particular instance of Providence serviceable to us I shall infer these four things 1. That we do not value our selves too much upon what we have 2. That we do not too much addict our selves to this world 3. That we make a seasonable preparation for a removal hence 4. That we moderate our sorrow for the loss of any Friend how near or hopeful soever These are all naturally contained in the premises and these may be beneficial to the rectifying our mistakes concerning the odds betwixt this and the other world for 't is too often seen that those who have most of this world are too regardless of the next and don't dream of a change that may ensue First Inf. 1. We should not too much value our selves upon what we have All the valuable blessings or conveniences of this life are subject to change and casualties nothing here below is permanent and lasting All animae beings are useless and contemptible as soon as their breath is gone and the most solid inanimate bodies do by degrees decay and grow unfashionable Marble is defaced by weather and Silver and Gold will rust but if this were not so yet we should not value them much because they can't long be serviceable to us for we can't live long to enjoy them In Infancy we are careless of those things that we esteem most precious in common estimate in older age A new born Babe hath no comfort from a large inheritance nor doth the care and labour of busie ancestors who heap'd up wealth like the sand to leave their posterity a luxuriant fortune at all affect them But all that they need is a careful Nurse and good attendance and if they are so happy as to enjoy these they never project any thing future for twelve or fourteen years next to come And after that age it may be the flattery and information of some indigent or spungy dependents shall swell a wealthy young heir with mountainous thoughts of incredible Riches which are his undoubted right and of which he can't be deprived and from thence it may be he is hurried on to all those extravagancies which are laid as temptations to pleasure by vassal confidents till by easie degrees he becomes ungovernable and mostly licentious too and many times those malevolent insinuations have caused Minors to turn Bankrupt and even forfeit their Estates before they had lived long enough to enjoy them And hence it hath happened that those who had enough to live creditably with good management and to convey to their Children a sufficient fortune have themselves castrated their own Fortunes and lived long enough to lament the direful inconveniences of their own too hasty Folly So that in this sense at least our advantages or expectations are but like grass or a flower for those who spend madly in hopes of what they shall enjoy plentifully dye Beggars commonly But say this be not the case For tho in this degenerate age there are too many instances to prove the ruine of fair Fortunes even by this means yet 't is not always so nor indeed is it mostly so yet suppose then a Family as well fix'd as they can be wished for by their Friends or themselves desire say their circumstances are such as puts them beyond the frowns of Fortune and the worst of mischances shall not bring them to Necessity Suppose them abounding with all conveniences and delights too that they live in Wealth and Reputation honoured and loved in Health and Peace that they have a numerous Progeny which stand daily round their Tables like Olive plants so that all that know them shall be forced to say Lo Here is one that is truly blessed Yet alas how really inconsiderable are these things N. B. If a Parent have but one fit of sickness these things are scarce regarded A Dropsy or the Gout or a violent Head-ach makes all these seeming ornaments appear invaluable and the relish which those things afforded in health becomes in a single minute insipid and contemptible But if this do not happen or if a man don't perceive their vanity by some inhabiliments of body or some sudden discomposure of thoughts and anxieties of mind during life yet in death all these fair enjoyments are in the twinkling of an Eye rendred useless And yet he that hath at this present all that he can wish
sutable to his excellent nature The best of all worldly enjoyments if they exceed the Limit of Prudence and Sobriety may be pleasing for a time 't is true as long as men are bereaved of their sences through the height of Excess which is just as distracted persons reckon Fetters and Chains an Ornament But alas as soon as they return to themselves they find nothing but shame or sickness an aching Head or a weak Stomach or rotten Bones The transporting Pleasures of a Frolick all vanish in a night and all that remains is a fear that others will remember the indecencies of which they were lately guilty and have themselves forgotten Therefore I say considering those things are so truly vanity that they are all transitory which perish in the using that they are but imaginary Apparitions and at best no further grateful than they are fancied to be so it will follow that they should not be too eagerly courted nor should we spend too much time in their purchase Thirdly Inf. 3. Since our time here is so short and withal so uncertain we ought to make timely preparation for our removal hence Mans days are but as Grass consume in a moment our days are swifter than a Post our time is but like a writing upon a sand and of this every one must needs be sensible that ever looks abroad in the world and yet there are not many that lay this to heart as they ought nor do they consider their own frailty when they see others drop into their Graves It may be on a Funeral day or on the news of such a terrible mischance and fatal accident as this was men may have some natural suggestion that mortality is certain and death amazing But the next merriment wears off the sense of it and men follow their accustomed sports or business with as much eagerness as if they should never dye and lay Scenes for strange projects as if they were immortal and till they find themselves arrested by the Messenger of Death a grievous sickness they fancy it will always stand at a vast distance from them But this should not be so we know we must remove off from this stage and for ought we know the time is nearer than we are aware This Gentleman was as likely to live as any person here now present and yet within one hour that I saw him lively and well I heard the sad news of that accident which drew on death irresistably against all our good wishes to the ruine of our hopes and the grief of all Spectators Nay the change was so sudden and withal so violent that Art and Medicines were useless and the ready offices of all his Friends were utterly unserviceable but in a word he was stupid in a moment and continued so till he died which was shortly afterward And methinks this single instance is enough to add weight to the Argument and enforce the inference viz. that all men should provide in season for a removal hence For who can tell but the same or a like misfortune may befal either of us tho yet I say considering the circumstances they appear so amazing that I heartily do and every one may pray from such a death good Lord deliver us But yet allowing only that a sudden death is but barely possible yet who in his wits would run the hazzard of a following Eternity meerly for the Love of a fading perishing transitory uncertain world We must subsist after our souls and bodies are separated and therefore we ought so to spend our time in the body that it may turn to some account for our souls after our bodies are turned to dust which I express by making a timely preparation for our removal There is no one thing in which men are so contentedly cheated as in the notions of living and dying nay worse those who will not allow others to impose upon them tho but to the damage of a penny will yet impose upon themselves in this case which is a matter of infinite importance and many times hug their error so long that it proves irrecoverably damnable i. e. men drop into Hell while they caress themselves with the fond hopes of a following Heaven And this is a madness which possesses the generality of all mankind they put death and the other world at a great distance and then think themselves safe in all their extravagancies there they revel their senses indulge to Luxury make provision for the Flesh court the world and make but a sport of damnation And yet all this while are confident that they shall have time enough to reverse all this and meet Death long enough e're it call for them And that after a life of sin and vanity they shall dye very devout Saints and partake of their Blessedness Unaccountable stupidity What is this that so bewitcheth men What Circaean Cup should have power sufficient so to intoxicate them And so utterly to divest them of their Sense and Reason Nay what Amulet is that which can so powerfully resist the Force and Charms of the principles of Religion and make them so regardless of another world to which yet they may be transported for ought they know in the space of one hour There are many who have served this World with the same zeal coveted wealth with as much greediness indulged themselves with as much liberty carried themselves upon their appendant ornaments with as much state in a world that sinned as boldly and yet with the comfort of the same security in former days that men do now And yet many of us can tell how short they fell in their expectations that they died in the habit of sin where there have been no appearances of any colour of repentance and some in the very act where Charity it self can hardly suppose it at least I 'm sure Reason will not allow it In a word we have known some that have died in such a condition as considering the circumstances and with reference to the next world I 'm sure no man present would be content to dye in the same condition for ten thousand worlds Well Allow this but consider if we use such practices why may not we fear the some end In such a case fear is beneficial and foresight is greatly advantageous and therefore we should prepare in season for our removal hence 'T is a fatal delusion to reserve the practice of piety to the latter part of our lives 'T is an affront to God that we should sin away our Youth our Strength and our Vigour and at last bring him the lame offering of a decrepit old age which is rendred useless to our selves thrô the frequent debaucheries of Youth which no arguments could prevent Briefly Nothing can be said to justify those who believe a future state and yet all the time which they live here make no provision for it For I reckon future resolutions to be nothing but a trick to silence their consciences in this