Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A32083
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A funeral sermon preach'd at the internment of Mr. Samuel Stephens for some time employ'd in the work of the ministry, in this city : who departed life the fifth of January, 1693/4 in the twenty eighth year of his age / by Edmund Calamy.
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Calamy, Edmund, 1671-1732.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing C271; ESTC R10147
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15,357
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38
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given them which is short and very uncertain and therefore carefully to be improv'd and that he might insinuate this the better he brings Himself in for Company I shall not go about to try whether or no I could on a Subject so circumstantiated as this give you a learned and florid Discourse but shall only endeavour to be a plain Echo of that Providence which is the sad Occasion of our present Concourse in laying before you in distinct Propositions the several Truths which these Words contain of which I shall afterwards make a brief Improvement both General and Special Now the Truths which these Words naturally present to our Thoughts are such as these that follow I. That we are all sent into this World by God We must work the Works of him that sent us We came not hither of our selves We came not by Chance Our Production's owing to an Agent infinitely Powerful and Wise who though he did not immediately create us out of Nothing yet order'd dispos'd and actuated those Natural Causes by whose Concurrence we were form'd One would wonder how any that have the least spark of Reason should ever let it enter into their Thoughts that so Noble a Being as Man should be the Workmanship of fortuitous Chance when we see Men rising up in the World Age after Age in a stated Order And as for that Term of NATURE of which some are so fond if they mean by it any thing distinct either from the Author or the settled Order of Things they introduce by it a Being of whose Existence they can give no Evidence But let our Wits argue as long as they please we may securely defie them to give any Account how it should come about that when it was but a little while ago altogether Indifferent whether such Beings should ever have been or not one Generation should now so statedly succeed another unless they 'll own the Agency of the Great Creator of all Things the free Efflux of whose superabounding Goodness gave the first Rise to the World 'T is He that manifestly gives Natural Causes their Vertue sets them on Work bounds their Influence determines their Effects and over-rules and manages them in all their Productions So that as Things are now disposed we as much owe our Beings to God as we should do if by virtue of his Almighty Word we should in an instant start out of Nothing 'T was He that first shap'd us in the Womb as we may see Psal. 139. 14 15 16. 'T was He that brought us out of our first strait Confinement into so large and noble an Habitation as that of this Visible World Psal. 71. 6. 'T is on Him that we subsist all the time that we are here and therefore we may be assurd He sent us hither II. A Second Truth these Words afford is this That we have all of us Work to do here And need I go to prove this to you Do we not see all the Creatures in their several Ranks according to their Capacities at work about us Do we not find that we have Active Natures Noble Powers Large Capacities and Boundless Cravings And can we then think that we were design'd to be Idle Should we indeed look into most Mens Lives we should be apt to think either that we have nothing at all or nothing of any Consequence to do in this World But let 's but look â—ound about us or into our selves and we shall soon be satisfy'd that such active Natures as ours must have an Employment A Wise Being can never produce Powers to no purpose a Capacity without setting it a work We must have some Work or other to do or else we should be useless Impertinencies and insignificant Cyphers in the Creation of God Neither can our Work be at our own Choice we cannot be free to do what we please It naturally belongs to Him that gave us our Powers to employ them to Him that sent us into the World to allot and cut out proper Work for us in it And whenever we pretend to cut out Work for our selves we arrogate to our selves the Prerogative of our Maker who being an infinitely Wise Agent and having made us capable of Working hath designed Work for us and that such Work as is every way suitable to the Dignity Excellency and Ability of our Natures Now it 's well worth our serious Consideration what Work it is God design'd us for And this is a Thought which the greatest Part of the World seldom if ever to any purpose harbour and therefore 't is no wonder that their Lives are so disorderly confus'd and unaccountably extravagant and foolish I doubt not but there are some Hundreds and Thousands to be found who never spent one half Hour in all their Lives in deliberate Thoughtfulness about the Work for which they were made and sent into the World For can any Man who will allow himself soberly to weigh Matters ever think that so Noble a Creature as he should have no other Work in this World than to build Houses and plant Vineyards take his Pleasure and live at his Ease indulging his Appetites gratifying his Senses and pampering a short-liv'd Body to prog for Wealth and weary himself in heaping together a few Bags of perishing Dust to hunt for Honour and Credit Esteem and Applause among his Fellow-Creatures together with whom he himself must shortly pass off this earthly Stage so as to be quite forgotten Can any One I say that will give himself leave to think imagine this to be Work fit for so Noble a Creature as Man to be sent into this World for And yet of how great a Part of Mankind in all Ages hath this been the sole Employment Oh for God's sake let us be wiser Let 's but open our Eyes a little and we shall soon discern quite otherguess Work than this for us to mind Should I attempt here to be particular I should soon expatiate beyond the Bounds of a single Discourse Let me desire you therefore in short to observe that the Work which we have to do in this World is either Common or Special The great Work that is common to us all is while we are in this World to prepare for another this Life not being in order to it self but in order to a better Life We are sent into this World to be prepar'd qualify'd dispos'd and fitted for the noble and refin'd Enjoyments of another State for which we are design'd to live a Life of Faith and Patience that in due time we may be admitted to a Life of Glory And a greater Work this is than we are ordinarily aware of But herein lies the main of it We are to get our Spirits refin'd and a New and a Divine Nature convey'd into us without which we can never be capable of a Divine Life In order hereto there 's a great deal of Knowledge to be gotten We must know the God that made us and in the Enjoyment of
be never so bright and clear some time or other the Shadows of the Evening will overspread us our Sun will set and Night will come a Night in which no man can work After which nothing more can be done in order to a Preparation for Happiness or an Escape of Misery in which no more Means can be us'd in order to our Amendment no more Knowledge can be gotten that can do us any Good after which no further Opportunity will be afforded us of repairing to and making use of Christ and no further Time of Trial allow'd us Which is as certain as 't is that 't is appointed to all men once to die of which we may be as certain as we are that now we live The Day 's our Working-time when the Night comes we must expect to receive our Wages Thus we find it was in the Parable of the Labourers recorded in the Twentieth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel and thus 't will be with us When God hath waited upon us and given us as long a Day as he thinks fit he 'll then call us to an Account what Work we have done how we have behav'd our selves If we have done the Work for which God sent us hither he 'll Commend and highly Reward us If we have not done it his very Look will strike us through with Ternour and he 'll severely punish us For he will render to every one according to their Works As you may see more at large if you please to consult Rom. 2. 6 and the following Verses And thus much may suffice for the Doctrinal handling of the Words the Improvement follows which might be manag'd to good purpose several ways But that I may keep within bounds I 'le reduce what I would say for general Improvement to these two Heads If these things be so then certainly it becomes us all 1. To improve the day we have to work in to the best advantage 2. Often to think of and seriously to prepare for an approaching night 1. Then Let us manage and improve the day we have to work in to the best advantage that may be I 'm satisfy'd there 's scarce any one among us all but if ask'd would say that we heartily believ'd the forementioned Truths that but who almost lookt into our Lives could believe us when we say so Should we every one of us set our selves down seriously to examine what we have done of the work that we were sent into the world for to do which would be a great instance of our wisdom what a poor account should we bring in How much of our day have we spent in doing nothing how much in that which comes to nothing Nay how much have many of us spent in that which must so far as it 's possible be undone again or else we are eternally miserable How many of us have liv'd the half nay two thirds nay almost the whole of our day and are yet to begin our great Work To what purpose then I pray have we liv'd all this while And as for those of us who have in earnest begun our work how little of it have we done how is it done as 't were by halves How little proportion doth our Diligence and Industry and Activity in it bear to the momentousness and greatness of it to the assistances we have and the uncertainty we are at And shall we then refuse to think these things over again in our Secret Retirements and endeavour by consideration to drive them home into our Souls till all the Powers we have are awakened to the earnest doing of the Work of him that sent us while the Day lasts before the Night over-takes us Is our working Day so short and can we then find any of it to lose Is it so uncertain and shall we dare to delay Oh if we have any sober Reason left if we are not perfectly mad besotted and stupify'd if we would not in another State fruitlesly torment our selves for ever let us improve our working time to the best advantage That we may so do let us 1. Begin to work betimes Which if we could be prevail'd upon to do it would bring unspeakable advantages with it Oh let none of us who think not our selves too young to live or too young to die think our selves too young to do that work for which we were sent into the world The sooner we begin to work the more ease and peace may we expect in our remaining days and the more work may we hope to do If we 'll begin to work in our youthful days and hold on working we may hope by the Divine Blessing to do Three times as much work as those who tho they should live as long as we yet spend a third part of their day idly without any ways answering the Ends of Life And we might expect an increase of our Reward hereafter proportionable to the increase of our work here Night may overtake the youngest of us and therefore we have Reason to go to work out of hand And the more advanc'd any of us are in years still the more Reason have we immediately to begin it if we have not already done it A delay in this case is dangerous and may be our Ruin O let 's therefore be idle no longer but work the Work of him that sent us while it's day 2. Let us carefully avoid all those things that would hinder us in our Work The Weakness and Necessities of our Natures in our present State occasion a great many unavoidable Avocations from our great Work Much of our short day 's cut off by Infancy when we can do nothing and Childhood when we are at most capable but of just beginning our Work By the time that must be spent in eating and drinking and sleeping for the Recruit and support of our Bodies and in Recreation that 's needful for our Health and Refreshment and a great many other things I might mention which tho subordinate duties yet are avocations from that great Work we were made for We have no need therefore to be in love with Clogs Impediments and Embarrasments as too too many seem to be Let 's rather prudently endeavour to avoid them if we have any let 's as much as may be lay them aside Let 's watch and strive against all the Encroachments they would make upon that time which ought to be spent in our great Work like those that are in earnest for Heaven and another World And 3. Thirdly and Lastly Let us work apace and do as much Work as ever we can in so short and uncertain a time as we have to do it in Our Day hastens and so let our Work Whatever our hand finds to do let 's do it with our might as the Wise Man expresses it Eccles. 9. 10. Were our day as long as Methusalah's our work is such that we should have no time to lose But when it is so short and uncertain and we have