afford some Ingredients of Joy and Comfort in it My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience James 1.2 3. And why should we be concerned for Light Afflictions for a moment which will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 3. The time of our Life and Continuance in this World is short Man that is born of a woman is but of few days Job 14.1 If he lives to the utmost extent of Nature his Time is but short in respect to the first Ages of the World much more in respect of God Mine age is nothing before thee says David Ps 39.5 What is Sixty or Eighty Years to Eternity And of this short time how much is consumed and spent in Childhood in Vanity in Sleep Sickness and Bodily Decays We are destroyed from morning until evening Job 4.20 From the Morning of our of Birth or coming into the World till the Evening of our Death and going out of it We are declining and wasting soon after we arrive at our full Strength and shall be so till we come to the Dust of Death And how often is this short Life still made shorter by Accidents Some stumble at the Threshold dropping from the Womb into the Grave Some continue a little longer but go out of the World before they knew why they come into it And how many are taken off in the Prime the Bloom and Height of their Strength The Consideration of which will afford us these Practical Uses 1. The shortness of Life considered with the Evils Afflictions Miseries Snares and Temptations of it should teach us to be contented and thankful that it is no longer When Xerxes wept that the vast Army which he was carrying against Greece should all be dead in the space of an Hundred Years Artabanus told him That they would meet with so many and great Evils that every one of them would wish himself dead long before If the shortness of our Lives afflicts us in that it puts a speedy Period to our Joys and Possessions it makes us amends for this by putting an end to our Miseries and Troubles too If our Days be evil it is no small Comfort to think that they are also few The World is a Store-house of Evils the Regions of Storms and Tumult a Vail of Tears a large Hospital in which we may see the melancholy Effects of Sin and Mortality Man a Map and Complication of Miseries the Road he is to take lies through heavy and miry Ways variety of Snares many Tribulations his Life is Labour and Sorrow and for this Reason we have no great Cause to complain that it so soon passeth away and we are gone Psal 90.10 It is the Complaint of many That the Life of Man is the Entrance and End of a Tragedy a Web of unhappy Adventures a Chain of Miseries that Man's Life and Troubles are Twin-Sisters and almost individual Companions that Life and Misery are two different Names for the same thing that no Man would accept of Life if he knew what it is that it is well he knows not whether he is coming lest he should draw back and start at the entrance that to live here is to be harrass'd with variety of Evils under different Names to meet with hard Usage distemper'd Humours bodily Sickness shameful Reproaches vexatious Disappointments besides Dangers Temptations Disquietude and Anguish of Mind This is the common Cry from weeping Infancy to querulous Old Age to this doleful Ditty most Tongues and Voices are tuned of Poets Philosophers Historians Laity Divines Prophets Kings and who not What is it then we complain of in short Life That we have not had time to go through and experience the several sorts of Evils that are in the World Or that we have not the Opportunity to repeat and go over them again That we are but a short time upon the Rack That our Day-labour is soon done That Death delivers us from our Miseries and sends us to a happy Eternity too soon If our Life and Condition in this Word be so full of Misery we have reason to bless God that our time in it is so short and to look upon Death if it succeeded a Vertuous Life as our Friend and Deliverer the end of our Miseries the Haven of Rest a Sanctuary and Refuge from Danger and Temptation a safe Port after a Tempestuous Voyage the welcome Deliverer that inlarges us from Prison ends our Labours discharges our Debts wipes all Tears from our Eyes dispels all Anxiety from our Hearts and is our Passage to endless Felicity and everlasting Rest 2. The Shortness of Life considered with the Frailty and Uncertainty of it should teach us to be always prepared for our Departure out of it The Emperor Maximilian was so sensible of the Shortness and Uncertainty of Life that it is said he always carried with him among his Robes whatsoever was necessary for his Funeral that he might never be unfurnished of that which he might every Day be in want of O that Men would be thus mindful of their Mortality and always carry about them those good Dispositions and Qualities which are not only necessary for a peaceable Departure out of this Life but also for a happy Entrance into the next That they would always have their Souls provided with those Vertues and good Habits which will make Death welcome as it ends a mortal troublesom Life and much more so as it is the Door and Passport to a more happy and glorious one Our Life in this World is only in order to another it is the time of Trial and Probation in which we stand Candidates for a happy or miserable Eternity it is the time allowed to make our Peace and to work out our Salvation and for this it is long enough though in other respects it may be short and yet how deligently do Men usually employ their time or rather how prodigally do they squander it away in any thing but this great and important Work Till they receive a hasty and speedy Summons from Death a sad and unexpected Surprize O how do they then lament their Folly that they had spent this short time of their Lives upon their Sins and Vanities and have now scarce the shortest Point of it left for the saving their Souls which should have been the chief Employment of the whole of it Archimedes a famous Mathematician of Sicily when the Romans took Syracuse was killed by a private Soldier as he was poring on his Mathematicks and drawing Schemes in the Dust How often do we see this verified and acted over again in our own Times While Men are busie and bustling about some mighty Affair of this World as they fancy it the Rich Man in the Gospel in pulling down and building his Barns bigger the Merchant in compassing Sea and Land the Ambitious Courtier in projecting for Places of
Preferment the covetous Worldling in groveling in the Dust and seeking for hid Treasure the plotting Politician in spinning of Stale-web and others are prosecuting their Pleasures their Sins Injustice and Revenge Death stands at the Door steps in and breaks off the tender Thread of Life with their Designs and Projects together their short time of Life is at an end and they must go as they are unprepared as full of Sins as Astonishmet to the Impartial Tribunal of Christ But can there be any Error so great or Fatal as this To suffer our Bodies to fall into the Grave before we have secured the Welfare of our Souls To spend our short time only about that which if attained will profit us nothing when our Time is at an end but may make us miserable to all Eternity Scipio Africanus used to say It was shameful and intolerable in Military Affairs to say Non putaram I did not think it would come to this because the Error or Misfortune might be irreparable and past mending And can that be thought fitting or credible in a Christian in regard to his Soul which would be intolerable in a Military Man in Affairs of War New Chances of War or After-diligence may possibly retrieve in the latter the Opportunities he had omitted but if the Christian has lost his time and opportunity of Grace there is no possibility of redeeming it his Doom is sealed up for ever It was one of the Three Things which grieved Cato most That he had let one Day pass over his Head without a Will in which he might have died Intestate If the uncertainty of Life taught him to be thus sollicitous to settle his Worldly Affairs ought not the Christian to think it a great Folly to let one Day pass from him before the Welfare of his Soul is secured his Peace made with Heaven and he is sure of a comfortable Reception when he must pass into the Regions of Eternity Seeing our Time is thus not only short but uncertain ought we not to watch as our Saviour commands not knowing at what hour our Lord will come Mat. 24.42 Ought we not as Pythagoras advises 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have our Tackle ready and Baggage pack'd up to be gone our House set in Order our Debts cancelled Accounts stated Provision laid in every thing prepared that there may be no Delay no Demurr no Stop or Backwardness when our Lord shall call 3. Our Time being short in this Life we ought to moderate our Desires Esteem and Value of the things of this World Things take something of their intrinsick Value from the long Continuance and Duration of them upon which account those which are frail and brittle transitory and but for a short time are much inferior to those which are for ever And this is the Nature of all sublunary Goods our Lives are short which makes them necessarily to be so and we are not certain we shall enjoy them so long they are subject to variety of Accidents which the best Foresight cannot prevent or secure them from We have here no Abiding City the World and all the things thereof as well as our Lives in it pass away Why then should we set our Hearts upon that which is not Joh. 2.17 Prov. 23.5 Why should we trust in uncertain Riches Why should we make long Provision for a short Journey Why should we lay out our Pains Time Thoughts and even Souls for Excess and Superfluities which will be of no use to us beyond the short Term of this Frail Life Which will be external Objects of Vanity to a more inlightened Mind at a Dying Hour and may be Internal Causes of inward Remorse and Vexation of Spirit 4. Our Lives being short here our chiefest Care Concern and Provision ought 10 be for Eternity Were our Lives longer than they are yet they must sooner or later have an end and then an endless immutable State either of Woe or Happiness commences and how can we better employ our short time than in providing to be happy for ever Earthly things concern only the Body during its abode in this Life but our Souls are to out-live the Body and even the Body refined from its Dross and Mortality will at length be raised to live and converse with the Soul in an Immutable State Ought we not then to make it our chief Business and Care to lay up Treasure in Heaven and provide those things which will be as lasting as our Beings Riches and Honour Houses and Lands Worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments Dignities and High Titles leave us with our Breath But Righteousness and Mercy Holiness and Purity Obedience to the Will of God Alms and Charity a Holy Life and a Good Conscience will attend and inrich us on the other side of the Grave Death can not destroy them nor the Canker of Time consume them They are the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Foundation upon which we may safely build for future Ages a Fund which will never fail us a Stock to set up with and live happily upon in the Region of Spirits when this World and all that is in it shall be burnt up and reduced to ashes Lastly The time of Seperation of one Relation from another by Death is short And this should moderate our Grief for the Loss of them The Heathens might be allowed to excede in their Grief at the death of their Friends because they were without hope of seeing them again But Christianity assures us that our Friends are only removed to a happier Place where in a short time we shall be with them Some Tears are due to Decency to Custom to Nature to the Loss and Memory of a Friend Loud and clamorous Outcries are wild and barbarous excessive and immoderate Grief is inconsistent with our Hope and Christianity It is fitting that the Body when it is sown in Corruption should be watered by those that plant it in the Earth but a Deluge may drown the Living without profiting the Dead Can we immoderately lament the Departure of him who is not only delivered from the Evils the Cares and Pains the Miseries Sickness Crosses Dangers Sins and Temptations of this mortal Life but is also gone to the Happy and Glorious Company of Saints and Martyrs Angels and Archangels to the Paradise of God the Presence of his Blessed Redeemer the Beatifick Vision where there is nothing but Joy and Triumphs Hallelujahs and Praises where the Rivers of Spiritual Pleasures overflow and the Blessed Inhabitants enjoy an ever-flourishing Youth and perpetual Spring Can we bewail without Measure the departure of one who is not lost but gone before us to take Possession of a Kingdom To which a Holy Life in a short time will assuredly bring us through the Assistance of God's Grace where we shall meet and embrace again And that this is the Happy Case of the Person Deceased we may not only charitably but reasonably believe He was Religious and Devout in his Duty to God Dutiful and Obedient to his Parents Faithful and Diligent in his Employment Civil and Respectful in his Behaviour Chaste Sober and Temperate in his Life Addicted to none of the Vices Young Men are too frequently guilty of such as Swearing Lying Lewdness c. He was Patient and Submissive to the Will of God during the whole Course of his Sickness and at the end of it willingly resigned up his Soul into the Hands of his Redeemer after he had Receiv'd the Holy Sacrament in whose Hands we must leave it in Joy and Comfort while his Friends and Relations pay their Mournful and Last Duty to his Body FINIS
Folly of Pride upon the account of Worldly Prosperity and a Christian will have more Reason to Condemn it who knows that all the Advantages Riches Greatness and Power afford end with this Life but the Disadvantages the Abuses of them will bear a Man Company into another World and both the Use and Abuses of them before the Impartial Judgment Seat of Christ must be brought to a strict account 3. If the Time of Worldly Prosperity be short we must not confide rely upon or place our Happiness in it The same Apostle who teaches us not to be High-minded teaches also not to Trust in Vncertain Riches 1 Tim. 6.17 God can blast and take them away in a Moment and destroy both our Substance and Confidence together At longest they will last but the short Term of our Lives at the end of which if we have took up our Rest fixt our Hopes and bottomed our Happiness upon them we have miserably deceived our selves and are undone for ever For Death does not put an end to our Beings though our Bodies fall into the Grave and are not capable of Delight or Pain during the time of Separation yet the Soul subsists for ever and if it has not made Provision for another State if its Happiness was centered only in Wealth or Honours in Worldly and Bodily Delights and Pleasures it is lost and undone to all Eternity This was the unhappy Condition of the Rich Glutton in the Gospel who having placed his Happiness in this World in costly Apparel Purple and fine Linnen and in faring sumptuously every day as soon as the Scene changed by Death was wrapped in Flames and wanted a drop of Water to cool his Tongue Luke 16.19 24. 4. This Consideration leads to another viz. The things of this Life being short and uncertain we ought chiefly to value regard and make Provision of those things which will endure and abide with us for ever If we have here no abiding City this should teach us with the good Patriarchs to seek for a better Country to look for a City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.10 16. to lay up treasure in Heaven and to get a Title to those Spiritual Joys which are at Gods right-hand for evermore The World passeth away saith St. John and the Lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever 1 John 2.17 The World and all that is desirable therein is Transient but Obedience to God's Commandments is of everlasting Consequence and will intitle us to a Happy Eternity and Eternal Delights in it To this purpose is the Exhortation of St. Paul Charge them that are Rich in this World that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God 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 1 Tim. 6.17 18 19. And that of our Saviour Mat. 6.19 20. Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal 2. The time of Adversity and Trouble is short As we all partake of Adams Fall so we must all more or less share with him in his Punishment and Misery The Holy Patriarchs and Prophets had their evil as well as good Days and our blessed Saviour himself the most Innocent and Perfect of our kind the beloved Son of God the peculiar Darling and Favourite of Heaven was a Man of Sorrow and acquainted with Grief Is 53.3 He left his Cross as a Legacy and Badge to his Disciples and some part of his Bitter Cup who told those who were to come after them that they must also through much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 But though Sorrow and Affliction may be the universal Portion of Mankind though the Afflictions of the Best Men be many and sharp yet they are short too The Hand of God which is afflicting is also healing and he who forgets not to chastise remembers to deliver Sorrow may endure for a Night but that we may not faint or despend Joy cometh in the Morning Ps 30.5 Our Saviour who tells his Disciples that they should be sorrowful assures them in the next Words that their Sorrow should be turned into Joy John 16.20 The Storm by which the Apostles were indangered as a Type of their future Troubles was soon converted into a Calm Mat. 8.26 And though Clouds eclipse the Sun for a time they blow over and make its return more welcome and refreshing Was ever any Man plunged into more or greater Afflictions all at once than Job And yet we sooner see an end of his Troubles than of his Patience and his latter end was happier than his beginning Job 42.12 The Afflictions of Joseph were surprising and his Deliverance as remarkable he was delivered from a Dungeon almost to a Throne and from a Bond-Slave to be the Second Person in a great and flourishing Kingdom Daniel of a Captive became President of a mighty Empire and David whose Troubles and Adversities were sometimes great was refreshed and comforted and brought from the deep of the Earth again Ps 71.18 The Captivity of the Jews ended in a happy return and the Christain Churches Persecutions under Dioclesian terminated in a Constantine Our Saviour tells us Those who mourn now shall be comforted Mat. 5.4 and St. Paul reckons the heaviest afflictions light because they are but for a moment 2 Cor. 4.17 The longest Troubles of a Good Man must end in Death if not sooner they can continue only the short space of this Life and what is that to a Happy Eternity To conclude this Head We may say of our Afflictions as Athanasius did of his Nubecula est cito pertransibit It is but a little Cloud and will soon blow over Mourning has its Change into Joy as well as Joy into Mourning and it may be some satisfaction for the uncertainty of Temporal Goods Prosperity and Felicity that our Griefs and Afflictions are as short and changeable as they However we may well account all those Sufferings short which end happily which humble us for our Sins amend us in our Lives and sit us for a blessed Immortality The Use of this is that those who weep be as those that wept not That our Grief under Afflictions or Losses be moderated as well as our Joy in Prosperity and that because the Time is short Whatever of Afflictions befall us they are but for a short time they may also promote our Spiritual Welfare if rightly improved And these two Considerations whatever our Grief be will