are secure and content themselves with present things they foresee not dangers miseries death destruction marching furiously towards them untill it be too late the poisoned shafts of death piercing through their hearts and cleaving the body and soul asunder But a Christian must be a watchman and still stand upon his watch-tower that he may descry changes and dangers afar off that he may see death riding post towards him on his paâ—e horse Revel 6. 8. and Hell following that he may betimes provide against it and may escape the sting of death laying hold on Christ and may escape the damnation of Hell Death hath many thousands by the throat ere ever they see it coming and arm themselves against it They use to say of such who when they first â—ell sick had the symptomes of death upon them that they were taken with death Beloved every one that death surpriseth before he be provided for it may well be said to be taken with death Death hath taken hold of all such and hath them within it's power But he that is aforehand with death and is a partaker of life in Christ cannot be taken with it but he hath death rather in his power and is a conquerour over death by the power of Christ. Others are taken unprovided they are taken sleeping in their sins when death driveth it's nail into their heads as Jael did into the head of Sisera Oh then be watchfull to foresee and provide for changes to come Sickness may be coming poverty may be coming general calamities may be at hand Wars may be marching furiously towards a Land the Angel may be coming with his destroying Sword The Arrows of Pestilence may 〈◊〉 now laid to the Bow and drawn to the heâ—â— and ready to fly abroad among us Darkneâ— may be coming the loss of the glorious Gospel of Christ may be at hand Anti-Christ may be coming Howsoever these things may fall out it is most certain that Death is a coming not many daies journey from each of our doors and perhaps even now ready 〈◊〉 knock at some of our gates None of 〈◊〉 know who shall be first visited by it and they that are not provided for it aforehand may assure themselves that Hell will follow Death close at the heels Oh then learn to 〈◊〉 daily that death may become familiar to you and not come as a stranger or an enemy or an Executioner when it doth come but rather as a friend to let your Souls out of this prison of the flesh that ye may enter into glory and blessedness SERMON VI. Eccles. â—2 1. nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them CHAP. I. IN this last Clause of the Verse the daies of Old Age are opposed unto the daies of Youth in these terms The years wherein 〈◊〉 shalt say I have no pleasure in them Hence I note Observ. That this short and mortal life may outlast the pleasures and all the contentments of this life This life is short yet as short as it is it many times is longer than the comforts of this life longer than the delights and pleasures of this world There 〈◊〉 be years within the compass of this shor◠〈◊〉 wherein a man shall find no pleasure 〈◊〉 shall be weary of himself Man is buâ— of short continuance the longest liver among men shall quickly go hence and yeâ— many a man and woman may and do out-live the comforts of their lives survive alâ— the pleasure and contentment that ever they had here below And if something remain wherein they can take delight yet it is so little in comparison of those things which they have lost that they think their good daies be gone and past They have lived to see the pleasures of life vanish away life smoak and do often look back with 〈◊〉 hearts upon the times wherein they enjoyed such and such things wherein it was thus and thus with them So it was with David he had been a victorious King and prosperâ—â— exceedingly in his wayes but in the latâ—â— part of his life his Daughter was deflowâ—â—â— by his Son and that Son killed by another Son when he was feasting the same Son rebelled against his Father defiled his Concubines sought his life and was slain in rebellion Then Sheba rebelleth and not long after David lieth bed-rid and no clothes could keep him warm 1 Kings 1. Wheâ—â— were now the pleasures of life might 〈◊〉 he very well have said of these last years 〈◊〉 his life I have no pleasure in them It is true he did comfort himself in God and in 〈◊〉 assured expectation of a better life but the pleasures of this life were gone and past and if he had been one of those that have hope only in this life what good had all the former pleasures of this life done him That which was verified of this good King was true also of one of his best Subjects viz. Barzillai the Gileadite who had so liberally supplied King David when he was forced to flee from Absalom The King would now have him to be his Guest at the Court and to live with him at Jerusalem But thus he answereth David 1 Kings 19. 35. I am this day fourscore years old and can I discern between good and evil Can I taste what I eat or what I drink Can I hear any more the voyce of singing men and singing women Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burthen to my Lord the King The pleasures of this life are gone with me saith Barzillai I was wont I could relish my Meat and Drink now I cannot Musick now is no Musick to me I have out-lived the delights of this world Now if these men did out live the outward comforts and contentments of this life how much more do many wicked persons How was it with Saul He was preferred beyond his expectation before all the men of Israel He overcame the Ammonites and Philistines and was in a flourishing estate But for his sin the Lord blasted all the comforts of his life took away those gifts of his Spirit from him whereby he had fitted him for the Kingdom suffered an evil Spirit to vex and torment him gave him over to torment himself with envy and bitterness of spirit to vex himself with Davids success answereth him not in his distress leaveth him to consult with a Witch and thereupon to receive a sad answer and to hear his dooâ— which soon after was executed upon him Thus ye see in these examples how this shoâ— mortal life lasteth beyond the pleasures and comforts of this life We have also a notable example in this kind in King Jehoraâ— a wicked Son of a good Father He had a flourishing Kingdom left by his Father but after that he had slain his Brethren and wrought much wickedness the Kingdom of Edom revolted from him Ver. 9. 10. So did the City of Libnah He was severely threatned from Heaven Ver. 12 13 14 15.
remember thee let my Tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth c. The course of the words shew manifestly that it was not simply to remember this City and Temple which he undertook but to be deeply affected with its calamity for he preferred Jerusalem above his chiefest joy But most plainly doth Moses expound this word unto us Deut. 8. ver 11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his Commandements and his Judgments and his Statutes which I command thee this day Where to forget is as well not to embrace in affection and not to observe in practice as not to keep in memory Many other examples we have of like nature in Psal. 119. besides many other Texts of Scripture So that in a word Forgetfulness of God is a withdrawing declining and turning aside of the Heart and Soul from God upon Earthly things manifested in a course of neglecting God's Service and his Commandements and running after the vanities of this life CHAP. III. II. NOw that this is especially incident to the younger sort I wish the lamentable experience of all times and of this especially did not too much ease me of the labour in proving yet something must be said for it according to promise The wise man in setting forth the impudency of a graceless Strumphet sheweth that young men are especially apt to forget God and to be ensnared by her Prov. 7. 6 7. At the window of my house I looked through my casement and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house c. These are the men who in the pride of their youth and heath of their Blood value their own witts at an high rate and think themselves the wisest in the Countrey despise the dulness of elder years and more setled spirits as if wisdom were born and should dye with them Yet here ye may see how the wisest of men doth censure them for fools simple ones void of understanding men especially forgetful of God of his Word and Will such a one was seen going toward the house of a strange Woman toward a Whore-house and such are some Ale-houses frequented so much by young men for I know none so fit to keep a Stews as those who professedly without regard of Magistracy Ministry Credit c. do keep common shops for Drunkenness But mark the Wisdom of our young man 21. 22 23. With much fair speech she caused him to yield with the flattering of her lips she forced him he goeth after her straight way as an Oxe goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life She filled his head with her prateing and enticeing speeches and put better things out of his mind She caused him to forget God and cast his fear behind his back so she carried him captive in the bonds of lust and driveth him as an Oxe to the slaughter and as a fool to the correction of the stocks c. So the wise man in Eccles. 11. 9. Sheweth the solly and forgetfulness of young men where by way of Irony and in an holy scorn he bideth them do that which they will do though never so much forbidden and threatned Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the daies of thy youth put God the Judge of all the World out of thy thoughts lay aside all sad remembrance of the last Judgment let none of these Melancholick passions any whit interrupt thy youthful delights walk in the waies of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes Follow thy lusts and senses like the bruit beasts and forget all that will follow even as if thy Soul should vanish away in the ayr at the hour of thy Death like the breath of a Beast without hope of Joy or fear of Vengence in another World By this irronical concession he giveth us an excellent description of the brutish and sensual forgetfulness of the younger sort minding present things with the full bent of their Souls and never seriously looking towards the things that are above But what is the issue but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Even these things which thou makest nothing off as pardonable Errours of youth shall be scanned in the impartial judgement of God and he will bring thee to Judgment for them all CHAP. IV. III. IN the next place I am to shew the causes of this forgetfulness in the younger sort and here it were but an idle piece of Philosophy to ascribe it to the natural moisture and fluid temper of their brains whereby the impressions of things are presently dissolved like letters written in the water No this forgetfulness is as well in the heart as in the brain and requireth a further search into it's causes 1. In the first place then one special cause is a fleshly confidence in the natural strength of body and hope of long life They look at Death as a thing afar off even out of sight and therefore suffer not the apprehension of it to make any such impression upon them as in any degree to lessen that carnal sensual content which they take in the glut of earthly Vanities The blind Worldling when his barnes were full blessed himself in his own conceited happiness Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years But these persons think they have the advantage of him for whereas his Soul that night was to be taken from his goods they think they have life in store for many years an so with the unfaithful servant conclude that their Master will defer his coming and they may safely delay their Repentance and put him out of their remembrance As Gaal and the men of Shechem could eat and drink and curse Abimilech because they thought he was not near them though he was nearer than they were aware so the younger sort can satisfy their lusts and please themselves and do what they will scorning all admonitions or threatnings of Death because they think it not neer unto them Whereas perhaps Death as the punishment of Sin lyeth at their door and will be found to have way-laid them in the midst of their vanities and to cut them off in the midst of their strength and sins Strength Health abundance of Spirits freedom from aches pains and bodily distempers do put Death out of their thoughts and they will leave crooked and way-ward old age to vex it self with pensive remembrances of the Grave 2. The lively vigour of youth filleth them with a kind of carnal self-content and maketh them please themselves in themselves and so to feel no need they have of happiness and of delighting themselves in the Lord and therefore to neglect and
the old the starveling the blind the lame c. That man could never obey the Commandment so when the Lord biddeth us to remember to give up our youth to him if we spend this and our strength in sin we can never obey this Commandment for that time and strength is gone and our importent time crazy drowsy old age is left 4. From this Word Creatour God made all things for his glory and the more excellent any Creature is either in regard of its specifical nature or kind or in regard of its particular qualities and excellencies the more is it tyed to glorify God that made it such So among all earthly Creatures Man being made of the most excellent nature is most straitly tyed to glorify God the Creatour And among Men such as are in their youth and strength being endowed with the most excellent abilities ought more especially to remember him 5. Consider these Words Thy Creatour God is the Creatour of young Men as young Men. He did nor only give thee the being of a Man but the years the life the health the strength the vigour of a young Man He is the Author of thy youth the Creatour of thy strength he is thy Creatour in special he hath now Created that strength and ability in thee which he hath not yet Created in Children that which he hath taken from old Men. Thou hast that work of his now wrought upon and sheâ—ing it self in thee which is not in others and therefore Remember thy Creatour that hath Created that hot Blood that warmeth thy heart that quickness of apprehension and those lively Spirits that are within thee 6. Consider these Words In the dayes of thy youth daies and not years daies and not nights Thy youth is but a few May-daies it will presently be gone and therefore in those few daies that short time thou shouldest give up thy self to thy Creatour Could not ye Watch with me one hour a just reproof of our Saviour to his sleepy Disciples Could ye not afford me a few daies a just reproof of all silly souls who are not wise unto Salvation and think their youth too good too much to be given up to God It is not three hundred years that the Lord asketh at thy hands as at Henoch's nor Nine hundred and upwards as he required of other Patriaches but a few daies of youth Daiâ—s and not Nights The times of youth consist of Daies then is the Sun-shine the Night follow dark times of old age aches weakness sickness sleepiness Now because these are Daies they must be given up to God who is Light and not to the Devil who is the Prince of Darkness not to sins which are works of Darkness This is gross folly to give the Days of youth to Satan and to leave the dimme evening of our old declining age to God to give the good the best daies to Satan and the evil daies as they are called afterwards yea the worst to God CHAP. III. Vse 1. THis sheweth the great folly of young Men who think of all others in a Congregation that they have least reason to give any special heed and yield obedience unto the Word Preached Old Men they think had need to look about them they smell of the Winding-sheet the Grave groaneth for them an earthy cold benumeth their Limbs the beginnings of death are already upon them and have taken deep possession of them but as for themselves they are full of Life and feel no messengers of Death Life aboundeth in their Blood in their Spirits it is strongly seated in their Bones it beateth in their pulses it looketh out at their eyes and shineth in their faces there is no sign no shew of Death Alass poor souls Death doth not alwayes give any long time of warning it maketh many sudden surprizals as well as tedious and lingring seiges It hangeth up young Absalom invironed with his Warlike troops it sheddeth young Amnon's blood in the midst of his Cups while Jobs Sons and his Daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest Brothers house there came a great wind from the Wilderness and smote the four corners of the house and fâ—ll upon the young Men and they dyed Job 1. 18 19. In one night Death slâ—yeth the Sons and Heirs of Pharaoh and of all the Egyptians so that there was scarce one house where there was not one young Man dead How often hath the supream Lord of Life and Death taught us by evident examples that no age is privâ—ledged no years are exempted that the youngest cannot promise himself another year another day or hour ye that sit here old and young who knoweth when or where the next blow will light Sin hath perverted the order of Nature and put it out of course and therefore ye must not look that the same order should be kept in passing out which was in coming into the World and that those who came first should alwaies leave those behind them which were born after them The Son dyeth before the Father the Nephew before the Grand-father the Young before the Old the Heir before him that is in possession Sin hath let in Death into the World and that cometh in as an Enemy not upon parly and conditions bâ—â— as a Conqueror by a forcible entry and 〈◊〉 sacketh this City of the World and maketh no difference of Sex or Age but killeâ— and striketh on the right hanâ— and on thâ— left It hearkneth to no such plea Theâ—â— is an elder man There is a Woman that 〈◊〉 old when I was a Child let me alone I am content to yield when mine Auntients aâ—â— gone before me No if I will that he 〈◊〉 what is that to thee follow thou mâ— Some daies in the year are not near so loâ—â— as some others Some mens lives will bâ— reach the middle of some others their 〈◊〉 setteth at noon and the night is come upoâ— them before they have begun their daâ—â—â— work Therefore let young men learn wiâ—dom from the wise man yea from the Spâ—rit speaking in this Text Remembering the Creatour in the daies of their Youth And 〈◊〉 thou O young Man whatsoever thou heaâ—â—est concerning the wayes of God thinâ— that whatsoever remembrances are deliveâ—ed from the Word to put thee in mind of 〈◊〉 Creatour that they concern thee in especial 〈◊〉 there were none but young Men in a Parist that place should have special need of thâ— Word of God If there were no gray-heâ—â— in a Congregation yet there is need of spâ—cial Exhortations from the Word to mind such of their Creatour If thou hearest of present Repentance conceive that it is spoken to thee If the danger of continuing in sin and delaying conversion be set forâ—h in the Ministry of the Word know that this belongeth to thee in special manner who art in the daies of thy youth If thou hearest the charge of our Saviour Watch therefore left at any time your hearts be overcome with Surfeiting
the heart is in the liveliest temper then the spirits are freshest and quickest and natural cheerfulness being Sanctified is a furtherance of spiritual joy The quickness of the natural temper which is in youth most vigorous is a good servant to quickning grace Think not that God is best pleased with the lumpish old age which many times is little more than a dead piece of Earth with a little portion a small remainder of life abiding in it God is the living God and he requireth living Sacrifices Rom. 12. 1. Now thy youth hath more life in it than thine old age There is as it were a close union between the Soul and Body in youth The Soul imparteth a more plentiful â—nfluence of Life unto the Body in youâ—h than â—n old age by the quickness and plenty of the Spirits which in youth are more abundent than in age Give up therefore this most living part of thy life thy young daies unto God and not only that part of life which partaketh more of Death than of life thâ—ne old decrepit and disabled age The hoary head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in a way of Righteousness Prov. 16. 31. Found He doth not say if it enter into the way of Righteousness but if it be Found there If a Man hath turned to God in his youth and persevered in upright walking before him until gray haires come upon him that Man needeth no Crown of Gold to adorn his head his hoary head is a Crown of Glory to him If under the Law a Man did burn the prime of his Beast in Sacrifice it was accepted yea when it was almost consumed even the remainders that were half burnt did yield a sweet savour to the Lord because the best was burnt also upon the Altar of the Lord. So let a Man consecrate the prime of his daies his youth to the Lord offer up this as a living Sacrifice and then even his worn old age which is like a Sacrifice half burnt and spent shall be exceeding sweet and pleasing to the Lord because the best was given up unto him whereas on the other side should any of the Priests have burned a Sacrifice upon the Altar of Baal and then when it was half burnt should have brought the gleanings and laid them upon the Altar of the Lord this would have been a grievous abomination in the sight of the Lord. So in this case c. Oh then Remember thy Creatour in thy youth lest he forget or despise thee in thine age Remember him in thy youth that thy hoar head may be found in the way of Righteousness and so may be a Crown of Glory and not a Spectacle of Reproach and Contempt unto thee 3. Consider especially the unspeakable danger of Sin confirmed and rooted with time wrought and wreathed into the heart and clasped in the affections by long custom in sin Oh when sin hath been thirty or forty years in growing and taking root it cleaveth like the skin to the bones like the Leprosy that was rooted in a wall which could not be taken away untill the wall were pulled down That sin which is in growing the whole time of a Mans youth during the best of his strength it is even a Wonder if it doth not accompany that Man to his Death-bed yea to the Judgment-seat of God I know the mercy of God is infinite and he calleth at the Eleventh hour but I am perswaded those are very few which are so called and especially very few if any of those who have had the means of Grace in their youth and regarded them not Oh this willful hardning of the heart is dreadful This continuing in sin against knowledge this with-holding the truth in unrighteousness moveth the Lord to give men over to a Reprobate sence Rom. 1. 21 24 25 28. Into such a state that he becometh uncapable unteachable that neither blessings nor crosses neither the Rod nor the Word neither sickness nor health neither gray haris nor the approach of Death can work him to to sound Conversion Ah poor forsaken Soul such a one may come to say with Saul God hath forsaken me A speech that might rend a render heart to hear it I speak not this to bring you to despair but to stirr you up to speedy Repentance that ye may prevent this desperate and woful condition CHAP. I. IN the last place let me speak a few words to Parents and old People 1. To Parents Ye that are Parents labour ye to season the very Child-hood of your Sons and Daughters with the true knowledg and fear of God pray over them daily instruct exhort rebuke and use all good means that the prime of their daies may be given up to God Teach them to Remember their Creatour in their Childhood that they may neither forget him in their youth nor forsake him in their old age I fear that most Parents among us by neglecting their Duty herein are guilty of their Childrens Destruction 2. To the Aged Ye that are grown old and have not remembred your Creatour in your younger daies whose bones are full of the sins of your youth Oh know that your case is exceeding dangerous therefore bewaile your lives whereby ye have so much dishonoured your Maker humble and judge your selves in the bitterness of your Souls cry continually and importunately in the ears of the Lord that if it be possible the sins of your youth and the long continued wickedness of your Lives may be forgiven you that the often resistance which ye have made against the spirit of God may be pardoned if it be possible that the frequent casting of the Word of God behind thy back may be forgiven Oh how odious and contemptible is the hoary head found in the way of wickedness in a state of impenitency What is an old Drunkard or Adulterer a gray-headed Swearer an old Covetous Worldling an hoary headed impenitent person but even a monster among Men What dost thou not yet remember thy Creatour not in old age not at fifty at sixty or seventy years Oh wreched security Awake awake unto Righteousness unto Repentance ye old ones that sleep in sin lest ye sleep the sleep of everlasting Death and never behold the face of God in Righteousness SERMON III. Eccles. 12. 1. Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy Youth c. CHAP. I. BEsides what hath been already observed something yet may be further noted Viz. Observ. That Grace and Holiness are exceeding fit and no way unseemly for the younger sort Man's Life hath in some regards been compared to a Comedy or Enterlude Acted upon the Theatre or Sage of this World and the truth is many a Mans life is but a Play and many in their courses do but act other mens parts not in sincerity express their own inward dispositions And therefore that decorum which they suppose may grace them in the eyes of Men is the thing they most of all affect and aim
upon this improvidence when changes happen which are grievous in themselves they become more grievous to us for want of preparation That which in its own nature is a misery is made a double misery to us when we are not prepared for it What discomfort will sickness bring when it cometh unlook'd for and when we have not prepared for it by searching our hearts casting up our accounts getting assured pardon of our sins at the hands of God when a sick body and a guilty conscience meet together there is a woful condition when a man shall lie down in his death bed with the guilt of all his sins lying upon him and pressing upon his Soul there is a grievous burthen and especially when death cometh and findeth him not regenerate findeth in him no other life but that which floweth from the union between the Soul and Body no new spiritual life issuing from an inseparable communion between Christ and him Oh how wiâ—l death insult over such a one how will the name the thought the visage of death dismay him when it meeteth him alone not joyned to Christ and entreth into a single combat with him not strengthened by an happy union with the Lord of life will it not tear him in pieces as a Lion might do a little Dog It is a double misery not to be aforehand with death not to be provided for this change 4. on the other side much ease much good much comfort followeth upon a timely foresight and wise preparation for such changes When a sad and sudden change was brought upon Hezekiah a sharp fit of sickness supposed to have been the Plague and a peremptory message from the Lord by the Prophet Set thine House in order for thou shalt die and not live Did it not wonderfully ease his burthen that he was so well prepared for this change and able to say his conscience bearing him witness 2 Kings 20. 3. I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and havâ— done that which is good in thy sight What a comfort will it be when thy health is turned into sickness thy strength into weakness when thou art fastened to thy bed and hast received in thy self the sentence of death if then thou findest thy self provided for this change A sweet comfort it shall be in old age when the Grashopper is a burden even the lightest thing it shall then ease that burden of years that makes thee stoop if thou didst in time foresee and provide for it turning to the Lord aforehand that so thy gray hairs may be found in the way of righteousness CHAP. III. Use 1. 1. THis may serve to reprove the great sensuality and security that is naturally among us that we look at things present and do not seriously take to heart such changes as may befall us A Comment upon Psal. 49. would be a fit enlargement of this use where the Psalmist discourseth excellently of this point both shewing the folly of men trusting to outward things as to certainties and declaring his own spiritual wisdom which God had taught him in preparing for any changes that might befall him First he calleth for attention for all sorts of men throughout the world Hear this all ye people give ear all ye Inhabitants of the world both low and high rich and poor together It concerneth all sorts nearly and all sorts are faulty therein and need to be stirred up by way of remembrance Then he doth very effectually seek to win attention by the excellency of the things which he is about to deliver My mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding such wisdom as many worldly wise men never learned yea he sheweth in the next verse that it is an hidden wisdom and as a parable to natural men for the most part Then he entreth upon his discourse and in the first place beginneth with himself ver 5. Wherefore should I fear in the daies of evil when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about as if he had said I do foresee changes and afflictions I look for assaults from Satan but I am armed against them through the mercy of God who hath pardoned my sins and therefore when such evils come and Satan shall seek to entangle my Conscience as in a snare as if these were sure arguments of God's hatred against me I will not fear I am prepared for these things Then on the other side in the next verse unto the fifteenth he goeth on at large declaring the folly and blindness of worldly-minded men c secure sinners in this case They that trust in their Wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their Riches none of them can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a ransom for him They trust in outward things as if they were enduring substance and their hearts are lifted up with thoughts of their Wealth and Riches they think not seriously of changes to come they trust in their strength and healthy tempers in their Youth they rest their hearts in their present carnal contentments sinful pleasures c. as if these things should alwayes continue whereas they can neither rescue or ransom themselves or dearest friends from the power of death that he should live for ever and not see corruption For he seeth that wise men die likewise the fâ—ol and the brutish person shall perish and leave their wealth to others This sheweth their great sensuality and sottishnes that though they have daily experience of divorces separations made by death between men and their wealth their honours their pleasures and that they are forced to leave all and go naked out of the world yet they do not apply this and make it their own case but they go on even like to the brute beasts which when they see one of their own herd led away to the slaughter-house regard it not but delight as much as before in their fat pastures sitting themselves daily more and more for the same end So these though they see those that were framed of the same clay with themselves drop away and return to their dust yet they mind it not unless it be for a short fit but set their hearts upon these things as much as if they had never heard of any that had been taken away by death For their inward thought is that their Houses shall continue for ever c. The Spirit of God here looketh into the inside and rippeth open the bosomes of these earthly-minded persons and sheweth what thoughts and hopes they have even of perpetuities here on earth and so they love and strive for these things as if there were eternity in them as if they were everlasting things Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish Let him enjoy never so much of these things yet he abideth not there shall come a change
A MEMENTO TO Young and Old OR The Young Man's REMEMBRANCER AND The Old Man's MONITOR By that Eminent and Judicious Divine Mr. John Maynard late of Mayfield in Sussex Published by William Gearing Minister of the Gospel Quis integram vocet aetatem cui multum deest quantulum sit quod restat incertum est Petrarc de remed utr fort dial 1. LONDON Printed for Thomas Parkhurst living at the Sign of the Bible upon London Bridg. 1669. Unto the Right Worshipful SIR Thomas Wilbraham of Woodhey in the County of Chester Baronet and to the vertuous Ladies The Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham the Elder and the Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham the Younger To the Lady Meredith of Leeds in Kent ' and to Mrs. Elizabeth Baker of Mayfield in the County of Sussex William Gearing humbly Dedicateth these ensuing Treatises Entituled A Memento to Young and Old c. And Pious Fathers the Glory of Children c. To the Reader THE outward ornaments of Youth are Beauty Tallness and Strength of the Body but Grace and Wisdom are the ornaments of the Soul and Mind But Beauty without Grace is but like a fair sign that hangeth at the door of a foul house and Witt without Grace is but like meat that tasteth sweet in the mouth and breedeth ill blood in the Veins and bodily strength and comliness of Stature without Grace it is but like so much Moss upon the body of a Tree when there is no fruit upon the boughs Absalom had a fair body and a defiled Conscience St. Augustin receiving a witty Epistle from Licentius a young Noble Man and perceiving he had abused it too loosely returneth this answer to him If thou hadst found a Golden Cup wouldst thou not have given it to some Publick use God hath given thee a Golden Witt a Soul of Gold and yet thou usest it an Instrument of Sensuality take heed of making it a vessel of abomination and of presenting thy Soul as a Sacrifice to Satan Diabolus cupit a te ornari the Devil desireth to make thee an ornament to him and thy witt and parts the credit of his Court and Cause Young Men many times have sharp Witts but as the fire in green wood is smothered by the vapours that it cannot shine brightly so holy Wisdom in youth is often smothered by Temptations and Concupisences Naturalists say That the Butterfly spendeth the most part of her Life in painting of her Wings so do many young men in guilding of their Brains Youth is as the Hebrew word signifieth the choice age of a Mans Life and a young Man is called a choice or chosen one 1. Because a Young man was rather chosen than an Old chosen to most employments of action and Youth is the time which a man would chose to live in 2. Because youth is a time wherein a Man is to chuse what course to take and it is the choicest time for the service of God Remember thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth or of thy choice saith Solomon That is in such daies as either thou wouldest chuse or else such daies wherein thou art best able to make thy choice then are we called upon to remember God Take it in that double variation 1. In such daies as a man would chuse whilst things yet go well with him before the evil daies come c. Flourishing Youth and true Devotion are seldom companions Youth unless sanctified is full of vanity serious in trifles and trifling in serious things Or 2. In such dayes as we are yet able to make our choice Death bed Devotion proveth but little worth then do we rather dream of God than indeed do remember him Good reason it is that the Young Man should remember his Creatous 1. Because uncertain of the future of his own life uncertain whether he shall ever live to old age a Soul should not be hazarded upon such uncertainties 2. Because the young man commonly forgetteth God is most tempted by Satan most violently hurried away with Passions Youth is full of folly falsehood frowardness of high conceits of their own worth and sufficiency full of inordinate and excessive love of liberty full of wantonness it is carried with strong affections upon weak grounds it is stubborn impatient of counsels and just reproofs Jerem. 31. 18 19. It is given to Prodigallity Luke 15. 12 13. It is impudent and shameless addicted to sensuality It is the Emblem of a Young Man to have a wing on one Arm as if he had a desire to fly up to Heaven but a clog on the other arm to shew how the vanities and pleasures of the World do clog his desires of Heaven 3. Or it may be Young Menare called upon to remember God because riper age is furnished with most abilities a strong body a pliable mind a riper judgment affections free Religion is not of so easie a performance but it will ask a man his best Or 4. it may be what is gotten in Youth sticks fastest by us as a Vessel retaineth a long time that odour whereâ—with at first it was seasoned God's service should never be given over and therefore learned betimes Nebuchadnezzar would have young Men stand before him the King of Heaven much more Thy Creatour will not highly value thee unless thou hast been bred up in his presence even from thy youth It is a most commendable thing for Young Men to be couragious and resolute in resisting Sin Some Heathens and Infidels have been not able in this kind Sâ— Augustin bringeth in Polemon thus speaking concerning himself I was an Infidel a young Man deprived of the Knowledg of the True God resigned over to all sorts of Intemperance Wine Love Play Rashness were the Chariot which drew my Youth to downfal I was no sooner entred into the School of an Heathen Philosopher But behâ—ld I was wholly changed He upon the Words of a man layeth down his flowery Crowns which he bare on his head his Riots and Drunkenness How unseemly then is it for Young Men that are called Christians to go on in Riot and Wantonness after so many enlightnings so many forcible instructions and so many powerful convictions and inspirations St. Ambrose likewise brings in one Spurinâ— thus speaking I was a Gentile saith she bred in the corruption of an age where vertue was declining and vice on the top of the Wheel I was endowed with an excellent Beauty which by right of natural force gave me the key of Hearts and I seeing it was too much affected courted by wanton eyes and served for a stumbling-block to chastity I purposely made scars in my face extinguishing with my Blood the flames of those that sought me for I loved better to seal my innocence as with the seal of voluntary deformity than to possess a Beauty that served only as a bait for anothers Lust. How may this give a check to the vanity of those women among us who in their youth paint themselves
with an ill intention seeking to gain that by Imposture which they cannot gain by truth and not satisfying themselves by adulterating their Beauty spare not to discover in their Breasts and Faces the Impudence of their Fore-heads Oh! what will such with all their curiosity answer to this Paynim when her Blood and Scars her Beauty disfigured which served as a Sacrifice to her Chastity shall accuse them before the Tribunal of Christ Cassian commendeth a Christian young Man who having renounced worldly vanities and betaken himself to an austere kind of Life having received a packet of Letters from his Father and diverse of his dear Friends he durst not look upon them but threw them into the fire with these words Be gone ye thoughts of my Countrey and burn for company for fear lest ye tempt me to look again toward the things which I have forsaken He feared as the story saith that by the reading of their lines and the sight of their Names he should have been perswaded to warp towards their Company and the vanities of the world again Oh how ought all young men that have had good education to take heed how they abuse it and the many instrumental means which God hath granted them for the exercise of vertue otherwise they shall pay the loss thereof in the length of a corrupt and miserable Life and their bones in old age shall be filled with the follies of youth which shall rest with them even in their â—Tombs and drag their Souls into the bottomless Precipice from whence there is no recovery Many young people run on in much evil in the time of youth adding sin to sin but as one saith youthful sins may prove ages terrours Many prophane young men that drink and quaffe play and make sport and further one another in sin what do they therin but as Abner said to Joab 2 Sam. 14. Let the young men arise and play before us Observe what play this was Then there arose and went over Twelve Men of Benjamin which pertained to Ishbosheth the Son of Saul and Twelve of the Servants of David and they caught every one his fellow by the head and thrust his Sword into his fellows side so they fell down together This was their play So it is with young men many-times when they come into company by their licentiousness and drawing one another to sin what do they but take the Sword and thrust into one anothers bowels and Labour what in them lieth to destroy each other for ever Oh how careful should Parents be in the well nutring and educating of their Children who are not only the living goods but also pieces of their Parents In Athens it was a custom never to pole their Children till they were taught and then to burn their hair as a Sacrifice to Apollo How should Parents take heed of cockering their Children in sinful wayes Indulgence of Parents is the refuge of Vanity the bawd of Wickedness and the bane of Children Look well to it ye Parents saith St. Hierome That your Children carouse not in the cups of Babilon The Sin and evil examples of Parents is like rust which cleaveth close to their Children and the greater they are upon Earth so much the more malice and precipitation it hath such children will one day complain at the Tribunal of God of the persidiousness of their Parents saying our Fathers and Mothers have been our parricides saith Cyprian Ye fond Parents behold Eli the Priest from whose lips passed so many brave Oracles who shined in the Tabernacle of God and in the mean time for permitting youthful follies and â—nbridled liberty in his Children to become the Object of God's just displeasure behold him cast from the Priest-hood as a rotten Member and his House deprived of that honourable dignity and all his Posterity Condemned to die in the flower of their age His two Sons Hophn and Phinehas slayn in one day his Daughter in Law dead in Childâ—bed and the Ark of God taken by the Philistines and dishonoured by Infidels And lastly himself buried as it were under the ruines of his Countrey as the last Victim of Godâ—s Justice Eleazar is a fit pattern for all aged persons to follow of whom mention is made in the Book of Macchabees That being assaulted with all sorts of Batteries Banishments and Torments to make him counterfeit but one sole Sin against his own Law he said to himself â—ut alas The whiteness of that venerable Hair with which thy head is covered after 〈◊〉 hath grown hoary in the exercise of thy Religion hath it not yet taught thee where the poynt of honour lyeth It is not enough for Eleazar not to counterfeit impiety but to profess vertue even at the price of his Blood Now God grant I may not serve as a stumbling-block to the youth of this City since God will make this day a Theatre of my constancy I will not be-lye the Law of my Master nor dishonour the School in which I was bredâ—nd brought up Memorable is that story of Polycarp that constant Martyr of Christ and Disciple of John the Evangelist as he was brought to the fire to be burnt the Proconsul having most earnestly solicited him to recant and renounce his Faith with promise of liberty I have said he these Fourscore and six years served Jesus Christ and I ever found him a good Master therefore I will not now Blaspheme my King and Lord I will never do it Many other words of admirable constancy and fortitude were uttered then by this old Disciple and faithful Martyr of Jesus Christ which made him regardless of his Life and resolutely to suffer Death for his Name Let none of us then offer the blind and the lame in sacrifice to God nor offer that to him which we would not offer to our Prince Mal. 1. 7. 8. This were to make God's Service a Spittle-House or Hospital to maintain us in our age when we have spent our strength in the service of Sin and Satan This is not to leave sin till sin leve us What Noble Man would be willing to give entertainment to an old serving man that hath spent his strength in the service of his Enemy Why then should we think that having given the flower of our youth to the Devil that God will accept of the bran of our old age Therefore every one like young Timothies and Josia's should begin to serve God betimes and all parents should present their Children to God betimes even as Samuel whom his Mother offered to the Lord very young who ministred before the Lord in his side-coates Youth is not only more capable but more curable than old age If sin get hold of youth it is more easily cured in youth than in men that are old as a green wound is more easily healed than an old festered sore which hath dead flesh in it A man may almost aswel give Physick to a dead man as couâ—sel to many
that are young and yet enjoy the good daies of your life do not ye make them evil Remember your Creator in the daies of your Youth take heed to your ways according to the word of God so shall these daies indeed be good daies to you and you shall prepare your selves either for an honourable Old Age or for a blessed end and an happy death preventing the evils of Old Age and putting you in possession of everlasting life which never seeleth the decays of Age. Finally let me in a word beseech those who have already out-lived their best daies to look back seriously and speedily upon the times and courses of their Youth and see how those daies have been spent observing what matter of joy and thanksgiving or what causes of grief and humiliation they may find and accordingly to be affected If you have made them evil daies how should you mourn for this How should you seek God now that it draweth towards the eleventh hour before the night cometh when no man can work which burieth all secure loiterers and unprepared ones in an everlasting night of utter darkness where is weeping and gnâ—shing of teeth The night cometh the darkness is coming yet before it cometh do ye that great work that your Soul may live and not die eternally CHAP. V. Eccles. 12. 1 before the evil days come OF the next point I shall speak very briefly and that is this Observ. That the daies of Old Age are evil daies So the Spirit of God here calleth them This the Holy Ghost here and in other Verses of this Chapter sheweth in divers circumstances Here he saith They are daies wherein there is no pleasure daies wherein there is much matter of grief and vexation little contentment when a man's life is like gloomy daies such as St. Paul met with in his Sea-voyage when neither Sun nor Starrs for many daies appeared to such daies Old Age is here compared daies of darkness wherein Sun Moon and Starrs have their light hidden and darkened and the Clouds return after the Rain Though the showres fall yet it doth not clear up but the Clouds grow up and gather together again so it is in Old Age the end of one trouble is but the begnning of another affliction like to that In the words following these evils of Old Age are more particularly expressed and numbred up The keepers of the house do tremble the arms which are to guard and defend the body shake with the Palsey the strong men the Leggs which are the pillars to bear up this house of clay begin to fail with weakness and to double under their burthen like posts worn and weakened with age The Grinders the Teeth cease because they are few and the Windows shall be darkned c. In a word we may summe up the evils of these Aged daies in these two heads Evils of Loss and Evils of Sense The loss of Contentments in God's good blessings the loss of ability for many good Offices on the other side the suffering of many inconveniences in body and mind which maketh a man a burthen to himself being burthened with such an heap of years CHAP. VI. Use. THe use of this is to renew the former Exhortation to the younger sort that they may prevent these evil daies and remove the evil of them by timely repentance and sincere obedience in their Youth Impenitency and ungodliness makes the good daies of Youth to become evil daies repentance and an holy conversation make the evil daies of Old Age to be good Godliness is profitable to all things saith the Apostle and so it is profitable for all times for times of Youth as well as times of Old Age for health for sickness for life for death it shall do thee good and not evil all thy daies If Old Age bring so many inconveniences with it how careful shouldest thou be to remove the guilt of thy sins before the burthen of Old Age cometh upon thee If these wounds of thy conscience be truly healed by the blood of Christ aforehand sprinkled on by the hand of faith then shall thy Spirit be enabled to bear the infirmities of Old Age yea thou shalt be able to do all things through the Spirit of Christ strengthening and supporting thee Oh how miserably is that poor Soul burthened that hath an heap of years and an heap of sins unpardoned lying upon it but how blessed how honourable is the gray hoary head found in the way of righteousness whose unrighteousness is forgiven whose sin is covered Such shall be Trees planted in the house of the Lord which in their Old Age shall be more and more far and flourishing and their last works as it is said of the Church of Thyatira Revel 2 19. shall be more than the first their last daies better than the first Such a good old age they shall have as divers of the Saints are said to have had Labour then so to live now that the evils of your Age may be mitigated and removed But on the other side how evil and wretched must those daies of Old Age be which are accompanied with the guilt of many sins when years encrease and wickedness encreaseth when a man will not be admonished but as he hath been rebellious in his Youth so he will be obstinate in his Old Age Oh take heed of this if these evil daies have overtaken thee before thou hast put away thy sins before thou hast sought the Lord with all thy heart repent now in the anguish and bitterness of thy soul. SERMON V. Eccles. 12. 1. before the evil days come c. CHAP. I. THus ye have heard how Old Age is said to consist of evil daies now here we see how the Holy Ghost doth call away the thoughts of young men from the pleasures and vanities of Youth wherein they are usually drowned and over-whelmed and giveth them a foresight of a change letteth them know that it will not alwayes be thus with them they must look for other times hereafter to pass over them now they have their good daies their daies of Youth but they must perswade themselves there be other daies coming these good daies will not last alwayes Hence I observe Observ. That it is Christian wisdom to foresee and provide for changes ere they come it is a brutish and sensual folly to have the Heart so possessed and taken up with present prosperity and earthly contentments of any kind as not to have any serious and effectual regard of such changes as may be brought upon us Therefore the Spirit of God having to do with young men in this place who did please themselves in themselves and in their present youthful wayes delights and contentments he setteth before their eyes a lively image of Old Age with the many evils grievances and blemishes of it yea he leadeth them along to the death-bed and hangeth out their winding-sheet before their eyes and by the way presenteth them with many objects unpleasing
all shall be turned upside down and he shall become like the beasts that perish As he is sottishly and sensually affected with things present like the beast so he shall return to the earth like it and be turned out of all ver 13. This their way is their folly yet their posterity approve their sayings It is a sad thing that when experience hath taught the world so often the vanity of such thoughts yet that those that come after should be of the same mind too think as they thought do as they did live as they lived The Psalmist addeth Selah and it is well worthy even of a note of wonder and astonishment Children see their Parents sins and see how they are taken away and all their pride and covetousness c. doth them no good the pleasure of all is vanished and gone it is no more yet will they run blindly on in the same way so will others that come after them Neighbours and acquaintance though they see this yet they will follow them and tread in their steps this is their folly Selah it is remarkable folly Ver. 14. Like sheep they are laid in their grave Death shall feed on them c. As sheep dying in the field are devoured and fed upon by Ravens and other birds of prey and beasts of the field so death shall not only slay them but feed upon them it shall consume them and turn them into rottenness and dust Then saith he The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning After this long night wherein death shall feed on them in the grave the morning light of that great day shall arise upon them when all shall rise again and then the Righteousness shall have dominion over them and sit in Judgement upon them Oh how many changes are here which they do not effectually foresee and provide for Friends are taken from them they are taken from their wealth Death killeth them Death feedeth on them and if here were an end it were nothing but then cometh that great day after this long night when they must be awakened by the last Trumpet and see the Righteous whom despised sit as Judges over them But Ver. 15. The Psalmist sheweth how he had taken into consideration aforehand all these things and was prepared for them But God will redeem my Soul from the power of the grave for he shall receive me Selah David did not settle his heart upon any things of the world but he looked for death and prepared for it made account of being Death's prisoner in the grave but then withall he had overcome death and the grave before hand by the power of faith laying hold of the promise of God knowing that he should be ransomed and redeemed from it not as the wicked whose hearts were set upon the things of the world to be carried from the prison of the grave to execution but he knew that the Lord would receive him to glory and upon this he sets a special note again Selah Then he sheweth what little cause any child of God hath to be troubled at the outward prosperity of the wicked and in the end concludeth all with this speech Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish Let him be never so highly advanced and enriched yet if he doth not understandingly consider of changes likely to come upon him but glut himself with the things of this present life he is more like a beast than a man and maketh no use of that reasonable soul which God hath given him above a beast whereby he hath an ability to look beyond these things that lie before his eyes for the present and to make use of his experience in those changes which he hath seen in others applying to himself and reasoning from one thing to another and so to provide for the like to come upon himself You see here the very picture of a caranal secure heart setled upon its lees embracing this present world and doting upon it not foreseeing nor providing for those many changes and turnings of things that are likely to happen and especially that great change that shall certainly come death the grave and resurrection unto Judgement Which were they throughly sensible of they should have a low esteem of these perishing vanities and uncertainties under the Sun and not hazard their dear Souls by too much affecting and too eager seeking after them CHAP. IV. Use 2. WE are all here to be exhorted in a more serious manner to set before our eyes and hearts a more deep consideration of those changes that may befall us and especially of that which must certainly come and to provide against them The Prophet Habakkuk saith I will stand upon my Watch and set me upon the Tower and will watch to see what the Lord will say unto me and what I shall answer when I 〈◊〉 reproved He was before like one standing upon the lower ground looking upon things present things that lay before him viz. The present prosperity of the wicked prevailing over the Church and was troubled at it in his thoughts to see the wicked devour the man that was more righteous than he Chap. 1. 13. Hereupon he is tempted to complain of the Lords wayes of Providence and his manner of governing the world But now being sensible of his errour he would get upon the higher ground upon a watch-tower that he might see into changes that should come afterwards and discern things afar off when the wicked should be most severely punished for all their cruelty in oppressing the people of God So Christians when they stand upon the lower ground and consult with flesh and blood and look upon things with fleshy eyes their thoughts are bent upon things that are at hand even present things but they must get upon the watch-tower raise up their hearts in holy meditations upon the word so that they may see afar off what is coming and what shall be hereafter what changes of things shall happen in time to come When Jehu had the Kingdom of Israel bestowed upon him with a charge to execute Justice on the wicked house of Ahab he rode in his Charet with other Captains Souldiers to Jezreel where Joram the King and his confederate Abaziah King of Judah were together in Vers. 17. it is said There stood a Watch upon the Tower in Jezreel and he espied the Company of Jehu as he came and when a Messenger was sent out and detained he could see this too and give the King knowledge of it yea and a second time he could see who it was too ere the King saw him at all as it seemeth standing upon the lower ground And the driving saith he is like the driving of Jehu the Son of Nimshi for he driveth furiously Then saith Joram make ready when he was even upon his back But then it was too late he was now within the reach of Jehu's Bow So whiles the wicked
time is past and these do him no good he is never the better for them no more than if he had â—ever possessed them Take two natural men living and dying in that estate the one â—ich and the other a stark beggar the rich man's case is not a jot better when the time of this life is worn out than the others it may be worse because of his unthankfulness and the abuse of his wealth So take a natural man that hath enjoyed abundance of pleasures and another that hath scarce seen any good daies all his life long if both of them live and die in their natural estate they are both alike the pleasures that the one hath had do him no more good than if he had never had any more than the other It may be they have encreased his condemnation exceedingly Now St. James saith that life is but for a time or rather it appeareth but for a time so the pleasures of life are but for a time nay it followeth there life appeareth but for a little time and the pleasures of life are shorter than life and therefore their time is less than life and theâ— saith he life vanisheth away and the pleasures of life must needs vanish with it 〈◊〉 they be gone before it as many times 〈◊〉 are for as ye see in the Text a man may lâ—ve such years whereof he may say and think I have no pleasure in them wherein he may say in his heart Alas I breath yet I keep above ground I yet live but I have out-lived all the comforts of my life they are as it were dead and buried I shall never enâ—oy them any more so that he can look back upon his former comforts and prosperity with a sad heart and weeping-eye comparing it with his present sorrows as 〈◊〉 did as ye may read at large in the 29th and 30th Chapters of that Book In the 29th he expresseth his former prosperity in the 30th his present affliction In Chap. 29. 2. 〈◊〉 saith Oh that I were as in moneths past as 〈◊〉 the daies wherein God preserved me 〈◊〉 his candle shined upon mine head and when by his light I walked through darkness So he goeth on Even so man liveth to that day when he can reckon up a great many comforts as so many losâ—es things once enjoyed now gone and can compare them with many crosses now lying upon them for sometimes the Lord taketh away mens wealth so that those who have lived plentifully are brought to a poor and hard condition sometimes their health that men are afflicted with languishing or painful diseases that their wealth doth them little good they cannot enjoy it Sometimes he leaveth them health and wealth but taketh away those friends that are dearer to them than either the loss of whom embitteâ—eth all those things that are left them Sometimes he depriveth them of liberty and these things come alike to all sometimes he prolongeth their lives unto old age and burtheneth their old age with so many infirmities and grievances that their life is but a lingâ—ing death unto them Sometimes he taketh away their sight sometimes their hearing c. and sometimes he leaveth them to the gâ—awings and gripings of a guilty conscience not cleansed and washed by the blood of Christ. Thus many wayes and in many respects ye see that the pleasures and prosperity of life may be made shorter than this short life it self CHAP. IV. II. IN the second place this should serve to wean us from the love of this world and the things of this life whether it be wealth or pleasure or wordly credit or health or strength or friends or children that we set our hearts upon or take content in how soon may all or any of these be taken from us or how soon may some such heavy blow from the hand of the Lord fall upon us as may strike dead all the delight and comfort which we took in these Therefore as the Prophet saith Isai. 2. 22. Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Cease to put your trust or place your content in man whether men of high degree or of low degree for he is a mortal creature soon gone When that fading fleeâ—ing breath that issueth in and out at his nostrils is stopped by death he is gone and wherein is he to be accounted of What reckoning should be made of so frail a creature So in this case I say cease ye from the things of this life for they have their breath in their nostrils as it were they are frail short-lived comforts and wherein are they to be accounted of Here then is Christian wisdom to have the heart crucified to these things when they are at best and when a man hath most of them then to die to the world and to look upon the best things of the world and the greatest outward comforts of this life as upon so many dead things to affect them and make account of them as so many shadows and empty vanities to use them as dying things I am crucified to the world saith the Apostle and the world is crucified to me This is Christian wisdom when a man can so carry his affections towards the greatest comforts of this life as he would to a thing that is crucified to a thing already nailed to the cross and dying It were a vain thing to take a few flowers and blossoms in the Spring and to lock them up safe in a Cabinet like so many precious Stones or Pearls of great value meaning to keep them many years whereas if he look upon them the next week he shall find them dead and withered their beauty is gone And is it not yet a far greater â—olly to lock up the fading comforts of this life in that precious Cabinet of thy Heart and Soul as as if they were everlasting treasures as if they were some enduring substance such a heart is poorly furnished For an immortal Soul that must live for ever to be stuffed and filled with perishing trash it is as if a rich Cabinet of Gold beset with Pearls should be fill'd with dust and dross yea it is far worse such a soul is miserably furnished when the Soul wherein Christ should dwell the Sould which should be a Temple of the Holy Ghost the Soul that should be stored and furnished with heavenly graces shall be stuffed and filled with such rubbish and â—rash as men gather from the dunghill of this world with the things of this life that are shorter than life it self So St. Paul 1 Cor. 7. 29 3â— 31. This I say Brethren the time is short it remaineth that both they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy aâ— though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this