these we shall speak anon but yet this I think may be truly said that sometimes when all other remedies have been either ineffectual or not to be had repentance and prayer have done the business and compleated the cure And surely these are duties profitable at all times I know the Church of Rome tell us many extravagant Stories of the wonders and miracles that have been performed by the prayers of Holy Men those I shall not now mention only I shall say that although it is not credible that the Prayers of Saints upon the Earth do either mitigate and alleviate the pains of those that are in Hell or free them from that miserable state as some men have confidently enough reported yet it is sufficiently credible that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much Jam. 5.16 A Third Argument to prove that our lives may be extended or shortned may be taken from the use of medicaments Common reason will teach Men that it is needless to prescribe any Medicine to those that are dead and truly the case would be much alike if the Period of every Mans Life were determined by an inconditionate Decree For although men might then make use of medicaments yet I think I may truly say that their operation should be very ineffectual But that men may to good purpose employ the Physitian when they are sick and expect by the blessing of God benifit by the use of Medicaments applied by the art of Physick no reasonable man can doubt That the lives of many have been lengthned and prolonged by the excellent remedies applied by the expert and skilful Physitian is a truth so obvious to common experience that I need hot enlarge upon it And on the other side how many have died before their time only by their imploying ignorant Physitians It is a famous instance that we have recorded of one Manes the Father of the Manichees who having returned into Persia at that time when the Kings Son lay sick of a dangerous disease he amongst many other Physitians was present all the others plainly declared that the disease was dangerous but Manes who waâ—â— only a pretended Physitian coâ—fidently desired that they might be all removed and he would take care of the Kings Son and withal promised to restore him to health in a short space but the event was quite contrary for within a shore time the Kings Son died which did so provoke the King of Persia that he instantly caused Manes to be put to a miserable Death What mischief has been done by unskilful Physitians to many sad examples do daily attest but yet if the Period of every Mans Life were determin'd by an absolute and inconditionate decree no man could blame the ignorant Physitian nor needs any person be troubled if they neglect the means for God had determined they should do so which indeed makes Marthas speech to our Lord Christ to be ridiculous if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died That Naaman the Syrian should wash himself in the River of Jordan seven times and then be clean of his Leprosie was indeed miraculous But yet it is plain that if he had not done so his Leprosie had remained Whether that custom in the primitive Christian Church of anointing the sick with Oyl was miraculous or not I shall not dispute but this is certain that it was then a means used for the recovery of the Sick There is one objection which some men very impertinently urge against what I have been speaking and that is Asa his going to the Physitians which the Scripture seems to disallow To this I answer that King Asa is not therefore reprehended because he asked advice of the Physitians but because he trusted only in them and sought not the Lord as it is very plain from 2 Chron. 16.12 And sure no reasonable men will have any doubu but this was a very culpable neglect in Asa Fourthly Nothing is more evident than that there are several things which have a Physical efficacy in the shortning of Mens lives as all kinds of excess namely immoderate eating and drinking all inordinate passions of mind c. as also the bad and unwholesome constitution of a Kingdom And on the other side there are many things which effectually conduce to the lengthning of our days namely all kind of moderation and temperance the wholsomness of the region wherein we live and our good managery What kind of persons are those who for ordinary live longest are they not those who carefully moderate their sensual appetites and who govern their passions and who live in the wholesomest places We commonly say that Men who live in a Popolus City are shorter lived than those who live in the Country I have already shewed how some vices in their proper tendency shorten Mens Lives and that in some Nations and Kingdoms men live much longer than in others all which methinks plainly tells us the Period of every Mans Life is not Fatal but Mutable according as men are careful or negligent of themselves I shall onlyladd another considerable argument and so draw this discourse to a conclusion And that is don't we evidently perceive that many men had lived longer if they had not wretchedly and unreasonably exposed themselves to danger and is it not evident that many Millions who have died in battle would have had their days prolonged if they had never descended into battle That God hath from the outgoings of Eternity by an absolute and inconditionate degree determined both the time and manner of every mans death this is more than we can learn from Revelation and methinks it is very inconsistent and irreconcilable with those many plain texts that shew it is lawful in time of eminent danger to flee for our safety in time of Famine and when any egregious contagion such as the Pestilence spreadeth in any place How many Hundreds prolonged their lives by their flight from battel If David and his Men had remained in Keilah it is certain they should have been delivered up into the hands of Saul and what the Event should have been we may easily conjecture if God by a special providence had not interposed for their safety But besides the many instances we might produce we have a positive precept to flee from any eminent danger Mat. 10.23 When they persecute you in this City flee into another Which plainly shews that this is a lawful means of prolonging our lives in such cases It is a notable instance we have Jer. 27.18 Thus saith the Lord behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death he that abideth in this City shall dye by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence but he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey Which place plainly shews that God had not decreed the Period of their Lives by any inconditionate decree for
some contrary notion And First Upon the observance of the Divine laws there are many promises in Scripture assuring us of length of days and on the other side there are many threatnings of cutting short the days of the wicked Thus God promises length of days to obedient Children Ex. 20.12 Honor thy Father Mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy god giveth thee Deut 4 40. Thou shalt keep therefore his Statutes and his Commandments which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee with thy Children after thee that thou may'st prolong thy days upon the earth which the Lord thy god giveth thee particularly the Lord tells Solomon 1 King 3.4 If thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes my Commandments as thy father David did walk then I will lengthen thy days The Psalmist encourageth men to consider the case of the poor upon this Motive Psal 42.1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the Poor the Lord will preserve him keep him alive c. And upon this account the Wise-Man also perswadeth men to observe and keep Gods laws Prov. 3.1 2. My Son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee How much the observance of the duties of Religion conduce to our health is a thing daily experience attests and therefore the Apostle very excellently exhorts Timothy to exercise himself unto Godliness for it is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Religon is as a bridle to keep men within due bounds in their eating and drinking it forbids all manner of excess which impares our bodily health and obliges men to make use of lawful means for their preservation and recovery If we consult experience we shall find these to be the men who for ordinary enjoy the longest lives it is true some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution and others God may remove for secret ends known to himself yet for ordinary the Godly man whose natural temper is strong hath the advantage of the wicked man and certainly Religion in its due tendency prescribes the best rules for long life As Righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil as the Wise-Man tells us pursueth it to his own death Prov. 11.19 We have a large Catalogue of the Punishments inflicted for sin Exod. 26. Where more particularly v. 16. the Lord threatens to appoint over those who obey not his Laws terror consumption and the burning ague that Men may not foolishly think all these are but threatnings which God intends not to inflict upon poor Man the Prophet Isaiah tells us if ye refuse rebel ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Isa 1.20 And the wise-man concludes it as certain Prov. 10.27 The years of the wicked shall be shortned to conclude the Psalmist also tells us bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Psal 55.23 which the Poet very well expresseth Ad Generum Cereris sine caede ac sanguine pauci Descendunt Reges sicca morte Tyranni And the truth of this may be evident likewise from common Experience by which it will appear that no men are so obnoxious to Diseases as the wicked who spend their time in chambering and wantonness in riot and excess Who hath woe Who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine Prov. 23.29 30. What the Wise-man says of one kind of Vice may be said of all They lead down to the Chambers of death Prov. 7.27 But these things are so obvious that I need not to enlarge upon them I shall conclued this Argument with this consideration that since God Almighty promises to extend and lengthen out or prolong their life who walk piously and observe his Statutes and theratens to shorten the days of the wicked who refuse to obey his Laws it cannot be rationally imagined that the Period of every Man's Life is absolutely determined Another Argument to confirm our Assertion may be taken from the pious devout prayers of the righteous and their turning from their sins by an hearty repentance both which conduce to the lengthening out of their days I put Repentance and Prayer together because of their near affinity to one another Now that both these may be the Moral Cause of extending our Lives may appear to be true from common Experience besides the many Assertions and Promises in Scripture to this purpose First The truth of this may be evident from Experience by which it will appear that if Men had hearkned to Noah's Doctrin if they had repented of their wickedness within the space allowed to them they had not perished in the Deluge of Water Of repenting Nineveh we read That God saw their work that they turned from their evil may God repented of the evil he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Jonah 3.10 It was Hezekiah's Prayers and Tears that prolonged his life Go saith the Lord to his Prophet Isaiah and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy Father I have seen thy tears behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years Isa 3.8.5 And if prayer were of no force to what purpose were men so earnest in their sickness to beg the prayers of others on their behalf I confess if the Period of every Mans Life were fatally determined our Prayers should be very needless For can we be so sensless as to imagin that our Prayers can move God to change his unalterable Statutes and Decrees But besides common experience the truth of this is likewise attested by plain evidences from Scripture At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation concerning a kingdom to pluck up to pull down and to destroy it If that Nation against whom I have pronounce turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them And at what instant I shall speak concerning a kingdom to plant it If it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice then will I repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them Jer. 11.7 8 9 10 Methinks this is so plain an evidnce of the efficacy of repentance that no reasonable man can have any doubt concerning it But alas if God had from the outgoings of Eternity fatally determined the destruction of Nations and Kingdoms by an absolute and inconditionate decree Repentance could never alter the determination It is the Apostles advice Jam. 5.14 Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him I know there are other means to be made use of in order to the procuring of health than repentance and prayer and of
years and Ten and if by reason of strength they be fourscore c. or Secondly It may be understood in a more strict sence as it is taken for the last moment of every individual and particular person and of both these I shall more fully discourse afterwards and show that the words seem to refer to the common term of Humane Life or if they mean this perticular term in what sense they are to be understood determined appointed c. These and such like condescending Phrases have been most unhappily used and sadly misunderstood in the Schools Some men no sooner read in Scripture of Gods determining or appointing but they instantly conclude a physical previous necessitating act which inevitably and irresistibly determines Men and this kind of determination they plead for in all cases so that Men even in their vitious actions are irresistibly determined to do so I know no opinion which has rendred the reformed Church more odious than this would to God I could say the Censure is causeless and that I were forced to apologize for saying our Divines have erred in this case But alas the opinion is grown strong and not long since it was not much less than Heresie to condemn it and even to this day it is the study of some Teachers to instill it into the hearts of their Hearers For the correcting of this sowre opinion I shall have occasion to add some things in this following discourse now I shall desire it to be considered that while we speak of the Divine determinations appointment c. we speak of things our knowledg cannot reach the best conceptions we can frame to our selves of the Divine volitions are dangerous and imperfect our capacities in this lapsed state are more narrow than we are aware of and although they were raised to a higher pitch yet we can never comprehend his way of working who in all his ways is unsearchable 'T is truly sad to see the contending World so serious and restless in digging those deeps that are unfathomable it were to be wished that Men did not found their pretended knowledg of the Divine volitions on the basis of their own silly volitions and did not argue from what we find in our selves to be the same in God 'T is true the Holy Spirit hath condescended to express things suitable to our Understanding and mean capacities therefore we read in Scripture of the Divine determinations appointments c. but yet to abuse such condescending expressions and to imagine that there were really such purposes and volitions in God as these we perceive in our selves this were a heinous crime pray let us satisfie our selves with this that God in an eminent and transcending manner doth these things which we cannot do without willing decreeing c. That he cannot pass or as others render it and he shall not pass which Phrase is not to be understood as if the particular Period of every Mans life were so fatally fixed that he can neither shorten nor prolong it for this is contrary to many clear Texts of Scripture as shall afterwards fully appear but by this Phrase we are to understand the common term of Humane Life which is not so mutable as the particular nor yet altogether so that it cannot be altered for God has still reserved in his own power the shortening and prolonging of it And further we must not apprehend that the particular terms of Humane Beings are so mutable that God knows them not and cannot foretel the precise Period of every Mans Life or that the Divine Counsel concerning things Future is mutable no sure God has declared the contrary I am God and there is none like me saith the Almighty declaring the End from the Beginning and from ancient time the things that are not yet done saying my Counsel must stand and I will do all my pleasure Isa 46.9 Two things there be which occasion men to change their purposes and resolutions 1. Their want of Power to execute them 2. Their finite and shallow Knowledg which cannot foresee those future circumstances which render their Designs ineffectual But now there is no difficulty that can pose the Almighty with him all things are possible it is the Prophets argument the Lord of hosts hath purposed who shall disanull it his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back Isa 24.17 And further there is no circumstance or condition that lyes in the dark and unseen to him whose knowledg is infinite and who equally comprehends things past present and to come Therefore is it that man cannot pass these bounds perfixed by the Divine foreknowledg But of this afterwards Turn from him c It is quaeried whether Job here petitioneth a withdrawing of Gods supporting presence and a cessation by death or a cessation from the affliction and trouble he lay under There be Three things that plead for the former Interpretation 1. Because the word לרה placed absolutly signifieth to cease by death 1 Sam. 2.5 and they that were hungry ceased i. e. died 2. Because the supporting hand of Providence being removed men return to the Dust Thou hidest thy face they are troubled thou takest away their Breath they dye and return to their Dust Psal 104.29.3 It is not inconsistent with Jobs former desires Chap. 3. and 6. why died I not from the Womb Why did I not give up the Ghost when I came out of the Belly For now should I have lien still and been quiet I should have slept then had I been at rest O that I might have my request even that it would please God to destroy me That the Phrase can never admit the former gloss evidently appears from the words immediately following for if Job had been pleading for death why is that reason added that he might accomplish his day It is only then a cessation from his grievous affliction that he so earnestly intreated as if he had said Lord thy afflicting hand is heavy and what am I but weak Dust not able to bear thy heavy Chastisments my Soul is overburdened with grief and wilt thou set thy terrors before me to affright me hath not poor man in this lapsed state Troops of miseries attending him from which he may expect no freedom till Mortality be swallowed up in Life And are not his few days labour and sorrow pain and affliction And wilt thou to those inseparable evils superadd a burthen of pain more grievous and insufferable O do not measure out so dismal a Condition to thy silly Creature Make me not the object of thy direful vengeance but in the midst of wrath remember Mercy Art thou not Goodness it self and far more compassionate than the most tender parent And shall it be said thou hast measured out so acute torments to vex thy poor Creature I confess Perfection is not the thing I plead yet may not I say it is not for my iniquity nor for my sin that thou hast afflicted me And let this
Consideration also prevail with thee that my untender friends sadly mistake thy design in afflicting me they conclude it is for some secret heinous crime that thy judgements are upon me O that thou wouldst turn from thy wrath that I may enjoy some rest before I go whence I shall not return This phrase turn from him is sometimes taken in a very bad sense Thus we find the wicked sadly characterized as a people who desire God to depart from them but as it is uttered by the people of God under the pressure of afflictions it implies no more but a serious desire that God would be pleased to remove that burden Now in such innocent petitions there appeareth no crime for it is certain that afflictions simply considered are grievous even to the best of Man kind there is no affliction saith the Apostle for the present that is joyous but grievous 'T is true impatience under affliction is an excess which no excuse whatsoever can pardon there are some persons of such hasty complexions that they rise in passion against God if they meet with the least affliction just like that wretched man who said this evil is of the Lord why should we wait any longer upon him But those petitions of the Faithful in holy writ although at the first view they seem to be peremptory and absolute yet they are truly qualified and submissive and at the most only express the harmless resentments of innocent nature that cannot but express how contrary afflictions are to it That he may rest ut quiescat sc paululum that his affliction being removed he may yet enjoy a little space to solace himself till he accomplish his day I will purposely decline the answer of that querie Whether it is lawful to wish death when our condition is charged with a surplusage of caamity for the brevity I design will not suffer me to survey the difficulties of that case only in the general I shall add two things 1. If the affliction be violent fierce and seemingly durable rendering us uncapable of exercising any duty I question not but common reason will suggest to every sober man that in that case Death is more eligible than Life Yet 2. since we are ignorant what God designs to us by sending us such afflictions it is our part to submit to the Lords will and say Good is the will of the Lord. Thus although we may comparatively and submissively wish Death upon the account of some acute trials yet it is never lawful to be peremptory and absolute in such desires for frequently the happy event makes men conclude that is was good for them they were afflicted Rest c. Methinks the very sound of this word is full of ravishing sweetness and pleasure and yet to those who are stated in a condition of woe and Misery it is bitter and harsh as the most ravishing and pleasant Musick is in the Ear of him who is sad those who never tasted the honey-comb know not its sweetness the men who have been always drudges and slaves have no discerning what Liberty is and those who from their birth have been accustomed to pain know not their misery so sensibly But to have once enjoyed blessings and on a sudden to be deprived of them not only the unexpected change but also their former happiness adds to their misery and makes their condition more unsufferable If man had been created to toil and labor his eating of bread in the sweat of his face had been no curse but to have been placed in a blessed and happy state and by his folly to be hurled into a state of misery and pain that compleats his calamity and makes him sensible how miserable a thing it is to have been happy This single consideration seems to add very much to Jobs misery his condition was once more than ordinary happy and the amission of the comforts he formerly enjoyed makes him pathetically cry out O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me but now as he sadly complains they that are younger than I have me in derision If Job in this state of woe had been perswaded of the certain change of his condition and that his latter end should be more blessed than his beginning the expected hopes of this had served to allay and mitigate his sorrow and to render his case more sufferable and easie It is the hopes of rest that puts strength in the wearied traveller it was the expected reward and assurance of a future blessedness and better resurrection which made those Worthies Heb. 11. so cheerfully undergo suffering What the happiness of the Saints rest is I am not able to represent it being so far above any thing we can in this imperfect state conceive or imagine The advantages that attend our present tranquility and rest are many and great which to enumerate would be prolix and tedious but if from that we should frame to our selves an Idea of that Celestial Rest how imperfect would it be any Rest we injoy here is uncertain an unthought-of causality may impair it but the Rest that remains for the people of God is everlasting there is no fear of losing it Heaven is a place free from trouble and there is nothing that can imbitter that pleasant state Philosophers have a saying that the end of of Motion is Rest this is indeed true of all those motions and trials the servants of God meet with the way to the Kingdom is spread over with thistles thorow many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but those Waves of affliction will quickly over and when the day breaks these shadows will flee away This Winter will soon be past and the singing of the Birds will come and Christians who by faith and patience continue in well-doing shall ere be long be placed in those mansions of Rest that are in Emanuels land Alas how insensible do we remain under the enjoyment of our outward comforts when we are blessed with food liberty and health we are but sensibly stupid and ignorant what is the value of those mercies but if hunger and want begin to pinch us if our former liberty be hedged in if sickness and pain seize upon us then we begin to gather some sense and we accuse our selves for our ingratitude to God Till he shall accomplish as an Hireling his day for the better understanding of this similitude I shall in four particulars compare the days of man with the days of an Hireling and in each of them make application to Jobs case 1. The days of an Hireling denotes a time set prefixed and limited for the performance of some particular piece of service and are not the days of man also allotted him for to do his masters business We were not born to be idle and negligent sure God had some great design in the Creation of man than this now this particular quadrates very well with Jobs case and seems to
make the meaning of Jobs words to run thus Lord thou hast given me a being and appointed me a work to accomplish but alas while I am thus excruciated with horror and pain I am unfitted for thy service the surplusage of misery measured out to me disinables me to go about thy work be entreated therefore O merciful Father to turn from thy displeasure remove the present heavy calamity I am overburdened with that I may yet accomplish the remainder of my time in thy work and service 2. This set and fixed day of the Hireling is full of pain labour and toil he is poor wretch both late and early at work and seldom has he any intervalls of rest unless his Master be more than ordinary gentle and benign and when he has thus indulged a little ease he must not with the sluggard say O si hoc esset laborare he must to his work again for upon this depends his payment no wages is the result of not working and in some cases stripes and whipping is the fruit of negligence And what is Mans Life At the best state it is but sorrow and trouble till mortality be swallowed up in Life Our pleasures upon which we put the highest value are either purchased or accompanied with pain and labor If we be in a prosperous state our minds are either distracted with care to make it more prosperous or with fears puzled and perplexed lest it be overclouded and if we be in a low and adverse state we grieve and repine nay knowledg the most excellent of earthly pleasures is yet in the judgment of the wisest of men but vexation of spirit For in much Wisdom there is much Grief and he that encreaseth Knowledg encreaseth Sorrow The life of Man is not unfitly compared to Ezekiels Roll which was full of woes If one misery or woe passeth behold another cometh as one Wave succeeds another And by all these calamites we may learn what an evil Sin is the fruit of which are all those calamities we meet with in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy Bread till thou return unto the Ground And upon this account Job may be supposed to plead with God thus Lord is not my time at best but lamentable and miserable And wilt thou superadd to this inevitable misery a surplusage of pain and affliction O deal kindly with thy servant who is devoted to thy fear Turn from me that I may rest till I shall accomplish as an Hireling my day Thirdly True it is that the Hirelings day is but Labor and Pain yet the brevity and shortness thereof makes him regard it the less It is but a day and that will quickly be over and gone and what is the Life of Man It is but as a hand breath of a small extension or like to a passing shadow which we scarce sooner perceive than it vanisheth Man that is Born of a woman is of few days he cometh forth like a Flower and is cut down his decaying is within some few minutes of his budding as the Poet speaketh of Roses dum nascuntur consenuisse Rosas Now from this reason Job may be supposed to argue thus Lord thou knowest how frail and brittle I am and if thou contend thus with me how quickly shall I return to the Dust I Beseech thee consider that my time is however but short and let thy goodness appear in removing thy stroke away from me for I am consumed by the blow of thine hand O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more Fourthly The Rest and Wages the Hireling expecteth makes the accomplishing of his day more easie and tolerable The word rendred accomplish signifieth to will and delight in a thing earnestly donec optate veniat dies 'T is a day wished and longed for and much delighted in when it comes And indeed the strength of the comparison seems to lye in this which makes the meaning of Jobs words to be this Lord now my trouble and pain excruciats and torments me and my life is more wearisome to me than the Hirelings day can be to him therefore turn away thy wrath from me that in the finishing of my course I may be as jovial and cheerful as the Hireling is when his day is accomplished and thus I have done with the Explanation of these words The next thing I designed in this undertaking is to enquire how the days of every Mans Life may be said to be determined and whether the Period of every Mans Life were so fixed and bounded that by his care good managery and use of the means it cannot be extended nor shortned by his negligence intemperance or exposing of himself to the Famine Sword or Plague it is very certain from this plain Text of Scripture that the days of every Mans Life are determined but the manner how is left unexplained and this we do not learn from Scripture And it were to be wished that our curiousity would forbear any enquiry into things that are hid but alas our inclinations are so wicked and preverse that nitimur in vetitum we are always bent and eager in our enquiries after things of a mysterious alloy and God knows how miserably some men have mistaken in their enqiries after a solution of the present doubt and if I could promise to my self to rectifie those huge mistakes some men have fallen into this would be a sufficient justification of my present undertaking But in order to the unfolding of this doubt I shall promise four things which will contribute to the better understanding of it First There is no doubt that every Mans Life hath a Period It is appointed for all men once to dye this is a warfare from which there is no discharge What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death As to this the Prince and Peasant stand upon even terms and as the wise man tells us the rich and poor meet together there is no justling in the Grave for precedency I confess it were not worth the pains to consider the trivial instances taken from the Translation to Enoch and Elias to infringe this position For first we are not to debate what God may do he has a Soveraignty over his Creatures and must not be called to give a reason of his actions all whose ways are tracts of wisdom and goodness Secondly We know nothing of the manner of their Translation he who will positively say that they did not undergo that which is equivalent to death will say more than he can prove I am apt to believe that no sober man will say that they entred their Heavenly Habitation with their unrefined bodies no more than those who rise at the sound of the last Trumpet in the twinkling of an eye are carried into Heaven without any change Secondly It is also unquestionable that Sin introduced this Period to every Mans Life the primitive threatning rus thus in the day thou eatest
as that the production of the Child infers the destruction of the parent Neither doth that curious query concerning the place for that supposed numerous off-spring carry with it more reason for First It is nor to be doubted but the wise Creator who gave being to Man knew well enough how to provide an Habitation for his off-spring Secondly the Precepts be Fruitful and Multiply carries with it a Limitation and replenish the Earth so that we can never well conclude from it that Generation should have continued after the replenishing of the Earth But Thirdly What suppose this little Map of Earth had not been able to contain so numerous an off-spring could not God have Translated Man after he had lived some space upon the Earth to some better Habitation as he did with Enoch and Elijah Consid 3 Though Man in the state of Innocency stood in need of Meat and Drink yet his nutriment was not noxious and hurtful to him as now it is It was for Mans disobedience that a Curse was upon the ground before which there was no fear of hurt from the Fruit of the Trees and the Herbs of the Field which were the only things granted to Men for Food in that state And indeed if we but consider that even in this fallen state there is a huge difference between the Lives of those who live upon wholsome Food and observe a moderate Diet and of those who are careless in their Diet and feed upon Husks we cannot but think the former Consideration reasonable especially since that blessed state excluded all manner of excess Consid 4. Great and Manifold are the blessed benefits that are conferred upon Mankind upon the account of his Redeemer now Man who was at odds with his Maker upon the account of his Rebellion is again taken into favor and the disobedient World is reconciled unto God And although the being of sin is not quite abolished yet the Curse is removed and Death is not properly now a punishment Consid 5. Immortality conjoyned with a state of perfect felicity is reserved for Heavens favourites In the state of Innocency our first Parents were liable to Death if they rebelled but the Saints above are confirmed in their Blessed state atd as our Lord Christ tells us they can dye no more But this much may suffice for the removing the former doubts The Third thing I premise is that 't is very usual in Scripture as it is in all Languages to put the Whole sometimes for the Part thus Man is said to dye to cease to be Mortal because the Boby is liable to Corruption and not that the whole Man or all the Essential constituent parts cease And thus when we dispute concerning the Period of every Mans Life we must not foolishly fancy that a Period is ut to the being of the Soul but only that its union with the body is dissolved otherwise a dismal stroke would be given to our Religion and what would become of the vertuous I consess it is very hard and difficult to demonstrate the Immortality of our Souls by natural reason 'T is true by reason I may prove that our Natures are spiritual and that we elicite acts which are beyond the power of matter but yet we could never be fully ascertained that there is a Life after this if Revelation had not plainly discovered it The Heathen Philosophers very wisely entertained some hopes of a Life after this upon moral arguments taken from the goodness of God and his justice in distributing Rewards and Punishments but alas how doudtfull were their hopes and with how much hesitation did they discourse of it But by the help of Revelation these doubts are fully temoved and we now know that there is a Resurrection from the dead and that the Souls of Believers at death go immediately into glory Fourthly Because the explication of terms is very necessary for the unfolding of doubts I shall consider the twofold notion and acception the period of Humane Life is lyable to 1. Sometimes it is taken in a large sense for that common and ordinary Period which the Author of our natures hath setled which Men by the common course of nature arrive at Now many learned Men upon good grounds think that this is the determined bounds mentioned in Scripture 2 Sometimes it is taken for the last moment of every Mans Life at whatever time it happeneth whether 1. In the Beginning of Mans days or 2. In the midst of his days Thus the Psalmist prays that God would not cut him off in the midst of his days Or 3. When Men come to be of a good old Age and full of years as it is said of Abraham he died in a good Old Age an Old Man and full of years Gen. 25.8 That there is such a Common Period of Humane Life seems to be certain and indubitable we evidently enough perceive that Men in the Age and place wherein we live exceed not unless rarely the bounds fixed upon Psal 90.10 The days of our years are Threescore years and Ten and if by reason of more strength they be Fourscore years c. And if we shall descend to the Consideration of other Animals and Vegetables we will find it true enough that the individuals of every specifick nature have a common Period which doth not sensibly alter but where there is a manifest difference of the climate temperature and soil Again it is very unquestionable that this Common Period hath not been equally extended in all Ages and places 'T is true for many hundred years by-past it hath suffered very little alteration but sure from the beginning it was not so nor can we upon any good ground be ascertained that it will continue the same that it is now till the end of all flesh come Though I will not positively affirm that Mens Lives will be insensibly shortened till they become uncapable for procreation But to determine what hath been the common period of Humane Life in by-past ages of the World is a Theme very difficult and hard for 1. Although from Abrahams time till this present Age it hath altered but little or nothing as we may collect from Gen. 15.13 and 16. where a generation is equalled to an Hundred years as the Vetses collated make it evident yet before the Flood and in some few Ages following it this common Term was not concluded within the short bounds it is now although then it was indeed exceedingly mutable Before the fatal Flood we read not of any who lived not above seven Hundred years unless Abel who was murdered and Enoch whom God took to himself nor of any who exceeded nine Hundred sixty and nine years Now the common Period not being so denominated from some few particular instances but from what happens to the most of Mankind in every Age who dye a natural death we may suppose that Eight Hundred years was the common Period before the Flood But then after the Flood the
himself in arguing so foolishly the Apostle St. James very forcibly rejects this opinion Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Jam. 2.13 14. The wise Man in his sense after the certainty of things concludes his Seventh Chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes thus Lo this only have I found that God hath made man upright But they have sought out many inventions Pray then let us reject every opinion that teacheth God does necessitate Men to sin for nothing can be more injurious to God than this To think to palliat the business by saying God is under no Law is but a lawless and unreasonable pretext for the everlasting rectitude of his spotless nature is more than any external Law and pray what can truth and Justice do but what is holy and Just The distinction between the act and the pravity of the act the former of which God determins Man to but not to the latter is as vain and frivolous For the pravity of every wicked act is inseparable from it And farther the Divine commands particularly prohibit the act and I think upon no other ground but because the formality of Sin consists in the act it self It is indeed strange to consider those Platonick and imaginary notions some Men run to But I think it needless to take a particular view of such Dreams But as this opinion sadly reflects upon the holiness of God so it is highly inconsistent with the liberty of Mans Will in the choice of the means That there is a free principle in Man is so plain that he who denies this must engage himself against Experience and Reason There is no Man who does wickedly but he perceives he may do otherwise the sick man is not constrained to neglect the means for his recovery neither is the Physitian forced to prescribe this and no other remedy Men act not as Machines but they have a Free Principle whereby they may chuse what they think is best and most convenient It 's true the Will since Adam's Fall is corrupted and mostly enclined to that which is evil but yet the Fall did not destroy Man's Freedom it made no Physical change only the Faculties of the Soul are morally vitiated and corrupted But if the Willwere Physically as they speak determined ad unum it were unreasonable to think that the Sick person who neglects the means could do otherwise And alas doth nor Experience convince us that Men of this perswasion neglect the use of lawful means which God hath appointed only because they Dream that if God has decreed that they shall dye then it is needless to use the means and if God has determined that they shall live whether they use or neglect the means they shall live But you 'l say God doth not only Decree the End but also the Means I answer this Plea doth not a whit diminish or remove the difficulty since they suppose that the Means are as absolutely decreed as the End which quite destroys the liberty of Mans Will and leaveth no place for any choice Thirdly This opinion leaves no place for praise to the Learned Physitian nor for dispraise to the unskilful Empyrick First The skilful Physitian can claim no praise for although it be grant'd that he hath wisely considered the condition of the Sick and the nature of the Discase though he hath prescribed apt Remedies and in all things behaved well yet since he did no other thing but what he was determined to do by an external force who can think he merits any praise If he could have done otherwise but would not then he might in reason claim it but the case according to the present Hypothesis is quite opposite But Secondly neither can we in reason blame the unskilful Quack-Doctor who neither knows the nature of the Disease nor of those Medicines he prescribeth Alas poor man does no more than what he was forced to do and he could not do otherwise why then should he be blamed for any failure or mistake he commits Fourthly The natural and genuine Consequence of this Doctrine is to make men like Fools or Mad-men expose themselves to any danger For instance What need we be afraid to run upon any Precipice if God hath determined the Period of every man's life there is no fear to encounter with any seeming danger men may safely enough leap into the fire or cast themselves into the deep for there is no fear that they shall be hurt or perish unless the Almighty hath determined it and if this be they may perswade themselves they could not do otherwise for the Decree is unalterable and cannot be repealed Nor is this true only in Theory Speculation but it may appear to have such bad effects by the sad experience of poor deluded Creatures Alas do we not hear the Vulgar frequently comfort any who are in trouble with this consideration that God hath decreed it should be so if these persons did only mean that God exerciseth a special Providence in the world and ruleth among the Children of men no body had ever blamed them but this is not their meaning for they plainly declare by such kind of speech that all things come to pass fatally I have heard some wretched Sinners who had committed great and scandalous sins excuse themselves by saying they were decreed to do so and God's will must be accomplished It were very easie to multiply many Absurdities which flow from this Doctrine by a natural Consequence but these few I have named may abundantly satisfie every considering man and shew him how pernicious and dangerous it is but before I conclude I shall consider the four Arguments I mentioned before which I said seemed to strengthen and confirm this Opinion as First There are many places of Scripture which seem to conclude That the Period of every Man's Life is determined I shall mention some of the most remarkable Texts of Scripture brought to defend this first Psal 31.15 My times are in thy hand deliver me from the hand of mine Enemies From hence some draw this unexpected Conclusion That God hath absolutely decreed the Period of every Man's Life Now I think no considering man should ever have guessed this to be the Psalmist's meaning for the Text only holds our the Divine care and Providence whereby he does superintend and continue every individual thing in the world in their Beings and therefore is it that David makes his application to God that he would deliver him from the hand of his Enemy which methinks had been a needless Petition if he had imagined that God had absolutely determined the period of his Life Secondly Psal 39.5 Lord make me to know mine end the measure of my days what it is that I may know how frail I am This place is strangely brought to confirm
the former Opinion For the Psalmist doth not desire the knowledge of the Period of his life he does not ask when he shall die only he begs the Divine aid and assistance that he may wisely improve the short time he hath to live I cannot stand to consider such Texts of Scripture as these which are no ways acquainted with the Doctrin they are brought to defend There is only one Text that seems to favor this Opinion viz. Job 14.5 Seeing his days are determined the number of his Months are with thee thou hast appointed his bonds that he cannot pass But I have considered this all along in this Discourse I confess some in return to this say that all Job's words are not approved of God therefore it is hard to conclude any thing from them but this is a very insufficient answer That which satisfieth me is this that Job here only says that our days are determined but he speaks nothing how they are determined now in what sense the Period of every Man's life may be said to be determined I have already considered Secondly There are many Examples in Scripture which shew that the Period of every Man's Life is bounded and limited by an absolute Decree The most remarkable is that Act. 4.28 Both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles the people of Israel were gather'd together for to do whatsoever thy hand thy counsel determined before to be done The Scribes Pharisees frequently stirr'd up the multitude to lay hands upon Christ but their endeavours were always to no purpose and the account the Scripture gives for this is because his hout was not come In return to this I shall desire it may be considered that when we say the Period of every Man's Life may be extended or shortned the meaning is not that it is impossible that it can be otherwise we never doubted but the great Governor of the World may make what reserved Cases he pleases from the ordinary course of things and no wonder though the present Case which is upon all accounts so extraordinary be exempt from the general Rule and for such exempt Cases to which there ought to be allowance made no reasonable man can think they do any prejudce to the thing I have been proving Thirdly It is a common opinion that the futurition of things depend only upon the Divine will antecedently to which things are only possible In answer to which I easily grant that there is nothing that comes to pass contrary to the Divine will the most criminal actions are ordered by his Infinite Wisdom and permitted to be But yet we have no ground to think that he decrees every future action Else it were hard to vindicate the holiness of God upon which consideration many Learned Men have been induced to deny Gods immediate concurring with the Creature in all its operations and yet we need not run our selves upon this Rock for we may safely enough maintain that the Divine will is immediately efficatious for God who created man with a freedom of will designed that he should act without constraint and the reason why man acts freely is because God wills men to act so which plainly discovers that the most contingent actions depend immediatly upon the Divine will Fourthly We can never give a rational nor satisfying account how the Divine knowledge concerning the Period of Humane Life is infallible certain if it be not founded upon the sure Basis of an absolute decree This object I have partly removed already while I shewed that God knows whatsoever is true because his cognisance is Infinite wherefore it is unreasonable to think that God could not have a perfect comprehension of things if he had not decreed them absolutely Now to make this yet more plain I shall prove by instances from Scripture that God hath a certain knowledg of those things which he never decreed as absolutely future And First It is a very remarkable instance which we have 1 Sam. 23.11 12. where David hearing that Saul was to come to Keilah he earnestly beseecheth God to tell him if the men of Keilah will deliver him and his men into the hand of Saul and if Saul will come down To both which he gets this answer That Saul will come down and that the Keilites will deliver him up And yet the Event shews that none of those came to pass because the fulfilling of both did depend upon Davids staying in Keilah And yet God certainly knew that if David had not depart'd from Keilah they should have delivered him into the hands of Saul And farther it is very evident that David was not inquiring what were the present propensions and inclinations of the Keilites but what should be the event of his staying and accordingly he receives an answer from God Another Instance we have 2 Kings 13.19 where Elisha the Prophet is very wroth with Joash King of Israel because he did not smite upon the ground five or six times and the reason the Prophet adds is for then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it Which makes it as evident as any thing can be that God foreknew that Joash should have smiten Syria till he had consummed it if he had smitten upon the ground five or six times It were no difficult task to prove this by a multtude of instances from Scripture but I think I need add no mere for the satisfaction of considering Man and for others a Million of demonstrations will be urged to no purpose And thus I have done with the Second thing I proposed that God hath not by any absolute or inconditionate Decree fatally determined the Period of every Mans Life I proceed to the Third thing proposed namely whether the Period of every Mans Life be mutable And before I prove it to be so I must premise two cautions First when we say the Period of every Mans Life is mutable we mean no more but that it may be shortned by our intemperance or neglect of the means and be extended by our good managery and religious manner of living Secondly When I say the Period of every Mans Life is moveable the meaning is not that it is necessarily so and that it cannot be otherwise for this would not be consistent with our dependent condition therefore there is allowance to be made to extraordinary cases The acts of Divine providence in the government of Humane affairs are sometimes extraordinary and therefore it must be left to his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness to make what reserved cases he thinks fit from the general rule Yet for ordinary the Period of Humane Life is mutable and God doth not exclude the power of second causes in governing the World These things being premised I doubt not but to offer such argue ments for the proof of the mutability of the Period of every Mans Life as shall be sufficient for the conviction of any man who is not blinded by prejudice or prepossess'd with